Fire at Jewish-Owned Montreal Restaurant Investigated as Possible Arson

An SPVM police shoulder patch is seen on an officer in Montreal, on Aug. 29, 2024. The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi

Montreal police are investigating a fire that caused extensive damage to a Jewish-owned restaurant on Aug. 1 as a possible case of arson.

The fire, which occurred around 3:15 a.m., caused heavy damage to Kosher restaurant Nöam. The restaurant occupies a two-storey building that is shared with an auto mechanics garage, which was also damaged in the fire. The building sits along Boulevard Décarie in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough.

Police have not confirmed the cause of the fire, and an investigation is ongoing.

Côte Saint-Luc City Councillor Mike Cohen visited the restaurant following the fire, which he described as a “major hate crime” in a post to X.

Cohen said he had spoken to the owners of the restaurant, who informed him that they would not be reviewing video footage of the incident until the evening of Aug. 1, as they were observing Shabbat. The practice requires that observers refrain from using electronic devices from Friday evening at sundown until Saturday evening after nightfall.

Montreal police (SPVM) did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

The fire occurred amid a recent series of attacks and incidents targeting Jewish individuals, institutions, and businesses, particularly in Toronto and Montreal.

Two shooting incidents occurred at two locations of the same Jewish bakery, Kiva’s Bagel Bar, in Toronto on July 25. Before that, a synagogue in Montreal was targeted by arson shortly after midnight on June 5.

Other incidents in April and May targeted individuals who were “visibly identifiable as Jewish,” who were shot at by passing cars in Toronto, according to police.

Jewish service organization B’nai Brith said during a news conference on Parliament Hill April 27 that anti-Semitic incidents in Canada, including vandalism and harassment targeting Jews, reached a record high in 2025.

The organization described the trend as a worsening “national crisis.”

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who represents a Montreal-area riding, said the attack must be investigated as a hate crime.

“[T]hose involved in this criminal act must be caught & prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said on social media.

Conservative MP and Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman said authorities should take action so such incidents don’t occur.

“Two attacks a week apart: gunfire at Kiva’s, a Toronto Jewish institution, then a Montreal kosher restaurant torched. Not isolated, but a pattern. Add it to the 6,800 antisemitic incidents in 2025, a record,” she said on social media.

“This keeps happening because they let it. Find these thugs, prosecute them so that someone sees it’s not allowed.”