Jewish organizations in Canada are increasingly helping families explore emigration as antisemitic violence reaches record levels, with informational tours to destinations such as Panama and Oklahoma drawing growing interest from those who no longer feel secure in the country.
Canada, home to the world's fourth-largest Jewish community, has experienced a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in recent years.
Jewish advocacy groups say the worsening climate is prompting some families to consider leaving altogether, while others are actively investigating relocation opportunities abroad or in the United States.
The Toronto-based Tafsik Organization, a Jewish civil rights group, told The Media Line this past week that it has begun organizing informational trips to Panama, attracting dozens of families interested in exploring the Central American country as a possible new home.
Another destination drawing attention is Tulsa, Oklahoma. The US-based Tulsa Tomorrow organization said as many as 1,500 Jewish Canadians have expressed interest in visiting the city to learn about relocation opportunities.
The organization has already helped several families relocate from Canada to Tulsa. Among them was the family of Michael Sachs, who left Vancouver last July after enduring severe harassment related to his high-profile role as director of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Western Canada.
"I feel that Tulsa has been a relief of stress for us as a Jewish family," he said.
Rivka Campbell, executive director of Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto, said she is hearing increasingly from elderly members of her congregation who spend winters in Florida that life there feels markedly different.
"It's almost like they can breathe when they leave Toronto," she told The Media Line.
Campbell said Canada's hate speech laws are not being adequately enforced.
"I know there's this feeling, 'Well, if we arrest them, they'll probably get off.' So what? So what? Arrest them anyway. Send a message that we don't tolerate hate in any form."
"Of course, we feel physically vulnerable, 100%," she concluded. "Some will say, yeah, today may be OK, but there's this underlying feeling of it's a matter of time."
Kim Werker, president of the Reform Jewish Community of Canada, agreed, telling The Media Line that while much of the antisemitism she has observed occurs online, it is increasingly spilling into everyday life, with visibly Jewish people being harassed on the streets, in schools, on public transportation and at work.
"What I'm seeing more are comments that indicate that people in our Canadian society do not see Jews as worthy of the same kinds of compassion and support as anyone else in Canada," she said.
Amir Epstein of the Tafsik Organization told The Media Line that growing numbers of Canadian Jews are losing faith in their future in the country.
"This is where we've come down to in our community, that people are really seriously looking to leave," he said.
B'nai Brith Canada documented 6,800 antisemitic incidents in 2025, the highest annual total since it began publishing its reports in 1982.
Public officials have acknowledged the growing concern and are promising stronger action.
Toronto Acting Deputy Police Chief Joe Matthews recently said, "We recognize that Jewish residents have been living with a heightened sense of fear due to repeated incidents targeting their community, and this only adds to that, which is unacceptable."
However, Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman told The Media Line that "Nobody should have to ask their government to enforce a law, because that's the government's job—but that's where we're at today. The fact that this is even controversial shows you just how much work we have to do to restore normalcy here in Canada."
The All Israel News S
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