Strand A. Experiences and contributions of Jewish communities in Canada and the impact of antisemitism on these communities

By Daniella Lurion, Tour for Humanity Director

A3.7 describe significant events or developments in the history of Jewish communities in Canada, including some of the ways they have contributed to Canada.

December 10 marks International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the groundbreaking 1948 global pledge: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The document was a milestone as it was intended to universally protect fundamental human rights.

The struggle for human rights, both in Canada and abroad, is a history filled with discrimination, protests and, eventually, political change. It also included the fight for equal rights for Jewish communities in Canada. Despite the first Jewish settlements dating back to the mid 1700s, Jews in Canada were not initially granted the same rights or protections as other faiths.

In 1830, Quebec’s Legislative Council adopted a law that granted Jews the same religious rights as members of the province’s two officially recognized religions, Catholicism and Anglicanism. The bill included the right to register births, marriages and deaths, a privilege previously denied to Jewish people. This was followed a year later by the bill guaranteeing the civil and political rights of Jews. The 1832 Act to Grant Equal Rights and Privileges to Persons of the Jewish Religion, the full name of the Emancipation Act, was the culmination of a profound shift in law.

‍