For most Jewish students, university is the first time Jewish identity becomes a personal choice. They’ve moved on from day school, Jewish camp, shul with family. Now they’re in sole ownership of what being Jewish means to them. They ask: How do I express this? Who do I share it with?
They’re making that choice on campuses where Jewish and Zionist identity carries real social cost. Where student governments pass BDS resolutions and antisemitism hides behind activism. Right as students are deciding what Judaism means to them, the environment is telling them it might be safer not to decide at all.
They’re deciding anyway. On every campus, in record numbers.
Two years after October 7 changed Jewish campus life overnight, the remarkable thing isn’t that students are still showing up. It’s how they’re showing up. Through Shabbat dinners and advocacy training. Through Israeli cultural programming and interfaith bridge-building. Through basketball tournaments and post-grad networking and Hebrew over coffee. Through launching Jewish clubs on campuses that never had one. The engagement hasn’t just sustained. It’s expanded.
This year’s report is called More Ways In because that’s what students built. More pathways, more entry points, more room for every version of Jewish life on campus. What follows is the story of how they got here.
Your investment made every one of those pathways possible. The students you’re about to read about, the communities they built, the conversations they changed, none of it happens without you.
On behalf of 14,000 Jewish students on the campuses we serve, thank you for believing in what they’re building. We are deeply proud to share this year’s story with you.
Over the past four years, our annual reach has nearly doubled as we connect with more unique students than ever before. By evolving alongside student interests, we create tailored opportunities that meet them exactly where they are. These diverse entry points into Jewish life empower students to build vibrant Jewish identities, foster a lasting connection to Israel, and deepen their dedication to the Jewish community.
0Unique students engaged
0Students involved in advocacy
0Students involved in Israel programming
0Shabbat meals served
0Students traveled to Israel
0Peer-elected student leaders
Total student touch points35,6630
ThroughJewish Life.
Some students walk in for Shabbat. Some for the holidays. Some to learn. They all find community.
Jewish life on campus is unapologetic. It's bold. And it's attracting more students than ever before. Students are walking into Shabbat dinners, building sukkahs, diving into text study, asking big questions. Hillel is where they land, whether they've been celebrating Shabbat their whole lives or they're showing up for the first time.
From Friday night dinners to specialized cohorts exploring Jewish texts and Israeli history, students found their entry point. They all found community.
0
Shabbat dinners across Ontario
0
Students asking big questions in learning fellowships
Hillel is where they find their people.
Hillel Guelph marked the class of 2026 with a Golden Shabbat — from their first Shabbat on campus to their last.
For some students, celebrating Shabbat on campus is a continued expression of their Jewish identity. They’re familiar with the tradition, and come to Hillel for a community worth celebrating it with. For others, a Hillel Shabbat dinner might be a new entry point: the very first step into an organized Jewish community.
No matter a student's reason for celebrating Shabbat, we provide the community and space to do so in the ways that matter most to them. That's why each of our campuses work with student boards to plan and host Shabbat programming that speaks to their interests. Across the province, students are curating the Jewish life and community they want to see.
They brought light to every campus.
Students made Jewish holidays visible, public, joyful. When Jewish life is out in the open, it's easier for other students to find us. A menorah on campus, a table of sufganiyot, students celebrating together: these moments of public Jewish joy are natural entry points.
By tabling for holidays like Chanukah and Purim, we reached thousands of passersby, engaging both fellow Jewish students discovering Hillel for the first time and community members experiencing joyous Jewish life.
Jewish students brought light to campuses across the province — with proud, visible celebration of Jewish life and identity.
Jewski hosted a Novy God celebration, drawing students from Hillel Anywhere, UofT, York, and TMU to honour another part of all they are.
Jewish students carry more than one identity. We celebrate all of them.
Jewish students across Ontario come from all backgrounds: Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrachi, Russian, Israeli, South Asian, and dozens more. Across our campuses, student-led micro-communities have formed around shared identities and affinities, from Mizrachi Shabbat dinners to Indian-Jewish cooking nights to Russian cultural programming.
These aren't one-off events. They're ongoing communities where students explore what it means to be both Jewish and everything else they are.
Since October 7, Rainbow Jews has taken on new urgency.
Many Jewish students in 2SLGBTQ+ communities have found themselves shut out of progressive spaces that once felt like home. Rainbow Jews, our micro-community for queer and gender-diverse students and allies, ensures they have a space on campus that welcomes the whole of who they are.
At TMU, 100 students came to hear Rabbi Steven Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi and founder of Eshel, for an evening celebrating queer Jewish identity.
Rainbow Jews Shabbat dinners across the province created space for queer Jewish students to show up as their whole selves.
Across every identity, the principle is the same:Hillel is where students show up as their full selves.
Hillel Western's Shabbat Hosting Lab gave students the tools to bring Shabbat home, from campus to communities across London.
From guests to hosts.
For students looking to own their Jewish identity and build the community they want, Hillel is where they start. At Western, students took that a step further through the Shabbat Hosting Lab: a 6-week program where they developed the knowledge, skills, and confidence to lead Shabbat in their own communities.
