Ottawa Police Service reveal hate crime reports decline, Jewish community says more needs to be done

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Carleton chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Reporting for this story began in 2024 and continued into 2025 to reflect current developments.

Jewish students say that antisemitic hate crimes are not treated seriously by police, despite the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) reporting a four per cent decrease in annual hate crime reports.

In Canada, police-reported hate crimes targeting Jews rose 71 per cent to 900 incidents in 2023, compared with 527 in 2022, according to Statistics Canada. 

Antisemitism continues to be a pressing issue, especially following Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas, a Palestinian militant group attacked Israel. 

As recently as Oct. 2, 2025, two people were killed at a synagogue in Manchester, United Kingdom, that was attacked on Yom Kippur—a sacred Jewish holiday.

OPS published a press release on Jan. 29, 2025, observing a four per cent decrease in annual hate crime reports, where OPS addressed 467 incidents in 2024, compared with 487 incidents in 2023. 

OPS were not able to comment on whether the decline is attributed to improved police enforcement, fewer incidents or less people reporting hate crimes. 

Of the 467 incidents, OPS found 351 were criminal and 116 were “hate-motivated incidents.” 

According to the press release, Jews were ranked as the most targeted group for hate crime reported incidents, with 113 incidents, compared to 54 incidents for LGBTQ2+ and 18 incidents for Muslims. 

‘A death threat should be treated as a big deal’

Nathan Taieb, a Jewish student at the University of Ottawa, says this statistic is not surprising.

While OPS encourages those who experience hate crimes to reach out, many continue to be underreported. Out of fear of repercussions, Taieb nearly didn’t report his incident.  

“If you make a decision to go to the police, you have to ask yourself if there will be consequences, especially for hate crimes,” Taieb said. 

In 2024, Taieb received a death threat from a high school classmate on Instagram, after putting an Israeli flag on his bio.

“She told me she was going to put a bag over my head until I suffocated and then shoot me,” Taieb said. 

Instead of pressing charges, Taieb asked the police to issue a warning. While Taieb’s classmate no longer contacted him, he felt his case was treated “nonchalantly” by police. 

“I thought they were going to be more concerned,” Taieb said. “They said, ‘This is like the fifth time we’ve dealt with something like this today.’”

Taieb’s concern is that if antisemitic hate crimes are increasingly “normalized” by police, Jewish students may feel like their incidents are not worth reporting. “A death threat should be treated as a big deal.”

reporting hate crimes is key

Chaim Boyarsky, a rabbi at Chabad on Campus, a Jewish organization for university students, said that Chabad, located at 254 Friel Street in Sandy Hill, had a rock thrown into the window.

Despite calling OPS, he said no action took place. 

On other occasions, Boyarsky said OPS also did not show up when a nearby synagogue was broken into after items were left scattered on the floor and an employee’s motorcycle was stolen. 

“People aren’t reporting to the police because they don’t see action taken,” Boyarsky said. 

Taieb and Boyarsky still encourage Jewish students who face serious hate crimes, like death threats, to report to the police and fight against discrimination. 

“If you feel like you’re in danger, go see the police, without hesitation,” Taieb said. 

Taieb says he hopes OPS works more closely with the Jewish community in the future, so Jewish students feel comfortable reporting incidents and confident in OPS to address and combat antisemitism in Ottawa.