JTA — Two more Toronto synagogues were hit with gunfire on Shabbat, making three struck since last week.

A shooter fired through the glass doors of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in the Thornhill neighborhood, at about 11:45 p.m. Friday. Two maintenance workers were still cleaning up from a Shabbat dinner.

Just 30 minutes later, a shooter approached the Orthodox Shaarei Shomayim congregation in North York, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south, and fired multiple rounds at the entrance. In both cases, only the buildings were damaged, and no injuries were reported.

Toronto Police Service, led by the gun and gang task force and hate crime unit, are investigating whether the two incidents are connected. As the investigation continues, TPS said it is maintaining an increased police presence around Jewish neighborhoods, synagogues and community institutions.

The shootings come as Jewish security officials warn of possible threats to Jewish institutions connected to the US-Israel war against Iran, whose agents have planned and staged attacks on Jewish sites around the world for decades.

They also follow a third shooting at a Toronto-area synagogue last week. A Toronto synagogue was hit with gunfire on March 2, less than two hours after a Purim event there concluded, while the community’s rabbi was still inside. No injuries were reported.

As a Canadian, and especially as a Jewish Canadian, nothing could hit harder than seeing shattered glass and bullet holes at a synagogue. Over the past week, 3 synagogues in the GTA have been hit by gunfire. The first feeling is outrage. But yesterday, as I visited Shaarei… pic.twitter.com/DVVPNIJ7H6 — Julie Dabrusin (@juliedabrusin) March 9, 2026

As a Canadian, and especially as a Jewish Canadian, nothing could hit harder than seeing shattered glass and bullet holes at a synagogue. Over the past week, 3 synagogues in the GTA have been hit by gunfire. The first feeling is outrage. But yesterday, as I visited Shaarei… pic.twitter.com/DVVPNIJ7H6

— Julie Dabrusin (@juliedabrusin) March 9, 2026

“This is a violent act of intimidation and part of a pattern of emboldened antisemitism that has no place in Toronto,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said in a video statement Saturday morning. “It must be stopped.”

This week’s string of gunfire attacks is the latest iteration of attacks on Jewish institutions across Canada. In 2024, two Jewish girls’ schools in Montreal were shot one week apart.

“This threat is real,” said Sara Lefton, chief development officer of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, which sent a note Friday night. “If three synagogue attacks in one week don’t prove that this is a very, very real and live threat, I’m not sure what everyone is waiting for.”

Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:

Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;

Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and

Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.

Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.

So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel

1 1 man killed, 2 seriously wounded as Iranian cluster bomb warhead hits central Israel

2 AnalysisMore hardline than his father, Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment signals defiance and revenge

3 Calls grow for Australia to give Iran’s women’s soccer team asylum after anthem protest

4 NATO downs second Iranian missile over Turkey; Erdogan says Iran has been warned

5 Iran names Khamenei’s shadowy, hardline son Mojtaba as new supreme leader

6 Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly owns two London properties overlooking the Israeli Embassy

7 Synagogue in Belgium damaged in blast, no injuries; mayor: ‘Violent act of antisemitism’

8 Hezbollah missile fire wounds 16; damages daycare, ‘infrastructure’ in central Israel

© The Times of Israel