A Toronto synagogue was shot at Monday night, causing damage to the building’s exterior, according to police. 

Toronto Police Service said that there were several bullet holes in the front windows of Temple Emanu-El in North York. No injuries were reported. 

The shooting occurred shortly before 11pm, as some people remained inside the building following a Purim celebration, a source with knowledge of the incident told Jewish Insider. Officers found “multiple shell casings at the front entrance of the synagogue, evidence of gunfire and damage to the building,” Toronto Police Deputy Chief Robert Johnson said during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. No information about the suspect or the type of firearm used has been confirmed, Johnson said.  

“This is being investigated as a targeted incident” by the Integrated Gun & Gang Task Force and Hate Crime Unit, a police spokesperson told JI. 

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow called the shooting “an unacceptable act of antisemitism and intimidation.”

“We will not tolerate antisemitic hate in our city. Toronto Police are investigating and will increase their presence in the area to keep the community and congregants safe,” Chow said. “Toronto’s Jewish community has the right to practice their faith without fear, intimidation or violence.”

“The synagogue I attended as a boy and youth, where I was bar mitzvah’d and received my primary Jewish education, now under gunfire in once-peaceable North York, Ontario,” David Frum, senior editor at The Atlantic, wrote on X. 

In response to the shooting, the Jewish Security Network of Greater Toronto, which is part of Toronto’s Jewish federation, said in a statement that it advises “the community to exercise heightened vigilance and awareness at this time.” 

The shooting came as Jewish communities worldwide are on increased alert amid U.S.-Israeli operations against Iran. Earlier this week, security groups warned of potential risk to Jewish institutions globally by attackers motivated by the events. 

Canada has seen a particularly egregious rise in antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. So far in 2026, 22 antisemitic occurrences have been reported in Toronto, representing approximately 62% of all reported hate crimes, according to police. 

Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism found a 670 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in the country in 2024.