September 19, 2025
OTTAWA – Following B’nai Brith Canada’s advocacy, the Federal Government has introduced legislation that, if enacted, will amend the Criminal Code and help address the crisis of antisemitism and surging levels of hate-motivated offences.
The bill, “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places),” contains provisions that would:
- Make it a criminal offence for anyone to obstruct or intimidate persons seeking to enter certain vulnerable infrastructure, including houses of worship, such as synagogues;
- Prohibit the public display, with malicious intent, of hate symbols, including Nazi iconography or iconography associated with listed terrorist entities;
- Eliminate the requirement for the Crown to obtain consent from the Attorney General in the relevant jurisdiction before laying hate crime charges;
- Create a stand-alone hate-crime charge to ensure that hate-motivated offences are duly recognized under the law.
“The Government’s approach to prosecuting hate crimes, protecting vulnerable infrastructure and criminalizing the display of hate symbols echoes B’nai Brith Canada’s longstanding recommendations,” said Richard Robertson, our Director of Research and Advocacy. “We applaud Minister of Justice and Attorney General Sean Fraser for heeding the concerns of Jewish Canadians, in taking action to protect our country from the scourge of hate and violent extremism.
“This bill should inspire further action to combat the proliferation of hate in our society. For instance, as we urged last week, parliament must formally recognize the state of antisemitism as a national crisis and establish a task force to study and develop a plan to combat rising antisemitism in this country. It would also be prudent for provincial and municipal leaders to follow Ottawa’s lead and enact additional policies to protect vulnerable Canadians from harassment and intimidation.”
Last year, B’nai Brith Canada launched an unprecedented, nation-wide campaign to call on lawmakers to make it illegal to intimidate others by displaying Nazi symbols, such as the Hakenkreuz, in public settings. This would bring Canada in line with many of its allies, including several European countries and Australia. About 15,000 Canadians have signed our petition promoting the campaign. Dozens of municipalities, as well as the Province of Saskatchewan, have also endorsed our efforts, as did several foreign embassies, including those of France, Austria, Germany, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Lithuania, and Poland.
In the past, B’nai Brith Canada has also advocated for the Government to make it a criminal offence to display symbols associated with groups it lists as terrorist entities, such as Hamas or Hezbollah. This problem was spotlighted during a wave of rallies in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel.
“B’nai Brith Canada calls on all members of Parliament to support this legislation,” Robertson said. “It is imperative that the amendments proposed in the bill are enacted into law without delay. Protecting Canadians from hate must not be a partisan issue.”