TORONTO – Toronto police have charged a 22-year-old man after he allegedly urinated on the steps of the Beach Hebrew Institute and yelled anti-Semitic slurs. The incident happened late on June 4 near Woodbine Avenue and Queen Street East.
Police say Domenic Buchanan ran off after the act but was later arrested.
Buchanan faces two mischief charges, including damaging a religious building and interfering with property. Police also shared that the Hate Crime Unit may ask for approval to add hate crime charges from Canada’s attorney general. His first court appearance is set for August 19.
This case comes as anti-Semitic incidents keep rising across Canada. Recent events include an attempted arson at Vancouver’s Schara Tzedeck Synagogue in May, gun attacks at a Toronto Jewish girls’ school last year, and a firebomb at Montreal’s Beth Tikvah synagogue.
In Ottawa, a city worker was fired and charged after spray painting a Holocaust memorial. Charges include mischief to a war memorial, mischief over $5,000, and harassment by threatening conduct.
B’nai Brith Canada reported 6,219 anti-Semitic incidents last year, the highest since tracking began in 1982. This is over a 7 percent increase from the previous year.
Anti-Semitic incidents in Toronto
A federal report found more anti-Semitic incidents in Toronto, Ontario, schools between October 2023 and January 2025. These included verbal harassment, threats, incitement, bullying, and some physical violence. About half of the reported incidents did not lead to any school investigation.
The report said most incidents were not related to Israel or the conflict with Hamas. Many were about denying the Holocaust, blaming Jews for having too much power, or making broad statements against Jews.
Ontario is home to over half of Canada’s Jewish population, which is about 400,000 people. Deborah Lyons, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Anti-Semitism, said anti-Semitic harassment is rising across the country, including in British Columbia.
Lyons posted on social media that while Jews are less than 1 percent of the population, they face 70 percent of reported religious hate crimes. In B.C., 62 percent of Jewish residents have faced at least one anti-Semitic incident since October 7, 2023. Early numbers from 2024 show the problem is growing.
