Canadian Jewish military member takes legal action after nearly 30 discrimination claims rejected

Note: This episode contains explicit and offensive language.

When the Canadian Armed Forces issued an official apology in October 2025 for decades of racial discrimination and harassment experienced by its members, Toronto-based Capt. Rabbi Jonathan Jaffit, a Jewish officer, was one of many who subsequently applied to a Federal Court–approved claims process to receive financial compensation and restorative justice.

The landmark $150-million class action lawsuit at the source of the compensation package was filed in 2016 by three military veterans who were released from their service early after years of bullying and harassment because they were Black or Indigenous. The military settled without accepting liability. Deloitte was mandated to process the claims. The claims portal closed Thursday, Oct. 15— and, as The CJN reported in our full-length investigative story, nearly 30 Jewish claimants have had their applications rejected. Like Jaffit, they received the same form letter from Deloitte saying their racial identity made them ineligible.

The court-approved Final Settlement Agreement uses a broad scope to define racial discrimination, including race, ethnicity, colour and/or Indigeneity. So why has Deloitte told the Jewish claimants it is applying only the narrower Employment Equity Act requirements, and adhering to the categories of “visible minorities” as per the national census?

Capt. Jaffit has now taken legal action on behalf of the Jewish members. His lawyer applied Thursday, Oct. 15, to the Federal Court to become an intervener in this class action case. He joins a second application, by a non-Jewish French Canadian officer whose claim was also rejected, which was filed earlier this fall.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner brings you the latest developments and an interview not with Jaffit—who is not allowed to speak to the media—but with a second Jewish member whose claim was rejected. We have disguised their identity to protect their career.

Related links

• Read our full length investigation in print on The CJN's website.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner )
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
• Music: Bret Higgins

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