The result is vibrant Jewish life expanding beyond campus, into dorms and apartments across London. These students will carry what they learned into their future families and communities.
When they wanted to go deeper, we gave them space.
0 students joined specialized learning cohorts this year, diving into Jewish texts, Israeli history, and Zionist thought. Students committed weeks to wrestling with complex questions about identity, peoplehood, and what it means to be visibly Jewish on campus today. When students are ready to go deeper, Hillel is where they turn.
Kol Yisrael
Kol Yisrael is a 6-week cohort learning program for students to explore big ideas and big questions with Israel as a real-world case study. Students explore diverse perspectives and views from within the Israeli landscape, cultivating resilient empathy for a world full of complex human experiences. Through engaging texts and universal values, Kol Yisrael enables learners to encounter others’ perspectives in a genuine way while also authentically bringing their own voices to the conversation.
Jewish Learning Fellowship
The Jewish Learning Fellowship (JLF) is a 10-week experiential, conversational seminar for students looking to deepen their understanding of Judaism on their own terms. We’re interested in asking big questions, like: Who am I? What communities am I a part of? What is worth committing myself to, and why? The cohort structure builds a group of students who become friends, supporting one another as they navigate Jewish communal life. JLF also makes no claims about the “right” way to be Jewish. Through the prism of Torah and other ancient texts, fellows address life’s biggest questions, drawing on the life experiences and intuition of students.
ThroughBolder Programming.
Bigger events. Bolder programming. New faces.
Jewish community doesn't always start with Shabbat candles. Sometimes it starts with a basketball tournament, a party, or a baseball game. This year, Hillel Ontario invested in programming designed around what students are already drawn to: sports, social gatherings, and cross-campus connection.
These events are opening doors for students who are ready for Jewish community but haven't found their way in yet.
0
dollars raised for the London Ronald McDonald House at Hillel Western's pickleball tournament
0
students celebrated Shabbat with Yoel Levy
They came to compete. They left connected.
Hillel Ontario's inaugural Basketball Tournament drew dozens of students from across the province to compete. One in three had never been to a Hillel event before. They came because they play basketball. They left knowing other Jewish students on campuses across Ontario.
That's the point: a student who wouldn't walk into a Hillel lounge for a Friday night dinner will sign up for a basketball tournament without hesitating. The entry point is different. The community they find is the same.
1 in 3had never been to a Hillel event before
Winners on the podium at Hillel Western’s SMASH pickleball tournament.
A new sport, a good cause, and a way in.
Hillel Western’s pickleball tournament combined friendly competition with giving back. Students who had never engaged with Hillel showed up for the sport, raised $2,000 for the London Ronald McDonald House, and walked away with new connections to Jewish community on campus. For students who might not see themselves as “Hillel students,” a pickleball tournament is a different kind of invitation — one that feels low-pressure and interest-driven.
They show up for the sport. The Jewish community is already there when they arrive.
They turned Jewish holidays into the biggest nights out.
This year, through a continued partnership with Mishpacha Social Club and fellow campus groups like AVI and SSI, Hillel Ontario brought Jewish holiday celebrations to a bigger stage. Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Purim, and Chanukah became club nights, with hundreds of students and young Jewish professionals filling venues across Toronto to celebrate Jewish and Zionist identity together. Packed rooms, electric energy, and Jewish pride as the centrepiece of the night.
For students already spending their weekends in Toronto’s social scene, these events meet them exactly where they are. Jewish celebration, amplified in the spaces and format students already gravitate toward. The result: students who may never have engaged with Hillel on campus walk into a room full of people who share their identity, their pride, and their energy.
Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Purim, and Chanukah became club nights across Toronto.
Hillel nights at Blue Jays and Raptors games turn a game students already love into a moment of Jewish connection.
They were already fans. Now they're part of something bigger.
Jewish students carry a lot of identities, including who they cheer for. When students are already showing up at Rogers Centre and Scotiabank Arena, a group outing turns a game they love into a moment of Jewish connection. That's why we organize Hillel nights at Blue Jays and Raptors games.
For a student who isn't ready to walk into a Shabbat dinner, sitting in a section full of Jewish students cheering for the same team is a way to feel part of something Jewish without any pressure. What starts as a baseball game becomes a first connection to the community.
From their feeds to their campus. 150 students at Shabbat.
In an era of content creation and influencer culture, connecting students to Jewish voices they already follow online is a powerful draw. This year, we brought Yoel Levy (@thejewishfitnesscoach) to campus. Known online as the Jewish Batman after running marathons in costume in honour of the Bibas family, Yoel talked to students about Jewish identity and pride in a digital landscape where antisemitism runs rampant.
He visited Western, Guelph, Queen’s, and campuses across the GTA, where he celebrated Shabbat with more than 150 students. For students whose Jewish identity lives primarily online — in the accounts they follow and the content they share — meeting those voices in person turns a digital connection into a real one.
Camp Hillel Balaila brought students together for an August weekend of art, music, and team sports.
Summer camp, reimagined. Jewish joy off campus.
