The Toronto area is home to Canada’s largest Jewish community. Photo: John Vetterli via Wikimedia Commons.

Newly-published data showing a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in Canada “is simply too stark to ignore,” the head of a major Jewish organization in the country said on Thursday.

According to the Statistics Canada report, Jews were the most targeted minority group in 2017 — with 360 hate crimes committed against them, a 63% jump from the 221 of the previous year.

Overall, there was 47% increase in hate crimes in Canada in 2017.

Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai B’rith Canada, stated the report “reiterates what B’nai Brith has been saying for years — that we need real and effective measures to extinguish this rise in hatred.”

“In early November, Canada’s prime minister apologized for the tragedy of the MS St. Louis in 1939, noting that antisemitism is still a major problem in this country and promising a concrete plan to combat it,” Mostyn added. “There can be no delay in fulfilling these commitments.”

Mostyn urged all levels of the Canadian government to adopt the measures outlined in his group’s “Eight-Point Plan to Tackle Antisemitism.”