Statistics Canada says the number of police-reported hate crimes stayed steady in 2024, after sharp increases in prior years.
StatCan says there were 4,882 hate crimes in Canada in 2024, a one per cent increase over the previous year.
That followed a 34 per cent rise between 2022 and 2023 and after the number of police-reported hate crimes more than doubled since 2018.
StatCan reports an eight per cent increase in incidents targeting race or ethnicity in 2024, and a 26 per cent drop in the number of cases targeting sexual orientation.
The number of police-reported hate crimes targeting religion stayed relatively stable, following a 154 per cent increase between 2020 and 2023.
The Liberal government has introduced a new hates crimes bill that would create new Criminal Code offences and define "hatred" in criminal law for the first time.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
