The B'nai Brith National Organization of Canada, commonly known as B'nai B'rith Canada ( ; BBC; from ) is a Canadian Jewish service organization and advocacy group founded in 1875. It is the Canadian chapter of B'nai B'rith International and has offices in Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal, and Vancouver. The organization describes itself as engaged in strong pro-Israel advocacy, as well as combating anti-Semitism, bigotry, and racism in Canada and overseas. It also provides community and social services for Jewish Canadians.
Mission The organization presents the following mission statement, as stated in the preamble to its constitution:
B'nai Brith has taken upon itself the mission of uniting person of the Jewish faith in the work of promoting their highest interest and those of humanity; of developing and elevating the mental and moral character of the people of our faith; of inculcating the purest principles of philanthropy, honour and patriotism; of supporting science and art; alleviating the wants of the poor and needy; visiting and caring for the sick; coming to the rescue of the victims of persecution; providing for, protecting and assisting the aged, the widow and the orphan on the broadest principles of humanity.
Early history
In 1875, Lodge No. 246, located in Toronto, was the first lodge founded in Canada, followed soon after by another in Montreal. Many community leaders were associated with these lodges. Over time, a team of dedicated volunteers and professional staff emerged.
Recent history In September 2014, Ontario lawyer and former Conservative Party candidate Michael Mostyn was appointed CEO of B'nai Brith Canada, succeeding Frank Dimant upon his retirement after 36 years with the organization. Mostyn continued as CEO until February 2025, when he died from cancer. Judy Foldes became Acting CEO in February 2024 when Mostyn went on leave to undergo cancer treatment. Simon Wolle was appointed CEO effective October 20, 2025.https://www.bnaibrith.ca/bnai-brith-canada-welcomes-simon-wolle-as-ceo/
Role in the 2007 by-election During the 2007 by-election in Outremount the group accused Jocelyn Coulon of being anti-American and anti-Israel because of his views on the Hamas-Israel-Lebanon conflict. The Quebec-Israel Committee however, stated that B'nai Brith's statements were exaggerated and that Coulon had every right to be the Liberal candidate. These issues were thought to be important because the Jewish community in Outremont made up 10% of the riding population.
Criticism of the Manitoba Human Rights Commission In January 2004, Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association, filed a formal complaint against B'nai Brith Canada under the "discriminatory signs and statements" section of the Manitoba Human Rights Code. After speaking with several people who attended a Winnipeg conference on terrorism hosted by B'nai Brith Canada in October 2003, she wrote that the event was biased against Muslims and would encourage the response teams in attendance to engage in racial profiling. The Manitoba Human Rights Commission (MHRC) accepted the complaint and began an investigation that would last five years. In 2009, the MHRC issued a report that dismissed the complaint due to a lack of evidence.'No basis' for B'nai Brith hate charge by Joseph Brean, National Post, March 12, 2009. MHRC vice-chairwoman Yvonne Peters subsequently wrote that "the full investigation of the complaint that took place was warranted" and that "the decision was based solely on the insufficiency of the evidence with respect to this particular section of the Human Rights Code."B'nai Brith accused of hate speech by Joseph Brean, August 29, 2008.
In 2008, David Matas, B'nai Brith's senior counsel, sharply criticized the MHRC for its conduct during the investigation, stating that: "The [Manitoba] Human Rights Commission itself is supposed to be promoting human rights, but in our view in this process it's violating some pretty basic rights: a secret proceeding, a faceless accuser, failure to disclose documents. These are basic procedural rights that are being violated." Writing in the National Post, Joseph Brean made several criticisms of the investigation: The MHRC accepted the complaint despite the fact that the complainant, Shahina Siddiqui, did not actually attend the event. B'nai Brith Canada was never told of the identity of the individuals whose claims Shahina Siddiqui based her complaint on. It has never been revealed what exactly is alleged to have been said at the conference. Tracy Lloyd, an MHRC investigator, spoke with seven anonymous witnesses, including one as late as November 2006. However, only one, a City of Winnipeg employee, shared Siddiqui's criticism that the conference was "one-sided." One of the witnesses, a diversity relations officer, stated that it was "pretty professional," and said police in general are capable of putting almost anything they hear into proper context. The MHRC commissioned a "secret expert report" but refused B'nai Brith's request to know the expert's identity, mandate or material provided. The secret report has not been made public.
Following the release of the MHRC report, Matas accused MHRC vice-chairwoman Yvonne Peters of taking a contradictory position, stating that: "So what they're saying is that a full investigation is warranted even when there's no evidence, as long as the accusation is within the jurisdiction of the board. There's a lot of problems with this. What basically happened is that Siddiqui heard a rumor. She makes a complaint, as a result of which the commission goes on a five-year fishing expedition. They don't find anything. We're co-operating with them. And then they dismiss the complaint. That's not a proper procedure, in my view." Matas also criticized the procedures of the MHRC, stating that they will "take an allegation, without evidence, and just run with it to see if it's true." The previous year, Matas in a submission in a Moon Report on Internet hate speech, Matas charged that Canada's human rights commissions have demonstrated "a disastrous combination of investigative zeal and substantive ignorance." Although Matas stated that he does not believe Siddiqui acted in bad faith, he added that: "The people who run these procedures have to have a more objective viewpoint than the people who make the complaint."
