Toronto Police Service (TPS) is investigating two suspected hate-motivated attacks targeting separate locations of Jewish-owned Kiva’s Bagel Bakery on Sunday morning, including one in which a window was struck by gunfire.
Police were first called shortly after 8 a.m. to the Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue West area after reports of a shattered window. Investigators found evidence that a firearm had been discharged but no injuries were reported. Less than 20 minutes later, officers responded to another Kiva’s location, about 14 kms north near Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue West, after receiving reports of a broken window. Police found no evidence of gunfire or injuries reported at that location.
The TPS Hate Crime Unit, Guns and Gangs Integrated Task Force, and local officers are canvassing both areas for evidence. TPS said both incidents occurred sometime overnight and continue to appeal to the public for information.
No suspect descriptions have been provided as of press time.
Speaking to reporters across the street from the site of the first incident about three hours after it was reported, TPS Duty Insp. Scott Bradbury said investigators believe the attacks are connected and are treating them as suspected hate-motivated offences. “Right now, we don’t know what the connection is other than that it’s the same Jewish-owned business chain and that it happened sometime overnight.” He said all the police knew at that point was that the incidents occurred “sometime after the establishment closed and when they opened and that’s when the employees from the stores gave us a call.”
“We understand that this is concerning for those that work and live in this area, especially members of the Jewish community, and we have all the resources available to thoroughly investigate this matter.”
Bradbury added that Torontonians can expect an increased police presence around the targeted locations as they continue to investigate, as well as “our continued presence at other faith establishments across the city.”
Just last month The CJN reported that Toronto police said that shootings of synagogues, a Jewish school, the U.S. Consulate, and dozens of others, were committed by young people hired online, by a multi-layered network.
Kiva’s bagel store in Midtown Toronto, which was shot at, July 26, 2026. (Credit: Lila Sarick)
On Sunday afternoon, residents stood outside the midtown Toronto bagel shop offering to buy bagels as a show of support.
Although the store was closed, the owner, who did not want to speak with the media, was bagging up bagels and giving them away, while he said he was waiting for someone to come and repair the shattered front window. He urged customers to come back another day and leave an extra tip then.
“I have a hard time believing that this happened right in our neighbourhood,” said Carly, who did not want to give her last name. “It’s another targeted, fear-mongering,” attack.
“Probably paid for by the IRGC,” said Beth, another customer, finishing the thought, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “My question is how bad does it have to get? Do we have to get shot up in our shuls or when we’re here or anywhere? Like, how bad does it have to get before the issue starts getting taken seriously? Because it’s out of control already. You know, how many more synagogues or girls’ Hebrew schools have to get shot at before something gets done?”
As a small group of people gathered outside the store, their thoughts also turned to the owners. “My heart just aches for him,” said one person. “They are the best guys. I used to go to the Kiva’s up north (on Steeles Avenue where a window was also reported broken,)” said another passerby.
“I take my grandmother there all the time,” a young woman said.
“Thank goodness no one is hurt,” said one neighbour. “But again, it’s just another example of what’s been unleashed in our city, unfortunately, which our mayor lets happen.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, who was attending another event, told reporters that “any kind of hate really has no place in Toronto,” adding that police have been “guarding synagogues, and Jewish community centres and places 24/7,” and would continue to strengthen security around Jewish institutions through Project Resolute, the nearly three-year-old TPS response following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent surge in anti-Israel protests and attacks in Toronto.
Police were on the scene at Kiva’s Bagel Bar. in Midtown Toronto, which was shot at, July 26, 2026. (Credit: Lila Sarick)
Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) CEO Noah Shack was on the scene at St. Clair Avenue Sunday morning and said, “We need to redraw the line between what is and is not acceptable in Canada.” Shack told reporters “Canadians should be able to go and have breakfast with their families at a neighbourhood restaurant without having to be confronted with police tape while investigating a shooting here in our city. Enough is enough.”
CIJA meanwhile, posted that “the shooting and attack targeting two locations of a Jewish-owned bakery, places where families gather, should concern every Canadian”, noting “these attacks come amid a broader rise in violent extremism across Canada and other Western democracies—a toxic brew of antizionist rhetoric, local criminal elements, Iranian-backed proxies, and ISIS-inspired terrorism. Our leaders must be unequivocal: nothing justifies attacks on Canadians. They must also ensure police and security agencies have the resources they need to protect our communities and keep Canadians safe.”
Israel’s Consul General in Toronto and Western Canada, Idit Shamir, said in a Sunday morning post that the attacks were not isolated incidents, but rather, “the latest in a relentless and escalating chain of attacks against Jewish institutions, businesses and community members across Toronto.”
Shamir said a bullet fired at a Jewish business “is not merely property damage. It is an act of terror intended to frighten an entire community.” For too long she wrote, every antisemitic attack has been treated as another separate incident: “another broken window, another vandalized synagogue, another threat, another act of violence. Together, they form an unmistakable pattern. Jew-hatred has been allowed to escalate from words and intimidation to attacks involving fire and gunfire… Jewish Canadians must not be expected to accept fear, intimidation and violence as part of their daily lives.”
B’nai Brith Canada echoed the concern that such incidents are seen as isolated incidents. “These attacks are evidence of a systemic national crisis that governments can no longer address through statements of concern, temporary security measures and responses issued only after another Jewish institution has been targeted,” the advocacy group said in a statement.
“The federal government must establish a national task force to coordinate the response, investigate those responsible, examine any potential links to extremist or foreign-backed networks and, where the legal criteria are met, pursue the listing of those responsible as terrorist entities,” it said.
Toronto mayoralty candidate Brad Bradford posted on X that “This has to stop becoming the new normal… Toronto’s Jewish community deserves more than statements after the fact. They deserve leaders who will confront antisemitism head-on and ensure there are real consequences for those who spread hate.”
Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman called the incidents a “targeted campaign of intimidation on one community. Synagogues, schools, and Jewish businesses come under attack again and again. This country needs to wake up to the hatred metastasizing in its streets… Task forces don’t act” said Lantsman, co-deputy leader of the Conservative Party. “No more councils that don’t speak up. Just do the results part. Enforce the law.”
(With files from Lila Sarick)
Joel has spent his entire adult life scribbling. For two decades, he freelanced for more than a dozen North American and European trade publications, writing on home decor, HR, agriculture, defense technologies and more. Having lived at 14 addresses in and around Greater Montreal, for 17 years he worked as reporter for a local community newspaper, covering the education, political and municipal beats in seven cities and boroughs. He loves to bike, swim, watch NBA and kvetch about politics.