Jewish life doesn't stop in the summer, and neither does Hillel. This August, we brought together students from across Ontario for an immersive weekend of Jewish joy built around art, music, and team sports. Camp Hillel Balaila gave students a chance to experience Jewish community in a completely different setting than campus, exploring identity and connection through the kind of shared, hands-on experiences that stick with people long after the weekend ends.
The entry point is different.The community they find is the same.
ThroughLEV.
The first national Shabbaton in twenty years
0 students.0 campuses.0 days.
Campus is where Jewish leadership takes shape. It’s where students decide whether Jewish life and community will remain central to who they are long after graduation. The students leading on campus today will be leading boardrooms, classrooms, and Jewish organizations for the next forty years.
That’s why Hillel Ontario, in collaboration with Hillel Montreal, Hillel Ottawa and Hillel BC, invested in leadership development at a national scale. ELEVATE brought 300 students from over 25 campuses together for a weekend of advocacy training, skill-building, and Shabbat.
Students experienced Jewish campus life at a scale most had never seen.
For many, this was the largest Jewish gathering they had ever attended. The musical Havdalah emerged as the weekend’s emotional peak. Students sang, danced, and marked the end of Shabbat together in a moment they described as “genuinely magical.”
0%experienced a greater sense of belonging
0%felt more confident as a Jew
0%inspired to take on leadership roles
Students who arrived knowing only their own campusreturned ready to lead beyond it.
ThroughEmerging Campuses.
Hillel is anywhere Jewish students are.
0students supported on emerging campuses
Not every Jewish student lands on a campus with an established Hillel. Some go years without organized Jewish community. When antisemitism surfaces, they navigate it alone.
This year, 350 students on emerging campuses across Ontario didn’t have to manage on their own. Hillel Anywhere connected them to Jewish life, advocacy support, and each other.
22 campuses reached this year.
Brock University • Centennial College • Conestoga College • Durham College • Fanshawe College • Georgian College • George Brown College • Humber College • Lakehead University • Laurentian University • Mohawk College • Niagara College • OCAD • Ontario Tech • Seneca College • Sheridan College • St. Lawrence College • Trent University • University of Guelph-Humber • University of Toronto Mississauga • University of Toronto Scarborough • University of Windsor
Brock UniversityCentennial CollegeConestoga CollegeDurham CollegeFanshawe CollegeGeorgian CollegeGeorge Brown CollegeHumber CollegeLakehead UniversityLaurentian UniversityMohawk CollegeBrock UniversityCentennial CollegeConestoga CollegeDurham CollegeFanshawe CollegeGeorgian CollegeGeorge Brown CollegeHumber CollegeLakehead UniversityLaurentian UniversityMohawk College
Niagara CollegeOCADOntario TechSeneca CollegeSheridan CollegeSt. Lawrence CollegeTrent UniversityUniversity of Guelph-HumberUniversity of Toronto MississaugaUniversity of Toronto ScarboroughUniversity of WindsorNiagara CollegeOCADOntario TechSeneca CollegeSheridan CollegeSt. Lawrence CollegeTrent UniversityUniversity of Guelph-HumberUniversity of Toronto MississaugaUniversity of Toronto ScarboroughUniversity of Windsor
Small campus. Same community.
Students on emerging campuses shouldn’t be cut off from Jewish life because their school doesn’t have a Hillel. This year, we connected them to the broader Hillel Ontario network: GTA Shabbat dinners, Shuk Night, cross-campus holiday programming. Seventeen students from Hillel Anywhere campuses joined the national ELEVATE Shabbaton, connecting with peers from across Canada for leadership development.
0
Campuses supported
0
New Jewish clubs ratified or in process
As President of the JSA, I connected with Mia from Hillel Anywhere. She guided us through club bylaws, provided materials for Holocaust Remembrance Day, and showed meaningful support throughout.
— Emilio Conde Ludena, JSA President
Navigating antisemitism shouldn’t depend on campus size.
Jewish students on smaller campuses, or campuses with small Jewish populations, often have fewer resources available to them to report antisemitism.
That’s why through Hillel Anywhere, we’re ensuring students on every campus have access to professional advocacy when they face harassment. At the University of Toronto Mississauga, Jewish students were harassed and intimidated at an October 7 commemoration while their student union hosted an event titled “Honouring Our Martyrs.” We mobilized to provide expert advocacy and strategic consultation, guiding students through a formal complaints process with the Complaint and Resolution Council for Student Societies (CRCSS) at UTM.
In May, CRCSS recognized that Jewish students whose identities include a connection to Zionism were not meaningfully considered within key decision-making processes of the student union responsible for representing them. The decision also emphasized that the student union must remain attentive to how institutional advocacy positions and public communications affect their minority members.
By escalating these grievances to the highest levels, we’re working to hold perpetrators accountable and demanding that Jewish and Israeli students receive the same respect as all other campus groups. Students at emerging campuses across Ontario now have the same institutional backing as students at campuses with established Hillel chapters. When antisemitism happens, they don’t navigate it alone.
