‘Bullets are flying': Two more Toronto-area synagogues hit by gunfire

Two more Toronto-area synagogues were hit by gunfire early Saturday, hours after the city’s Jewish community was warned to exercise extra caution as Israel and the United States wage war on Iran.

“Both incidents took place at a time when the buildings were empty and no community members were present,” the city’s Jewish Security Network (JSN) said in a community security update.

The targets were the BAYT synagogue on Clark Avenue in Thornhill and Shaarei Shomayim synagogue in Glencairn Avenue in the Toronto neighbourhood of North York, the JSN said.

Earlier in the week, a North York synagogue,

Temple Emanu-El

, was shot at shortly after a Purim celebration on Monday. Although no injuries were reported, the doors of the shul were littered with bullet holes and broken glass.

“We know that there are armed and dangerous thugs connected to the Islamic Regime living freely in Canada. Bullets are flying and it is only a matter of time before one of them hits an innocent person,” Michael Westcott, CEO of Alies for a Strong Canada, said in a statement Saturday morning.

“

When that happens Chief Demkiw, Mayor Chow, Premier Ford and Prime Minister Carney will be responsible for not stopping this wave of violence that has been escalating for years under their collective watch, and frankly emboldening it by their inaction.”

York Region police said

in an X post

on Saturday morning that they found the front of the Beth Avraham Yoseph Synagogue damaged by gunfire. No one was injured in the incident, police say, adding a dark sedan was seen in the area at the time of the shooting.

Meanwhile,

Toronto police

said they were called to investigate shots fired at a synagogue in the Bathurst Street and Glencairn Avenue area.

Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca said in an email to the National Post that he is “disgusted and angered” at the BAYT shooting and knows how disconcerting it is for the Jewish community.

He said York Regional Police have told him they will increase their presence at the city’s synagogues.

“To the Jewish community in Vaughan, please know how sorry I am that you continue to be targeted in such an unfair and unacceptable way. As your Mayor, I will continue to do everything possible to protect and defend you,” Del Duca wrote.

Also in a

post to X

on Saturday, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said he is “a

ppalled at the shootings” targeting the Toronto synagogues.

Appalled at the shootings targeting Shaarei Shomayim and Beth Avraham Yoseph Synagogues of Toronto.
The Jewish Community is under attack in Canada. Government’s core responsibility is the safety of its people. It is time to end this violence once and for all.
We stand in total…

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) March 7, 2026

Israel’s ambassador to Canada

posted on X Saturday

morning that he is “

shocked and outraged by the shooting attacks that targeted Bayt Synagogue in Thornhill and Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue in North York, Toronto, last night. These cowardly assaults on houses of worship are abhorrent acts of violence that strike at the heart of our shared values—safety, dignity, and freedom of religion.”

https://twitter.com/moediddo/status/2030300851466592364?s=43&t=qjKgq6jsQWvn3D08VUX-OA%22%3Ehttps://x.com/moediddo/status/2030300851466592364?s=43&t=qjKgq6jsQWvn3D08VUX-OA%3C/a%3E

Melissa Lantsman, MP for Thornhill and Deputy Leader of the Opposition wrote on X Saturday that f

or years “the government has talked while communities have been attacked. We called on them more than two years ago to take concrete action: enforce the law, confront foreign threats, and ensure Canadians can worship without fear.”

She proposed a blueprint for immediate steps including: establishing an Anti-Hate Crime Task Force; doubling funding and removing red tape from the Security Infrastructure Program so synagogues, schools, and community centres can quickly access  funding “BEFORE” an attack happens; expelling Iranian regime operatives; establishing a foreign influence registry.

Enough with the “this is not who we are” statements and the feigned outrage from people who seem eternally surprised.
For years the government has talked while communities have been attacked. We called on them more than two years ago to take concrete action: enforce the law,…

— Melissa Lantsman (@MelissaLantsman) March 7, 2026

The Centre

for Israel and Jewish Affairs released a statement Saturday about the incidents, also advocating for urgent action:

“Our leaders must be absolutely clear that it is outrageous for Canadian communities to face violence because of events happening abroad. No more ‘thoughts and prayers,’ we need to see urgent action.

“All levels of government must move immediately to address the escalating security demands of communities targeted by this wave of violence. Resources should flow quickly and distributed directly to communities most at risk.”

Toronto’s deputy mayor Mike Colle emailed the National Post on Saturday afternoon, decrying the attacks and adding his voice to the calls for urgent action. Both synagogues are in his ward.

“Violent antisemitic terror attacks in Toronto and the GTA are becoming an almost daily occurrence.
With many arrests already made in Canada, the U.S., U.K. and Australia over foreign terrorist activity, there can be no doubt that this is behind many of these attacks here in Canada.”

He noted that 
Toronto City Council unanimously passed my motion in December 2025, calling for a Joint Task Force including the RCMP, CSIS, OPP and Toronto Police to combat antisemitic hate and violent crime.
 

“

How many more need to happen or for somebody to get killed before the RCMP and OPP show up?,” he wrote.

On Friday, the JSN recommended community members remain alert in public spaces, refuse entry to buildings from “unknown individuals” and to “be attentive when arriving at or leaving Jewish institutions or events.”

“Iran and its proxies have historically targeted Jewish and Israeli interests outside the Middle East,” the security agency

launched

 by the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) wrote on Friday. “For this reason, it is important that communities remain alert and take sensible precautions.”

The message echoes concerns raised this week by Israel’s national security services to exercise “increased caution in all destinations around the world.”

“Since the start of Operation Roaring Lion, there has been an identified surge in motivation and an increase in terrorist activity and threats from Iranian security agencies against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide,” the country’s National Security Council (NSC)

The NSC alert referenced recent Iranian attacks against other Middle Eastern countries, including Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), adding that “several attempts to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis have been thwarted and disrupted.”

The council advised nationals to avoid sharing personal information in real time, avoid flights through the UAE, to “conceal Jewish and Israeli identifiers in public spaces” and “avoid visiting sites identified as Jewish or Israeli,” such as Chabad houses or synagogues.

The Israeli alert flagged an increased threat from “lone-wolf attackers” in recent days, including a

shooting

in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, and another in Toronto the following night. 

After the temple Emanu-el shhooting, t

he Jewish Security Network emphasized it should “serve as a reminder that the environment we operate in requires continued vigilance.

“For months, the warning signs have been there,” Michael Levitt, president of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies, wrote on X following the Temple Emanu-El attack.

-With files from Ari David Blaff

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