Statistics Canada Article on Police-Reported Hate Crimes 2009

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat has published a new article on Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2009:

"In 2009, police services covering 87% of the population of Canada reported 1,473 hate crimes, representing less than 1% of all Criminal Code incidents.8 Expressed as a rate, there were 5 police-reported hate crimes for every 100,000 Canadians in 2009. The number of hate crimes in 2009 reflected the second increase in a row, up by 437 incidents or 42% from 2008 (...)"

"Data from a subset of police services covering half of the country shows that the increase in police-reported hate crimes in 2009 occurred largely among non-violent offences, predominantly mischief (e.g. graffiti, vandalism to religious property) which accounted for more than half (54%) of all hate crime incidents in 2009. While the number of violent crimes also rose in 2009, the difference was less substantial than for non-violent hate crimes. Among violent hate crimes, minor assaults (13%), in which little to no physical harm was caused to the victim, and uttering threats (10%) were the most common types of offences. Police reported no hate-motivated homicides in 2009"

Over half (54%) of police-reported hate crimes in 2009 were motivated by race or ethnicity, 29% by religion and 13% by sexual orientation. The largest increase was among those motivated by religion, which rose 55% in 2009.

Violent offences, such as assault, accounted for about 4 in 10 hate crimes reported by police. Violent offences were particularly more common among hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation.

The number of police-reported hate crimes against all racial groups rose in 2009. Blacks continued to be the most commonly targeted racial group. 7 in 10 religiously-motivated hate crimes were committed against the Jewish faith in 2009.

Statistics Canada explains in a Note to Readers:

"Police-reported hate crimes refer to criminal incidents that, upon investigation by police, are determined to have been motivated by hate towards an identifiable group. The incident may target race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, language, sex, age, mental or physical disability, or other factors such as profession or political beliefs (...)"

"The number of hate crimes presented in this release likely undercounts the true extent of hate crime in Canada, as not all crimes are reported to police. Self-reported victimization data from Canadians suggests that about one-third (34%) of incidents perceived by respondents to have been motivated by hate were subsequently reported to police."