Meet
Dr. Mia Theocaris
Director of Advocacy, Hillel Anywhere | Hillel Ontario
Dr. Mia Theocaris joined Hillel Ontario last year in a new position created to ensure Jewish students on smaller campuses aren’t isolated. As an advocacy expert, she builds relationships with university administrators, EDI offices, campus safety teams, and community partners so that when Jewish students need support, the infrastructure is already there. Much of her student-facing work is one-on-one: personalized mentorship conversations, helping students think through how to respond to antisemitism in a classroom or advocate for themselves within institutional processes.
“It’s incredibly moving to offer visible support in spaces where it rarely existed before, and to watch students discover that Jewish community can thrive anywhere.”
— Mia Theocaris, PhD
When there’s no Jewish life on campus, students are building it.
Georgian College students successfully launched the Jewish Student Association this year, the first official Jewish student club on campus.
Powered by Hillel Anywhere, students lead publicly while receiving behind-the-scenes support like funding, advocacy training, and direct guidance to build Jewish community on campus.
“With Hillel Ontario’s support, I learned how to navigate complex systems, advocate effectively, and use my voice with confidence. Most importantly, the experience reinforced that Jewish student voices deserve to be heard and that meaningful change is possible when students work together to advocate for their community.”
— Courtland Millman, JSA UTM Co-President
Their campus may be small.The community they belong to isn’t.
ThroughPost-Grad Experiences.
Between campus and what comes next, there’s a gap. We’re filling it.
0graduate students & young adults stayed connected to Jewish life through Hillel
Leaving campus is its own kind of leap. Four years of Shabbat dinners, friends who get it, a Jewish community all in one place, and then suddenly it’s not. This year, we made post-grad programming a real priority, grounded in what young professionals are actually telling us they want: career-focused events, intentional meetups, curated discussions that match where they are in life.
Not programming they have to age into. Programming that meets them now.
Meet
Noam Kamm
Director of Post-Grad Initiatives | Hillel Ontario
Noam Kamm knows the leap firsthand. A Hillel Ontario alum, she experienced the transition from Jewish campus life to figuring out what comes next. Now she’s back, making sure the next generation of grads doesn’t have to figure it out alone. As Hillel’s first Director of Post-Grad Initiatives, Noam works with graduate students and young adults across the GTA to build the programming young professionals are actually asking for: networking with Jewish peers in their industries, community that fits their stage of life, and a bridge to the broader Jewish organizations they’ll grow with long after Hillel.
Future lawyers and doctors. Still Jewish students.
Law school, medical school, graduate programs that consume every hour. For Jewish students in intensive professional tracks, maintaining connection to Jewish life falls to the bottom of the list fast. We’re making sure it doesn’t have to. Through partnerships with the Jewish Medical Association of Toronto and by powering the Canadian Jewish Law Students Association, now in its second year, Hillel provides Jewish grad students with professional networks, mentorship, and community built around their identity.
This year, CJLSA connected 55 law students and legal professionals for an evening of mentorship and connection, bringing together students from across Ontario with established practitioners in the Jewish legal community.
Through the Jewish Medical Association of Toronto, 38 medical students and residents connected with Israeli physicians from Ilanot Galilee over Shabbat, building professional networks that bridge diaspora and Israeli medical communities.
Osgoode Hall Law students celebrated Shabbat together with Hillel, carving out time for Jewish connection and community during one of their busiest moments as students.
“Even years post-grad, it’s clear, now more than ever, how important it is to stay connected and involved in the Jewish community, and moments like this make it incredibly easy.”
— Marni Weinberg, Western Alumni ’20
Hillel is where they start. Not where they stop.
Post-grad Jewish life isn’t something graduate students and young professionals should have to figure out on their own. We connect recent grads to the broader Jewish community through partnerships with UJA Connect and UJA Genesis, giving them a pathway into the communal spaces they’ll be part of for decades.
And we’re building our own programming alongside it: networking nights, summer events, and gatherings designed specifically for young professionals who aren’t ready to age into the next stage but aren’t on campus anymore either. Hillel is where they started. We’re making sure it’s also where they stay connected.
Not programming they have to age into.Programming that meets them now.
ThroughAdvocacy.
More ways to speak up. More ways to connect.
0students engaged in advocacy this year through Hillel
Some students walk into Hillel for bagel brunches. Some walk in because they want to speak up. For students looking to use their voice on campus, advocacy programming is their entry point into Jewish community.
Jewish students are showing up to student government. And changing the outcome.
Student governments across Ontario have passed BDS resolutions, shut down Jewish voices at general meetings, and created environments where Jewish students feel unwelcome in campus politics. That’s why we’re investing in training students in coalition-building, strategic organizing, and how to show up to a room full of opposition and hold their ground.
At York, 16 trained students holding proxy votes built a 100-person bloc with non-Jewish allies and walked into a student federation AGM that has been hostile territory for years. Their motion to repeal BDS policy was unsuccessful, but a coordinated walkout broke quorum, killing two additional resolutions including a BDS expansion. Jewish students walked into that room outnumbered. They walked out having changed the outcome for the betterment of Jewish students on campus.
At McMaster, Jewish students had raised concerns about campus antisemitism for months with no student government response. The Student Representative Assembly had not formally acknowledged the issue or consulted with Jewish student groups.
