(image from Jewish Federation of British Columbia)
In anticipation of the FIFA World Cup, a series of billboards has been put up across the Greater Vancouver Regional District – across both Canada and Millennium lines, on billboards spanning from Vancouver to Surrey,
Coquitlam and Pitt Meadows, and at transit hubs from Richmond to North and West Vancouver.
The billboards feature messages including:
• Supporting Jews shouldn’t require a PR campaign, but here we are.
• You don’t have to be a Jew to protect Jews.
• Can a billboard end antisemitism? No. But you’re not a billboard.
• Whether you call it football or soccer, antisemitism is a foul.
• You don’t need a whistle to call out antisemitism.
The campaign is designed to be impossible to ignore.
“Antisemitism is rising not only globally, but right here in British Columbia,” said Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of British Columbia. “Jewish people are experiencing increased harassment, vandalism, exclusion and threats in everyday spaces. Too often, that reality is minimized or misunderstood.”
The aim of the campaign is to encourage reflection and dialogue on shared responsibility in addressing hate and exclusion. The billboards are not about provocation for its own sake; they’re about breaking through the silence.
The campaign launched June 8, for its run to coincide with the FIFA World Cup. Sport is intended to reflect fairness, respect and belonging. However, real sportsmanship isn’t passive. It requires active participation, including speaking up and calling out harmful behaviour and supporting one another when it occurs. The campaign asks audiences to consider questions of inclusion and belonging in public life. It asks: Who feels safe, welcome and included in our city – and who does not? The messages are intended to encourage dialogue in homes, workplaces, educational settings and community spaces.
“We are asking for honest engagement with what responsibility looks like when hate is not abstract,” Shanken said.
The billboard initiative was made possible through a strategic partnership with the nonprofit JewBelong and PATTISON Outdoor Advertising and is a direct response to the rise of antisemitism. Following Oct. 7, 2023, Jewish communities in British Columbia and across Canada have experienced increasing incidents of harassment, exclusion and vandalism in public and institutional spaces.
In 2025, Federation, in partnership with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, conducted a community survey to assess the lived experience of antisemitism in British Columbia. Key findings included:
• 85% of respondents reported that antisemitism has “increased a lot,”
• 93% reported feeling less secure than they did prior to Oct. 7, 2023,
• 62% reported experiencing at least one antisemitic incident, and
• 46% reported experiencing multiple incidents.
These findings reflect a widespread perception within the community that antisemitism has intensified in both frequency and impact. Jewish Federation of British Columbia invites the public to engage with the campaign and consider the role of civic responsibility in addressing hate and exclusion. Learn more at jewishvancouver.com/combatting-antisemitism.
– Courtesy Jewish Federation of British Columbia