CBC Investigation Links Dozen Toronto Hired-Gun Shootings to Likely Iranian Financing

A CBC News investigation has identified a dozen politically motivated gun-for-hire shootings in Toronto that appear to have been financed by the Iranian government. The targets included synagogues, a school and businesses in the Greater Toronto Area, along with the U.S. Consulate in the downtown core.

Many of the attacks came in the hours and days after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on Feb. 28 and killed the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. No one was hurt in any of the Toronto shootings.

The incidents shared the marks of hired violence. They happened in the early morning, with suspects arriving in stolen cars and emptying handguns into building entranceways, while they or accomplices recorded the acts on a phone.

Toronto Police, the RCMP and CSIS are examining whether a foreign power instigated the attacks. Some of the alleged shooters have been arrested and charged, but identifying who paid them has proved harder. The gun-for-hire model relies on encrypted apps and intermediaries, which place several layers between the client and the criminal. Chief Superintendent Joe Matthews, who oversees the Toronto Police investigation, said officers are looking at every angle and have heard that foreign actors may be involved. He would not confirm or deny that, but said police do not believe there is a very direct link between the financier and the person on the street.

CBC News spent weeks reviewing the shootings, obtaining court files in cases where arrests were made and building profiles of the accused. Most face charges for multiple attacks, and many are young, ranging from 15 to their early 20s. The reporting showed shootings clustered in the same parts of the city on the same nights, aimed at both political and non-political targets. In several cases, synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses were hit shortly before or after attacks on businesses and homes tied to the waste management company GFL. Police say ballistic tests confirm the connection, and Matthews said some firearms were used in both kinds of shootings, which suggests the same hired guns carried out both.

Iran's government and intelligence service have been linked in recent years to plots and attacks in Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K., Australia and the United States. Last May, the FBI arrested Mohammad Baqer al-Saadi, whom it describes as a senior member of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, a militia controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. He faces six terrorism-related charges. A New York indictment alleges he helped plan at least 18 attacks in Europe and two in Canada: the March 2026 shooting at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto and an assault on an unnamed synagogue.

In June, Canada and 20 other nations issued a joint statement condemning Iran's "lethal plotting and other malign actions." Keir Giles, a security analyst at Chatham House, said the approach mirrors the blueprint Russia has used in Europe since invading Ukraine. He said the internet and encrypted apps have made it far easier to recruit people at very little cost. CBC News asked Iran's Foreign Ministry about the alleged involvement but received no response. Tehran has previously dismissed claims that it sponsors violence abroad.

Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto was among the synagogues attacked in early March, when its front doors and windows were hit by gunfire late on a Friday night. Rabbi Daniel Korobkin said the congregation felt anger and frustration but will not be intimidated. He said it makes little difference whether the person who hates them pulls the trigger or pays someone else to do so. "The end result is the same and we just want it to stop," he said.