TORONTO, ONTARIO | McGill University and York University have received overall F grades in a new B’nai Brith Canada assessment of campus conditions for Jewish students, while the University of Toronto and Queen’s University received D grades.
The Canadian Campus Climate Report Card, formally announced Sept. 4, is a pilot project examining university policies, campus conduct and Jewish life. It is intended to assess both the experiences of Jewish students and how institutions respond to antisemitism, discrimination, harassment and exclusion.
The four universities were selected for the initial pilot because, according to B’nai Brith, students at those institutions have reported particularly hostile social climates.
The results present a striking contrast. All four institutions have significant Jewish organizations, religious services, or academic resources, and several received strong marks for Jewish life. At the same time, B’nai Brith’s assessment identified extensive concerns involving antisemitic and anti-Zionist incidents, student politics, faculty activity, disruptive campus conduct, and university responses.
B’nai Brith cautions that the student component of the pilot is based on a small sample and is not statistically representative of the entire student population at any of the four universities. The grades are assessments by the Jewish advocacy organization, not findings by a court, government agency, or independent regulatory body.
Report Examines 28 Campus Criteria
The report card evaluates universities using 28 criteria divided among three broad categories: Administrative Policies and Actions, Campus Conduct and Climate, and Jewish Life on Campus.
Twenty-two criteria are based on the experiences and knowledge reported by participating students. Six are assessed using publicly available research.
The research component examines matters such as university policies, academic offerings, and access to Jewish services and kosher food.
B’nai Brith said the purpose is to go beyond simply cataloguing antisemitic incidents.
The project also examines whether universities have reporting procedures, religious accommodation policies, programs encouraging civil discourse, relationships with Jewish organizations and measures addressing disruptive campus activity.
“The goal isn’t simply to hand out grades,” B’nai Brith Canada CEO Simon Wolle said in announcing the initiative.
“It is to give students, parents and the community a clearer picture of what is happening on campus. We want to recognize where universities are getting it right, identify where they’re falling short, and help universities do better.”
McGill Receives F Despite Strong Jewish Life
McGill University in Montreal received an overall F, with B’nai Brith describing its results as the most concerning pattern among the four universities included in the expanded pilot.
Its Campus Conduct and Climate category was rated red across the assessed criteria, while Administrative Policies and Actions was also rated red.
At the same time, McGill received a green rating for Jewish Life on Campus.
B’nai Brith noted that McGill has substantial Jewish academic and religious infrastructure, including Jewish Studies, Hillel, Jewish educators, religious services, Chabad, and an active Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity chapter.
The assessment gave passing marks for an active pro-Israel student organization, Israel Studies courses, access to a rabbi or Jewish educator, Jewish religious services, Chabad or a similar organization, and an active Jewish fraternity or sorority.
But the campus climate assessment was dramatically different.
Criteria concerning severe antisemitic or anti-Zionist incidents, other such incidents, student-government activity, department or faculty activity, individual faculty or administrators, and organized anti-Zionist activity all received failing ratings.
B’nai Brith described the resulting picture as one in which a significant Jewish community and strong Jewish institutions coexist with a campus environment that participating students described as deeply difficult.
York Also Receives Overall F
York University in Toronto received the other overall F grade in the pilot.
B’nai Brith identified York, along with McGill and U of T, as having deteriorated sufficiently in its assessment of campus climate to receive a red rating in that category.
The university has a longstanding and substantial Jewish student presence and is located near some of the largest Jewish communities in the Greater Toronto Area.
The report card nevertheless identified serious concerns about the environment experienced by participating Jewish students and the effectiveness of institutional responses to antisemitism and anti-Zionist activity.
As with the other institutions, the assessment should not be interpreted as a finding that every Jewish student at York has experienced the university in the same way.
Rather, B’nai Brith describes the report card as a tool for identifying potential strengths and areas of concern and for measuring whether institutions improve over time.
U Of T Receives D
The University of Toronto received an overall D.
Its Jewish Life on Campus category was rated green, Administrative Policies and Actions was rated amber, and Campus Conduct and Climate was rated red.
The assessment recognized extensive Jewish infrastructure at U of T, including the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, Hillel Ontario, kosher food, Israel-related programming, Chabad, and an Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter.
U of T received passing ratings for religious accommodation, relationships with Jewish and allied organizations, pro-Israel student activity, kosher dining, interfaith initiatives, Israel Studies, religious services, Chabad, and Jewish fraternity or sorority activity.
But every criterion in B’nai Brith’s Campus Conduct and Climate category received a failing rating.
Those criteria include severe antisemitic or anti-Zionist incidents, other antisemitic or anti-Zionist incidents, student-government activity, faculty and departmental activity, conduct by individual faculty members or administrators, and organized anti-Zionist groups and campaigns.
The report also acknowledged that U of T’s institutional response is changing, with measures introduced after the period reflected in many students’ experiences now being developed or implemented.
Queen’s Receives D Despite Strong Jewish Community
Queen’s University in Kingston also received an overall D.
Like U of T, Queen’s received a green rating for Jewish Life on Campus but a red rating for Campus Conduct and Climate. Its Administrative Policies and Actions category also received a red rating.
The report recognized a range of Jewish resources at Queen’s, including pro-Israel activity, kosher food, interfaith initiatives, Jewish educators, religious services, Hillel Queen’s, the Chabad Student Centre of Kingston and Alpha Epsilon Pi.
The assessment nevertheless gave failing ratings across its campus conduct and climate criteria.
B’nai Brith cited concerns involving reported antisemitic and anti-Zionist incidents, organized anti-Zionist activity and conduct associated with student government, faculty and campus groups.
The report also referenced an October 2023 incident in which a mezuzah attached to a Jewish student’s residence-room door was removed and damaged.
B’nai Brith characterized Queen’s as another example of the central contradiction emerging from the pilot: a strong and visible Jewish community operating alongside serious concerns about the surrounding campus environment.
Small Sample Requires Caution
B’nai Brith explicitly warns against treating the report cards as statistically representative surveys of entire university communities.
Because the student survey portion uses a small sample, the organization says the findings are intended to identify possible strengths and concerns rather than provide a definitive measurement of the experience of every Jewish student.
That methodological limitation is particularly important when interpreting the letter grades and colour-coded ratings.
The results reflect B’nai Brith’s methodology and participating students’ responses combined with publicly available institutional information. They do not establish that every allegation or disputed incident referenced in the assessment has been independently proven.
The organization nevertheless argues that the results provide useful indicators of how Jewish students experience their universities and how effectively institutions respond when problems arise.
B’nai Brith intends the pilot to form the foundation of a broader national initiative.
The Canadian Campus Climate Report Card is expected to expand to additional universities as the organization gathers more student responses and institutional information.
“Our Report Cards must serve as an impetus for Canadian institutions to revise their policies, where they fall short, and improve programming if it is insufficient to meet the needs of Jewish students,” Wolle said.
For Jewish students and families considering Canadian universities, the pilot points to a more complicated picture than a single letter grade can capture.
All four universities assessed have identifiable strengths in Jewish academic, religious or communal life. B’nai Brith’s findings contend that those strengths are coexisting with significant problems involving antisemitism, anti-Zionist activity, and the institutional response to both.
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