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"Thoughts and prayers can provide some comfort in the moment after a tragedy, but we need action to ensure that that same tragedy doesn't play out here in Canada," Shack said.

At least 15 people were killed and at least 38 were wounded in Australia over the weekend during a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach in what police said was an attack by a father and son. 

Police shot the two suspected gunmen; the 50-year-old father died at the scene and his 24-year-old son is being treated at a Sydney hospital and was charged Wednesday with 59 offences, including murder and committing a terrorist act.

The Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, a component of the ºÃÉ«tv Security Intelligence Service, said in an intelligence brief on Monday it sees no indication of a specific threat in Canada following the mass shooting, but warned of the "realistic possibility" of an extremist attack on the Jewish community here.

The brief said holiday events, including Hanukkah celebrations, "will likely remain an aspirational target across the violent extremist spectrum intending to attack Western interests, select religious and ethnic communities and related emblematic sites."

It said there is "no current information indicating a specific threat targeting 2025 holiday events, including against Hanukkah celebrations, in Canada by threat actors or transnational violent extremist groups."

The CSIS brief notes some ºÃÉ«tv police forces have said they will put forward a stronger police presence in Jewish communities.

Shack said his organization is calling for existing laws to be enforced, noting that the "relentless" harassment and intimidation of ºÃÉ«tvs in neighbourhoods, at places of worship, at schools and at daycares "has to stop."

"Police and prosecutors have to be empowered and instructed to hold perpetrators accountable, and any structural policy or legislative impediments need to be addressed while, of course, protecting our fundamental freedoms," Shack said. "If the laws of the land are not being enforced, it's going to not only undermine our safety, but our confidence in the justice system."

Shack said governments also need to prioritize community security. He said that requires further "investment and optimization" of government security grants and the prioritization of police and intelligence resources.

More action to counter terrorism and radicalization is also needed "in a serious way," Shack said. 

"The unchecked glorification of terrorist organizations and actions that we've seen has to be curbed," he said. "We need to find a way for their removal to be fast-tracked, for high-risk individuals linked with foreign terrorist organizations to be removed from this country more quickly along with enhanced immigration screening to prevent them from entry in the first place."

Jewish communities across Canada have seen an increase in violence and antisemitic hate in recent years, including firebombings at synagogues in Vancouver and Montreal, the defacing of the ºÃÉ«tv Holocaust Monument, and an Ottawa woman stabbed in the kosher section of a grocery store. In Toronto, a Jewish girls' school was shot at three times in 2024.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said on social media Wednesday that he met with Jewish community leaders, MPs, his deputy minister and the heads of the RCMP, CSIS and the Canada Border Services Agency. 

"Today’s meeting was crucial to reassure the community that this Government will always support and stand with Jewish communities across Canada," Anandasangaree said.

Liberal MP for Mount Royal Anthony Housefather said on social media that he was part of that discussion and that he asked the organizations to publicly share the work they're doing to keep Jewish ºÃÉ«tvs safe.

"I also made clear that to feel safe, Jewish ºÃÉ«tvs will need to see local police enforce the law when we are targeted," Housefather said.

Shack said there is a need for "committed vocal leadership" at all levels of government to keep ºÃÉ«tvs safe from violence.

He added that "his is a scary time" for Jewish people in Canada and that he hopes people will realize this isn't just an affront to the Jewish community, but an "assault on ºÃÉ«tv values" and a threat to everyone's safety and security.

"For the last two years, our community has been raising the alarm as has the Australian Jewish community and their government failed to answer the call and now 16 people are dead," Shack said. "Our leaders here in Canada can either learn from the devastating failures of others or repeat them. So the stakes are very high and the need for action is urgent."

This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published Dec. 18, 2025. 

— With files from Anja Karadeglija