Hillel McMaster organized a coordinated response. They drafted a formal motion condemning antisemitism on campus, mobilized 40 students to attend the SRA’s Annual General Meeting, and testified before the assembly. The motion passed.
The student union’s Board of Directors is now required to meet with Hillel and other Jewish campus groups to establish an advisement plan for the incoming Board, including mandatory antisemitism training. For the first time, student governance at McMaster is now structured to include Jewish student voices in decisions that affect them, creating accountability that will extend beyond the current student leadership.
Menachem’s Impact
“It reminded us that Jewish students do not just have to react to campus life. We can help shape it.”
— Menachem Guttman, Hillel York President · Electrical Engineering, Class of 2026
Menachem Guttman was shy when he first got involved with Hillel. His first leadership role was co-chairing Holocaust Education Week. From there, he took on more, eventually becoming Hillel York’s president and one of the student leaders behind the AGM strategy.
Commemorating October 7.
Two years after the Hamas massacre, Jewish students across Ontario marked the second anniversary with vigils, memorials, and continued calls for the release of those still held hostage.
Hillel Ontario connected students directly with Israeli survivors and witnesses. At Western, students welcomed Ela Levgoren, a Nova music festival survivor and storyteller, to share her firsthand account of October 7. Ela addressed the Hillel Western community and placed a mezuzah on the house’s doorpost, carried from Israel to Canada for the occasion.
Students marked the anniversary together at commemorations across the province.
Preserving the legacy for the future.
As we face a future without the living voices of the last Holocaust survivors, and as national antisemitism continues to climb, students recognize the urgency of this moment. They are ready to take action.
In response, we launched the SHARE Fellowship: a cohort of 16 students representing 10 universities. Over the past year, these fellows trained with Holocaust education experts, mastering community engagement and event planning to bring vital programming to their campuses. Their efforts culminated in student-led Holocaust Education Week events that engaged both Jewish and non-Jewish peers.
0Fellows
0+HEW events
0Students reached
Melissa’s Voice
“Seeing that made me realize that the song was resonating beyond the room, and that music can be a way for me to remember the Holocaust and speak out against antisemitism.”
Melissa Croft found her way into Holocaust remembrance through music. As a SHARE Fellow, she wrote a song called “Never Again” and performed it at an open mic night in December. Audience members were in tears. Two people approached her afterwards: one to talk about rising antisemitism, another to share that they had Jewish friends.
— Melissa Croft, Student, University of Toronto
Leo’s Story
“It was one of the most powerful experiences for me, to be able to share it with the larger Jewish community and the larger community at York as a whole. As the great-grandson of two Holocaust survivors, it is really important for me to ensure that everybody’s story is able to be told, able to be remembered.”
As the great-grandson of two Holocaust survivors, Leo Halpern came to SHARE with a clear purpose: making sure their story gets told. This year, he co-chaired Holocaust Education Week at York, where his team brought a Yad Vashem exhibit to campus. Students spent nearly half an hour moving through it. People kept telling him how proud his great-grandparents would be.
— Leo Halpern, York University | HEW Co-Chair, SHARE Fellow
Students are reclaiming the narrative.
Every March, Israel Apartheid Week campaigns run across Ontario campuses, creating weeks of tension for Jewish and Israeli students. It’s a month when Jewish identity becomes politicized whether students want it to be or not.
This year, students chose visibility. Reclaiming Our Roots, a student-led campaign developed with Hillel Ontario’s advocacy team, put Jewish indigeneity and historical connection to Israel front and centre on campus. Students tabled, educated peers, hosted Shabbat dinners with allied students, and made their presence impossible to ignore. The campaign ran on campuses across the province, timed to meet IAW wherever it landed.
For students who had been looking for a way to engage, Reclaiming Our Roots was it. They showed up with facts, with pride, and with a community behind them.
From campus to the international stage.
Students who find their voice on campus want to use it beyond campus. They want to learn from international experts, see how Jewish communities around the world are organizing, and bring those strategies home.
We make those connections. This year, Hillel Ontario students represented Canadian Jewish life on the international stage:
World Union of Jewish Students
Hillel Ontario supports the Canadian Union of Jewish Students (CUJS), the first Canadian chapter of WUJS. This year, CUJS President Pe’er Krut, backed by Hillel Ontario, testified before the Senate Committee on Human Rights about how fear of retribution shapes Jewish students’ daily campus lives, advocacy that’s paving the way for a more secure future for Jewish students across Canada.
Hillel International Content Creator Forum
Students exploring digital advocacy connected with creators building Jewish and pro-Israel presence online.
ADL Never Is Now Conference
Students attended the Anti-Defamation League’s flagship summit on antisemitism, learning alongside international leaders in the fight against hate.
Every report. Every student. Every time.
The current campus climate is unlike anything Jewish students have experienced so far. Campus antisemitism has increased fivefold from pre-October 7 levels. Jewish students on campus today are still navigating hostile attitudes towards Israel and those who identify with Zionism, or simple Jewishness. 54% of surveyed Jewish students report personally experiencing antisemitism on campus.
When campus antisemitism occurs, we make it easy for students to report their experiences and seek help. Our Campus Antisemitism Reporting Hub gives students a single, accessible place to file reports of antisemitic incidents on campus and access resources specific to their campus needs.
