Hate Crimes in Canada Are Actually 100 Times More Than Cops Reported: Survey

There may be 100 times more hate crimes in Canada than cops would have us believe.

According to the government agency Statistics Canada, law enforcement across the country reported there were 1,946 hate crimes in 2019. But according to newly released numbers by StatCan, there were 223,000 self-reported hate crimes (rounded to the nearest 1,000) over the same time period. The estimated number comes from the general survey in 2019 in which StatCan asked 22,000 Canadians if they were a victim of a hate crime. 

“In Canada, you’re more likely to be the victim of a hate crime than be injured in a motor vehicle accident,” said the Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN). CANH requested and analyzed the data, publishing an article about it on Wednesday.

“Many Canadians don't want to grapple with the fact that hate crime and online hate are at crisis levels in Canada. But the stories from communities—and now the data—are undeniable proof,” Evan Balgord, the executive director of CAHN, told VICE World News. 

According to the numbers, women were more likely to be targeted than men. The majority of the hate crimes, 53.5 percent, were in related to race and ethnicity, while 20 percent were over religion. Around 130,000 were violent crimes; 56,000 involved someone’s property, like a home or car, being vandalized; and 38,000 were theft.  

Of the 223,000 self-reported hate crimes, less than a quarter (48,000) were reported to police.

There are several reasons for the major discrepancy. The police numbers are hate crimes that have both been reported to the police and investigated to the point police are comfortable enough to offer a suspected motivation. Language barriers and a distrust of police also play roles in hate crimes going unreported, CAHN said in its report, and in some cases, police decide not to investigate it as a hate crime or tell the victim not to report it as one.

Despite all this, even police data shows there has been a consistent increase in hate crimes year after year.

Hate crimes are becoming more prevalent across the country as the far-right grows in strength and numbers. In Edmonton, there’s been a disturbing trend of Muslim women of colour being attacked. Antisemitism was up by 16 percent percent from 2019 to 2020 and can be found pretty readily at anti-mask or anti-vaccine rallies where rally-goers compare themselves to Holocaust survivors or blame the pandemic on Jewish globalists. 

Balgord said he wants to see those running in the Canadian election address the issue. 

“We want to hear the leaders of all political parties acknowledge this and commit to an action plan to end hate crime, to more regular surveys, to support anti-hate legislation, and to create a fund for the victims of hate attacks,” he said.

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