Canada | HCRW

Canada regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR and regularly publishes hate crime statistics. Canada conducts regular victimization surveys to measure unreported hate crime.

In 2019, the Government of Canada released Building a Foundation for Change: Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-2022, which laid the groundwork for demonstrating federal leadership and empowering communities. Building on the lessons and accomplishments from the first Strategy, Changing Systems, Transforming Lives: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2028 is developed based on robust evidence and input from people and communities with lived experience of racism. It aims to tackle systemic racism. Canada's Action Plan on Combatting Hate is available online.

SELECT YEAR

Download the 2012 hate crime report for Canada

OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
2023	4,777	Not available	Not available
2022	3,576	47	15
2021	3,360	Not available	Not available
2020	2,669	Not available	Not available
2019	Not available	Not available	Not available
2018	1,798	-	-
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

Download official data

KEY OBSERVATION

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

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.

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.

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.