The data paints a clear picture of what Jewish students are navigating.
Where it happens
Online38%
On campus, outside class37%
In the classroom16%
Campus residence4%
Other5%
0%
of students who reported antisemitism received individual follow-up and support.
0%
say Hillel’s presence makes them feel more safe on campus.
0%
say Hillel makes them feel supported in responding to antisemitism.
What students navigated this year.
Student group
A terrorist organization’s name, worn as a student club.
At McMaster, a student group emerged on campus bearing the name of a designated terrorist organization. After Hillel Ontario raised the matter with university administration, the group’s social media presence was removed and the university launched an on-going investigation.
Faculty of Dentistry
Antisemitic imagery, shown by the dean himself.
At the University of Toronto, antisemitic imagery was shared during a dental school lecture by the dean. Hillel Ontario’s advocacy team and senior staff worked with partner agencies across the community, including CIJA, UJA, FSWC, and StandWithUs Canada, to raise awareness and demand action. Within 48 hours, the dean issued a formal apology and announced he was stepping down immediately pending an investigation.
Jewish students walked into that room outnumbered.They walked out having changed the outcome.
ThroughIsrael.
Zionism isn’t something we defend. It’s something we celebrate.
Hillel Ontario is a boldly Zionist organization. On campuses where connection to Israel is routinely challenged, our response is to offer more: more cultural programming, more Israeli voices, more opportunities for students to engage with the country and people at the centre of their identity.
Students want to connect with Israel. So we’re making it personal.
Students connecting to Israel need more than programming. They need relationships with Israelis who can share what life in Israel actually looks like: the food, the language, the culture, the complexity. Through a partnership with Hillel International and the Jewish Agency for Israel, this year, we placed two young Israeli professionals in Kingston and Toronto. For students whose connection to Israel has been abstract or political, a Fellow turns it into something personal and lived.
Priel’s Kitchen
Priel Bliakhman, Israeli Fellow | Hillel TMU
Priel Bliakhman brought Israel to campus from day one. Starting in September, she hosted weekly Israeli cooking classes, teaching students to make the dishes she grew up eating. When Shabbat rolled around, she built Israeli-themed menus that gave students in the diaspora an authentic taste of Jewish life in Israel. For students who have never been, Priel’s kitchen is the closest thing to being there.
Elizabet’s Table
Elizabet Zak, Israeli Fellow | Hillel Queen’s
Every month at Hillel Queen’s Otterburn House, Elizabet Zak hosts Café Hillel, a Hebrew language program that draws students from across campus. Some are brushing up on conversational Hebrew one-on-one with a native speaker. Some are allied friends learning the basics for the first time. The table is open to everyone, and the connection it builds goes both ways: students learn the language, and through it, they find a deeper relationship with Israel and the people who call it home.
When we celebrate Israel, students show up.
Israeli culture, on campus, all year.
When the only version of Israel students encounter on campus is a political one, something gets lost. We fill that gap with programming that celebrates Israeli culture year-round: Israeli shuks recreating the energy of an open-air market, cross-campus trivia nights drawing over 100 students in a single evening, Israeli food and community in spaces that are open to everyone. Jewish students celebrate something at the core of their identity. Non-Jewish friends get a humanized look at Israeli culture beyond the headlines.
Over 100 students from UofT and TMU came together for SababaQuest, an evening of Israeli food, drinks, and trivia across the GTA.
Students across the GTA recreated one of Israel’s most iconic cultural experiences on campus, opening it up to friends and peers from every background.
From campus to Israel.
Students who celebrate Israel on campus want to experience it in person. This year, Hillel sent over 400 students to Israel through Birthright. They came back with a connection to Israel that’s rooted in something they’ve lived, and they’re bringing it into their communities, their leadership, and their conversations on campus.
Taking allies to Israel. So they speak from experience, not headlines.
On campus, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict exists as social media posts, protest signs, and conversations most students avoid entirely. Jewish students need peers who’ve seen the complexity firsthand.
That’s why we created Impressions: Israel, sending eight non-Jewish student leaders to Israel for ten days to hear from Israelis and Palestinians, visit sites of conflict and coexistence, and encounter the reality that headlines flatten. Every one had preconceptions challenged.
0Student leaders
0Days in Israel
0+Speakers & experiences
0%Preconceptions challenged
From participant to allied advocate. On campus.
Vincent, a non-Jewish student leader from the inaugural Impressions cohort, returned to campus and shared his reflections on coexistence with students at a Hillel Waterloo-Laurier Bagel Brunch. Students who attended noted how valuable it was to hear from someone who had met with Israeli and Palestinian communities firsthand.
Every participant came back equipped to engage in conversations they previously avoided.
This trip was life changing. It gave me new perspectives and new appreciations for people, life and education.
I learned more in 10 days of this trip than a full semester at my university.
In the past I avoided talking about it deeply in fear of offending someone… now I can have more honest and authentic conversations because I have been in Israel.
They came to learn, to cook, to celebrate, to travel.They came because Hillel is where their love for Israel has a home.
ThroughAllies.
