CANADA’S national police force said on Saturday that a youth has been arrested and charged with terrorism-related offences allegedly targeting Jewish people.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the young person arrested the day before had been charged with facilitating terrorist activity by communicating instructional material related to an explosive substance.

The youth is further charged with knowingly instructing a person to carry out terrorist activity against “Jewish persons.”

Police did not release further details of the alleged offences. Officials also said that no more information about the youth could be given because of the suspect’s age.

In a news release, the national police force said it was seeing a concerning trend of violent extremism and terrorist use of the internet, including among young people.

The RCMP urged adults in positions of authority to watch for early warning signs of radicalisation. 

Many officials have raised the alarm about a reported rise in hate crimes against Jewish communities since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israeli civilians, prompting that country’s military offensive in Gaza.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe wrote on social media platform X that “there has been a rise in anti-semitism in Ottawa in recent weeks.”

He said police would continue to patrol near synagogues and other Jewish institutions.