Canada

Canada regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Canada's hate crime laws are a combination of a substantive offence and a general penalty-enhancement provision. Police-reported hate crime data are collected by Statistics Canada, the national statistical agency. Hate crime statistics are regularly published. Canada conducts regular victimization surveys to measure unreported hate crime.

Hate crime data collection in Canada
Support for hate crime victims in Canada

OFFICIAL DATA

Year Hate crimes recorded by police Prosecuted Sentenced
2020 2669 Not available Not available
2019 Not available Not available Not available
2018 1798 - -
2017 2073 Not available Not available
2016 1409 Not available Not available
2015 1362 Not available Not available
2014 1295 Not available Not available
2013 1140 Not available Not available
2012 1414 Not available Not available
2011 1322 Not available Not available
2010 1401 Not available Not available
2009 1473 Not available Not available

Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See

Reports

Anti-Semitic hate crime

B’nai Brith reported 319 cases of vandalism, including 25 incidents targeting synagogues, two desecrations of Jewish graves, and 12 against people’s homes; 13 physical assaults, including one against Jewish students on their way home from school and one against a Jewish couple; and 84 cases of threats.

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Anti-Muslim hate crime

The Council on American-Islamic Relations - Canada (CAIR-CAN), which is now known as the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), reported one physical assault involving a woman’s headscarf being pulled off; three incidents of damage to property, two of which involved attempted arson against Islamic centres; one case of graffiti on an Islamic centre; and one case of threats of arson against a Mosque.

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INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended that Canada introduce in its legislation a specific offence criminalizing racist violence, which would be in addition to its general aggravating circumstances provision.

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR observes that Canada has not reported information on prosecuted hate crime cases to ODIHR.