When campus gets harder, they open the doors wider.
When hostile attitudes towards Israel socially ostracize Jewish students, we invite the rest of the campus community in. By prioritizing allyship across communities, finding common ground, and showing up for each other, Hillel students are breaking down barriers and building relationships that outlast the academic calendar.
0Allies engaged this year.
Jewish and Iranian students are building something real.
It started with a statement of solidarity. In January, Hillel Ontario voiced support for Iranian students, and students on both sides amplified the message. In March, Iranian students showed up to celebrate at our Israeli shuk in the GTA. By spring, Jewish and Iranian students were choosing to come together for Shabbat. Over 100 students gathered at Beth Tzedec for a Jewish-Iranian Unity Shabbat dinner, off campus, after the semester ended. Students built these relationships through genuine dialogue and shared values.
Over 100 students gathered at Beth Tzedec for a Jewish-Iranian Unity Shabbat dinner — off campus, after the semester ended, by choice.
100 students. Multiple faiths. One Shabbat table.
During Israel Apartheid Week, Hillel TMU brought together 100 students and faculty from different faith communities for a multifaith Shabbat dinner. Jewish students led the evening, from blessings to table discussions, with guest speakers from multiple faith backgrounds. During a week designed to isolate Jewish students, Hillel TMU invited everyone in.
Civic engagement across communities.
In partnership with CJPAC, Hillel hosted a fireside chat with Persian student leader Shervin Akhlaghi on civic engagement and shaping democracy, bringing Jewish and Iranian students together around shared democratic values.
Who is my neighbour?
90 people showed up to find out.
Hillel McMaster’s community Shabbat drew 90 participants: Jewish students alongside Catholic students, chaplains, the Spiritual Care and Learning Centre, local clergy, and elders from across Hamilton. Students led Shabbat rituals and a panel on what multifaith community actually looks like in practice.
A BDS vote on Monday. An open Shabbat on Friday.
The same week Waterloo’s student union voted to pass a BDS motion, Hillel students hosted a community Shabbat that drew 100 guests across faiths, including a university chaplain. One student brought her non-Jewish friends for the first time.
“In a world that wants us to be against one another, Hillel bridges the gap by creating a safe space for non-Jews to learn about Jewish life, tradition, and culture.”
— Mauheirah S. · Student, University of Waterloo
Iranian students. Catholic students. Chaplains, clergy, and first-time guests.When campus gets harder, Hillel students open the doors wider.
ThroughYou.
More pathways, made possible by the grassroots of our community.
This Giving Tuesday, the grassroots of our community showed up. More than 500 parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends raised $250,000 in a single day, our biggest in Hillel Ontario’s history.
We’re the largest and most robust Hillel in the world, accounting for nearly 5% of Hillel engagement globally. We catch students when they arrive uncertain and launch them when they’re ready to lead. That system exists because of community leaders and philanthropists like you.
Thank you for your partnership in building Jewish life on campus.
$0K
raised in a single day — our biggest Giving Tuesday in Hillel Ontario’s history.
Our students, leaders, and stories — in the press.
During Chanukah, the Consulate General of Israel recognized Hillel McMaster student leader Gabe Kaplan with the Modern Maccabee Award, presented by the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, for speaking up about antisemitism and protecting the Jewish community.
Global recognition
Hillel International GA 2025
Jay Solomon, Chief Advancement Officer, awarded the Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award, recognizing devotion to the Jewish campus community that sets a standard for all.
Every pathway, made possible.
To the donors, foundations, and community leaders who built the runway for this year of Jewish campus life — thank you.
Diamond
Azrieli Foundation
The Gerald Schwartz & Heather Reisman Foundation
Hillel International
Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation
Koschitzky Family
Larry & Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation
The Sharp Foundation
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
Platinum
The Weisfeld Family Charitable Foundation
Judith & Amy Berg
Gerald Sheff & Shanitha Kachan Family Foundation
Henry Wolfond & Rochelle Reichert
Gold
David & Ruth Asper
The Minto Greenberg Legacy Foundation
Toby Feldberg and Family
David & Elyssa Feldberg
Bernie Feldberg
Janice & Jeffrey Bly
Joel & Melissa Feldberg
Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation
Sapphire
Leonard & Susan Asper
Karen Chisvin
The Eph & Shirley Diamond Family Foundation at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
Diamond Family Foundation
Freeman Family Legacy Fund
Leboff Family Charitable Foundation
Shawna Goodman & Todd Sone Family Foundation
The Weisz Family Foundation
Anonymous
Pearl
Abramsky Family Fund
The Allen & Milli Gould Family Foundation
Bader Philanthropies, Inc.
