Canadian police probe death threats targeting 9 Muslim schools
Canadian police have launched multiple investigations after nine Muslim schools received an email threatening mass violence against Muslims, with authorities deploying additional officers around schools and mosques, according to CBC News.
The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), which operates the targeted private schools, reported the threat to police in several cities and to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after the same message was sent to schools in different parts of the country.
The email, reviewed by CBC News, contained explicitly anti-Muslim rhetoric and threatened Muslims with deportation or killing. The sender, who identified themselves as "Jehu, Citizen Vigilante," claimed large numbers of Canadians were prepared to take up arms.
The message also referenced an upcoming referendum in Alberta and threatened that Muslims would be "deported or slaughtered," adding that the threatened violence would occur regardless of the result.
The scale of the threat prompted investigations involving several police forces and specialized hate crime units.
Peel Regional Police in the Greater Toronto Area increased its presence near mosques and schools as its hate crime unit opened an investigation. Police said enhanced patrols would remain in place through the weekend.
London Police Service, which is investigating a threat received by a local school, said it was working with other law enforcement agencies to determine possible connections between the incidents. Authorities said potential offenses could include uttering threats, criminal harassment and inciting hatred.
Waterloo Regional Police also opened a hate crime investigation and conducted safety planning at an affected school, while Ottawa police increased visibility around religious institutions and the school involved in its complaint.
Ottawa authorities said there was no information indicating a specific or imminent threat to religious or educational institutions in the city.
The threats come against the backdrop of a sharp rise in reported hate crimes in Canada.
Police-recorded hate crimes increased from 1,817 cases in 2018 to 4,882 in 2024, according to Statistics Canada figures cited by CBC. Anti-Muslim incidents rose from 84 to 229 during the same period.
Hate crimes targeting Jewish people have also increased significantly, rising from 331 reported incidents in 2020 to 920 in 2024.
Nabil Sultan, a spokesperson for MAC, said the organization had previously encountered hateful messages but had never seen a single threat directed at so many of its schools.
The latest incident has also renewed concerns stemming from the 2021 killing of four members of the Afzaal family in London, Ontario. The Muslim family was deliberately struck by a truck while out for an evening walk in an attack a Canadian judge later ruled was an act of terrorism.
Sultan told CBC the new threats were a reminder that fears of anti-Muslim violence had not disappeared.
At Abraar Elementary School in Ottawa, one of the targeted schools, police were deployed outside as families arrived and left.
Principal Mohammed Saleem told CBC that the severity of the language and explicit threats against children came as a "total shock." The school informed parents and prepared teachers to discuss the situation with students while consulting police over security measures.
Saleem also called for stronger action against Islamophobia, criticizing the Canadian government's decision earlier this year to replace separate offices dedicated to combating Islamophobia and antisemitism with a broader advisory body addressing different forms of hate.
Former Canadian special representative on combating Islamophobia Amira Elghawaby, speaking to CBC from New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, said authorities must ensure that religious minorities receive adequate protection and support.
The threats against the Muslim schools emerged shortly after a shooting near the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, which authorities have described as a deliberate hate-motivated attack targeting the Jewish community.