Jewish Brain Drain Hits Canada: Montreal Cardiac Surgery Chief Leaving Over Antisemitism

Jewish Brain Drain

Concern is growing in Canada over a Jewish brain drain after Dr. Emmanuel Moss, chief of cardiac surgery at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital, reportedly decided to leave the country over rising antisemitism.

According to the Montreal Gazette, Moss is expected to move to Atlanta in the United States as soon as September.

Moss is considered one of Canada’s leading cardiac surgeons. He helped introduce robotic cardiac surgery at Jewish General Hospital and has served as director of the cardiac surgery residency program at McGill University since 2019.

He declined to give an official interview. However, people close to him said the decision came from deep frustration over rising antisemitism in Montreal and what he views as the authorities’ failure to confront it.

A Surgeon Leaving Montreal

Moss has already informed patients and members of his synagogue community about the planned move.

Those close to him said his frustration grew after a series of hate incidents targeting Jews in Canada. They cited physical attacks on Jews, vandalism of Jewish-owned businesses, synagogue arsons, and gunfire toward a yeshiva.

The final straw, according to the report, came after footage circulated from a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Montreal. Protesters displayed a mock hanging of dolls, including one made to look Jewish with a kippah on its head. The doll was reportedly meant to represent Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

For many Canadian Jews, Moss’s departure is not only a personal decision. It is a warning sign.

Canada’s Antisemitism Crisis

Canada’s own leaders are now acknowledging the scale of the problem.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week that Canada is failing Jewish Canadians. Speaking at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, he said antisemitism in Canada has reached levels not seen since the post-World War II period.

Government data cited by Reuters showed that in 2024, roughly 70% of Canada’s religion-based hate crimes targeted Jews, even though Jews make up about 1% of the country’s population.

Carney cited bullets fired at Jewish schools, firebombs thrown at synagogues, attacks on Jewish-owned businesses, and harassment on university campuses.

In Toronto, police said the Jewish community remained the most frequently targeted group of all hate-motivated crimes in 2025. Police also said reported hate crimes were rising again in 2026.

From Montreal to Toronto, the pattern has become clear. Canadian Jews are not only debating politics. They are questioning safety, public life, and whether their country will protect them.

A Major Blow to Health Care

Moss’s departure is also raising concern inside Quebec’s health care system, which already faces major pressure.

Dr. Louis Perrault, president of the Quebec Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons, called the move a major blow to the region’s cardiac surgery system.

That is what makes the story larger than one doctor. When a country fails to protect its Jewish citizens, it does not only lose trust. It can lose talent, leadership, and institutions.

The Second High-Profile Departure

Moss is the second prominent Jewish figure in Montreal to recently decide to leave Canada because of antisemitism.

He was preceded by Prof. Gad Saad, a world-renowned professor at Concordia University, who said on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he was leaving Canada for a position at the University of Mississippi.

Saad said he had received death threats.

“I left largely because it became difficult, if not impossible, to be a high-profile Jewish professor who supports Israel’s right to exist,” he said.

A Warning for Canada

The phrase “brain drain” usually refers to countries losing doctors, scientists, professors, and innovators because they cannot offer opportunity.

In Canada’s Jewish community, the concern is sharper. The question is whether Jewish professionals are beginning to leave not because they lack opportunity, but because they no longer feel safe.

For a country like Canada, that is a serious warning.

When a leading Jewish surgeon leaves Montreal over antisemitism, the damage is not only symbolic. It is practical. Patients lose a doctor. Hospitals lose expertise. Communities lose confidence.

And Canada loses part of the Jewish excellence that helped build it.