Khawlah Noman was walking to her Toronto school when a man suddenly appeared behind her and cut her hijab, police said.
"I felt really scared and confused," the 11-year-old girl said at a news conference Friday.
The man approached the child from behind Friday morning as she made her way to school with her younger brother. He pulled the hood off the girl's jacket and cut her hijab with a pair of scissors, police said.
Khawlah screamed and the man ran away, but he returned a few minutes later to assault her again, she said.
Authorities are investigating the incident as a hate crime. It happened in a Toronto neighborhood known for its diversity.
"My heart goes out to Khawlah Noman following this morning's cowardly attack on her in Toronto," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday on Twitter. "Canada is an open and welcoming country, and incidents like this cannot be tolerated."#cnn