Canada’s multiculturalism and variety are protected by law. The improvement and protection of minorities as a fundamental feature of Canadian society is written within the Canadian multiculturalism Act. Similarly, discrimination on the premise of race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, married status, family status, disability, or conviction for an offense that has been forgiven are legally forbidden by the Canadian Human Rights Act. All Canadians of all groups have the right to the same opportunities and behavior.
Despite this stress on multiculturalism and equality as a policy, those living in Canada don’t seem to be continuously treated equally. Hate crimes in Canada are a particular example of discrimination. Since it generally impacts people, their communities, and society, hate crimes are a center of social concern in Canada and many other countries.
Here we will learn what hate crime is, which groups and minorities are more vulnerable to it, and then we will go through some analyzed data gathered from police-reported hate crime incidents in Canada.
Table of Contents
Definition of hate crime in Canada
According to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), “Police-reported hate crime is defined as a criminal violation against a person or property motivated by hate, based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, age, color, religion, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, previous age, or anything similar.”
There are four main assaults listed in the Criminal Code as hate crimes in Canada:
- Promoting genocide
- Provoking emotions in a public place that might cause a gap in the peace [public incitement of hatred]
- Willful encouragement of hatred, all directed against a recognizable minority, and
- Mischief prompted by Hate concerning property primarily used for religious worship (later expanded to include properties of other minorities too.)
Hate crimes reported by Police in 2020
The number of police-reported hate crimes in Canada increased by 37% in 2020, growing from 1,951 incidents to 2,669. This marks the maximum number of police-reported hate crimes recorded since similar information was provided in 2009. Overall, hate crimes accounted for barely over 0.1% of the over 2 million police-reported crimes in 2020 (except for traffic offenses).
In comparison to police-reported hate crimes, the police-reported crimes rate was diminished by 10% from 2019 to 2020. Hate-prompted crime and non-hate-driven crime reduced in March and April 2020 compared to a similar period in 2019.
Compared to previous years, the proportion of hate crimes in Canada that targets race or ethnicity has increased significantly, while those targeting religions have decreased. The number of these crimes related to race or ethnicity reported by Police nearly doubled (+80%) compared to the previous year, accounting for the national increase. however, there were fewer hate crimes against religion reported to the Police (-98 incidents, -16%), resulting in fewer incidents targeting the Muslim population (-100 incidents, -55%)
Overall, hate crimes against Black populations accounted for 26% of hate crimes in 2020, while those targeting Jewish and East/Southeast Asian populations accounted for 13% and 11%, respectively.
Provinces and territories with increased hate crime
In 2020, the most significant increases in hate crimes in Canada had been stated to belong to Ontario with more than 316 incidents, after Ontario, British Columbia with more than 198 incidents, and Quebec with more than 86 incidents. Finally, Alberta, with more than 84 incidents, is next. The increases in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec have been primarily because of more significant hate crimes targeting minorities of race or ethnicity.
Specifically, all four provinces reported noticeable increases in hate crimes focused on the Black population. Census records show that the diversity in all these provinces has increased from 2011 to 2016 and that the most significant share of people targeted as minorities stay within the three provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta.
Rural hate crime compared to urban hate crimes in Canada
Rural regions have been home to about 16% of the Canadian population; however, they account for 7% of police-reported hate crimes (188 incidents) in 2020. The notably small range of hate crimes in rural regions creates a challenge for a thorough and detailed evaluation of the collected data.
Looking at records gathered from 2017 to 2020, hate crimes focused on the Black minority (86 incidents), the lesbian and homosexual minority (79 incidents), and the Indigenous minority (51 incidents) have been the maximum number stated in rural regions.
Among hate-motivated crimes in Canada, in which there have been at least one hundred stated incidents in total, crimes focused on the Indigenous people (30%) had the largest share in rural regions, accompanied by crimes focused on the Catholic population (18%), the white or Caucasian population (13%) and the lesbian and homosexual population (10%).
It is essential to notice that the wide variety of police-reported Hate among people of small distinct regions may be notably small and sensitive to fluctuations.
Where do hate crimes usually occur?
Violent hate crimes have regularly happened in open regions like on the road or in parks or fields (33%), at residences (26%), and in commercial businesses (18%).
Non-violent hate crimes also usually happened in open regions (30%), at residences (24%), academic establishments (14%), and commercial businesses (13%).
However, compared to violent hate crimes, non-violent hate crimes focused on race or ethnicity and religion, which might be in large part mischief offenses, happened more regularly at educational and religious establishments.
For instance, 15% of non-violent hate crimes focused on race or ethnicity at an academic institution, compared to 6% of violent hate crimes. For non-violent hate crimes focused on religion, 21% happened at religious establishments, 14% at instructional establishments, and 10% at commercial businesses.
With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Police reported that hate crimes have expanded by 37%, from 1,951 to 2,669 incidents. Overall, crimes concentrated on the Black and Jewish populations have been Canada’s most common kinds of police-reported hate crime. Although the bulk of hate crimes are non-violent, evaluation of the traits of hate crimes reported to Police between 2011 and 2020 suggest that hate-motivated crimes concentrated on sexual orientation, the South Asian, the Arab or West Asian, and the East and Southeast Asian populations are much more likely to be violent than non-violent.
Furthermore, as compared to other hate crime victims, victims of crimes concentrated on the East or Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Muslim populations are most likely to be victimized with the aid of strangers.
Conclusion
Hate crimes cause and promote disunity and inequality between people and put the country’s democracy in danger. Being one of the largest multicultural countries, Canada has to deal with many problems associated with this diversity, including hate crimes. However, with the Canadian multiculturalism Act and other inner society programs held by locals, we hope that the incidents relating to this phenomenon will decrease and finally eliminate.
Please feel free to leave your comments, and let us know if you require any further information. You can also read more about Canada’s politics, history, economy, and geographical facts.