Ashley & Ilan Bahar
Barbara & Henry Bank
Barrday Inc
Yuval & Lori Barzakay
Baskin-Garson Family Foundation
Greg Baylin & Christine Allan
Lynn & Brent Belzberg Family Foundation
Ben & Hilda Katz Charitable Foundation
Carol Mitchell & Richard Venn Family Fund
Steve Cohen
Laurie & Michael Davis
Davidson Foundation
Dr. Samuel Robinson Foundation
Earl & Jordanna Lipson Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
Shelly Feld & Harriet Druker
Linda Frum & Howard Sokolowski Foundation
Gewurz Family Foundation
Sheldon & Lindy Goodman
Hillel Endowment Fund
David & Danna Horwood
Ida Lover Endowment Fund
The Karen & Eric Green Family Foundation
Jason & Marci Kroft
Mark & Sheryl Nightingale
Perlis Family Legacy Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity Canada Kappa Alumni Association Fund
R-FFlow Foundation
Robins Appleby Charitable Foundation
Marnie Salsky & Lorne Swartz
The Serruya Family Foundation
Lewis and Ruth Sherman Foundation
The Sonshine Family Foundation
Janet & Howard Winkler
Chad Wolfond
Bev Zaifman
Silver
The Alexander E. Grossman Foundation
B’nai Brith KIngston
Adam Breslin & Erika Rubin
Stephen Bronfman
Canadian Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry
Canadian Race Relations Foundation
The Chenstochover Aid Society
Mitchell Cohen
Crowe Soberman LLP
Aubrey & Marla Dan
Gary Diamond
Peter & Stella Ekstein
Bert & Karen Amato Family Foundation
Joanna Margolese
Frieberg Family Foundation
Gewurz Family Foundation
Ilan Gewurz
Laurence Goldberg & Diane Spivak Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
Jonathan Goodman
Rabbi Seth Goren
Avi & Irina Greenspoon
Karen & Michael Haber
Carol Handelman
Herity
Jay & Vered Feldman Family Fund
Jeremy & Hadassa Pertman Family Fund
Seymour & Elaine Joffe Family Fund
Alan Kaplan
Kieltzer Sick Benefits Society Endowment Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
Noah & Rebecca Kochman
Agi & Jack Mandel
Michael Marcovitz
Henry & Ilana Morton
Danielle Pollack
Joel & Jill Reitman
Grant Roebuck
Harry Rosenbaum
Noam & Talia Samson
David Shields
Eric & Marsha Slavens
Howard Stotland Family Foundation
Aubrey & Andrea Sugar
Thornhill Lifelong Learning Center
Torkin Manes
Wendy R. Eisen Endowment Fund
Zac Kaye Leadership Fund
Bronze
Abramson Family Fund
Patrick Abtan
Dana Ades-Landy
Ian Adler
Dayna Albert
Jeremy Alter
Alvin Segal Family Foundation
Debra Aronson
Shelli Baltman
Diane Bederman
Rachelle Bronfman
Shari Bricks
Chad Brightman
Herbert Brill
Brookline Foundation at Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal
Stuart Brotman & Jennifer Sacks
Canada Helps Online Giving
Deanna & Edwin Cohen Family Foundation at Jewish Foundation of Manitoba
Ian Cohen
Ilan Cohen
Jordan & Lori Cohen
Ruth-Ellen Cohen
Lorraine & Joel Cooper Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
Richard & Rhonda Diamond
Joel Dimitry
Brad Feld
Jonathan & Shlomit Feldman
Ruth Markel
Fernande & Marco Zevy Endowment Fund
Valerie Fisher
Aviva Fudem
Mitch Garber
Gerald Naimer Fund
Gilbert & Elisa Palter Family Philanthropy Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
Mikhail Giller
Fern Glowinsky
Ruth & Isaac Glowinsky
Rick Goldberg
Gayle Goldgut
Bill Goldig & Terri Budovitch
Harley Goldlist
Dahra Granovsky & Richard Allen
Noah Guttmann
Diana Hronsky
Carolyn Keystone
Joel King
KPMG
Andrea & Howard Kumer
Debra & Joel Kwinter
Neil Kwinter
Brian Lass
Norman Levine
Jeffrey Lipton
Audrey Loeb
London Jewish Community Foundation
Sidura Ludwig
Gerry & Susan Maldoff
Shelly Markel & Ian Freedman Family Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
Dean Mendel
Larry Meyer
Miller Bernstein LLP
Marc Morgenthau
Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers
Harry Orbach-Miller
Cara Orzech
David Ossip
Josh Pekarsky
Penn Family Fund
Phyllis & Ab Flatt Family Endowment Fund
Stephen Posen
Jonathan Rebick
Mark Redinger
Aron Regev
Kenneth Rose
David Rosenbaum
Josh Salmon
Shelley Samel
Jules Samson
Kevin Sandler
Marcy Seidman
Slava Sherbatov
Nathan & Lily Silver Family Foundation
Lorne Sokol
Jordan Soll
Jay & Cayla Solomon
Jenn & Matt Stein
Stendel Family Foundation at Toronto Foundation
Carole Sterling
Jill Stern
Sydney & Florence Cooper Foundation
Sue David Van Der Hout
Aya Vered
Charles Wagner
Erica & Bruce Walter
Larry Weinberg
Mike Weingarten
Anne Weisz
Janet Weisz
Graham Wells
Gale & Jerold Winter
Robert Zadik
Sarit Zalter
Carole Zucker
… and thousands of community supporters who make it all possible.
We are endlessly grateful for the opportunity to support and engage with Jewish students and we are deeply grateful to donors like you who make it all possible!