Hassan Diab complaint In July 2009, B'nai Brith Canada issued a press releaseB’nai Brith Canada raises the alarm over Carleton’s reinstatement of alleged synagogue bomber (Canada) , B'nai Brith Canada. July 28, 2009. denouncing Carleton University for hiring Hassan Diab, who was alleged by French authorities to have been responsible for the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing. Diab was living under virtual house arrest at the time (he had been granted bail but under very strict conditions) due to an extradition request from France. Within a few hours of the B'nai Brith Canada complaint, Carleton University announced that it would "immediately replace the current instructor, Hassan Diab" in order to provide students "with a stable, productive academic environment that is conducive to learning." B'nai Brith executive vice-president Frank Dimant later stated that "the university did the right thing."B’nai Brith complaint preceded university’s job withdrawal , Edmonton Journal In November 2014, Hassan was extradited from Canada to France where he was imprisoned for 3 years and two months while the investigation continued. Since then, four French anti-terrorism judges have uncovered testimony from several individuals stating that Diab was in Lebanon at the time of the bombing as well as university records which show he wrote and passed exams in Beirut then and couldn't have been in Paris. In January 2018, French authorities dropped all charges against Hassan Diab, citing lack of evidence.
Hassan Guillet controversy In 2019, B'nai Brith unearthed a series of controversial comments and social media posts made by Hassan Guillet, a parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Party in that year's Canadian federal election. When B'nai Brith went public with its findings, the Liberal Party dropped Guillet as a candidate.
Lobbying against Islamophobia Bill B'nai Brith lobbied against certain wording in the non-binding parliament bill M103. Bill M103 denounces Islamophobia and other type of hates. The bill was introduced after the killing of 6 Muslims at a Quebec mosque by an extreme-right sympathizerhttps://www.bnaibrith.ca/b_nai_brith_canada_concerned_by_aspects_of_m_103_majority_report
Free speech conference Continuing on with the free speech advocacy, B'nai Brith organized a free-speech conference with free-speech advocacy and alt-right groups. The conference was scheduled to be hosted at a synagogue, but some Jewish groups asked the synagogue to cancel the events after concerns about alt-right and Islamophobic groups taking part.https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-toronto-conference-on-racism-will-feature-both-anti-islam-speakers-and-jewish-groups/
Members According to an article in The Forward, B'nai Brith Canada had 4,000 full-dues paying members in 2007. Membership is restricted to those of the Jewish faith.
Governance and financial issues In 2007, a group calling itself Concerned Members of B'nai Brith Canada charged that a new constitution had been passed despite a majority of members having voted against it at a general meeting. Henry Gimpel, a former Toronto lodge president, told The Forward that "[t]here's too much of [B'nai Brith Canada] being run by one person." Frank Dimant, CEO of BBC, responded to the criticism over the constitution by saying that BBC followed proper governance procedures and that B'nai Brith International's Court of Appeal determined that the constitution was properly enacted. Gimpel and seven other BBC members were expelled in June 2008 for what a disciplinary committee determined to be "conduct unbecoming a member." Gimpel referred to the committee as a kangaroo court.Paul Lungen, "B’nai Brith expels members for ‘conduct unbecoming’" , Canadian Jewish News
On July 8, 2015, the Toronto Star reported that Dimant has demanded an annual retirement payout of $175,000, representing 75% of his former salary, which the B'nai Brith believes is too lucrative and will require the struggling charity to direct fundraising dollars to pay for Dimant's pension. Dimant has stated that the payout was approved by the organization's board, however, the Star cites an unnamed source as stating that the deal was arranged with little oversight while Dimant was still in charge. In the year following Dimant's retirement, B'nai Brith Canada put its "state of the art" care facility for Alzheimer's patients under insolvency protection while also trying to sell it. The project, initiated and led by Dimant, is a $16 million facility opened in 2013 but that been unable to attract enough patients, due to high fees for patients of $7,500 a month and the fact that it was not designed to be wheelchair accessible; the facility is losing $50,000 a month and owes $11 million to creditors.
The Toronto Star article also claimed that other issues left by Dimant's former management of B'nai Brith are a lack of records and record keeping and failure to always issue charitable tax receipts and poor corporate governance with approximately 50 people who had believed they were on various boards of B'nai Brith organizations learning that this is not the case, as Dimant's management had failed to file the correct paperwork with government agencies.