Canadian police arrested a suspect Friday morning after an overnight arson attack on a synagogue in Montreal, the latest act of violence targeting the Jewish community as antisemitism surges in Canada.
There were no injuries in the attack on Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, which suffered minor burn damage before the fire was extinguished. A window was also smashed, with the apparent aim of setting a blaze inside the synagogue.
The CBC public broadcaster identified the suspect as Steven Luu, 38. Among the charges he faces are arson and possession of incendiary and explosive materials, but is not currently suspected of a hate crime, though police said the investigation was continuing.
The synagogue was also targeted last year when a swastika was spray-painted on the building.
In an email to Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom congregants, Rabbi Lisa Grushcow decried “the scourge of antisemitism” and called for law enforcement to do more, saying that “responding requires being proactive, not reactive.”
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“Naming the ways in which external conflicts are being imported. Recognizing that while criticism of Israel can be legitimate, when the Jewish state and those who love it are libeled, violence against Jews is the result,” she said. “Politicians need courage. Law enforcement needs support. Neighborhoods need good neighbors.”
. @bnaibrithcanada is horrified after an arsonist targeted Montréal’s beloved @templemontreal , one of the city’s oldest synagogues, in the heart of Westmount.
We are in touch with community leaders and our partners in law enforcement. We have urged them to investigate the… pic.twitter.com/HzJwGGy42z
— Paola Samuel (@PaolaSamuel) June 5, 2026
Speaking with the Canadian Jewish News, Grushcow added that “we are unfortunately not surprised” by the attack.
“We cannot ignore the broader issues and the unmistakable rise of antisemitism in our city and our country. We also know that we are seeing an escalation: a swastika spray-painted on our building last spring, and now, an arson attack,” she said.
The incident at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom came the same week Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada was failing its Jews and the community is being brutally targeted by hate, as he announced a new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion that will examine the nature, scale and drivers of antisemitism. It will measure its impacts and investments in education, prevention and community safety will follow, his office said.
Carney noted that last year over two-thirds of all religion-motivated hate crimes were directed at Jewish Canadians. Jews make up only one percent of the population.
In an email Friday to the Canadian Jewish News following the synagogue attack in Montreal, the CEO of the local Federation CJA Yair Szlak said “our community does not need another study to tell us what we already know and live every day,” calling for the government to take on “radical extremism. A failure to name it and deal with it will destroy the Canada we know today.”
His group also released a joint statement with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs linking the arson to “a toxic antisemitic climate” while warning the Jewish community “cannot wait for a ‘Bondi Beach’ in Montreal,” referring to the terrorist attack in December when killed 15 were shot dead at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia.
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