Statistics Canada said the number of police-reported hate crimes has continued to rise across the country. (Photo: Canadian Press)

By David Opinko / with files from Canadian Press

Police-reported hate crimes rise in Canada, small increase in Lethbridge

Mar 23, 2023 | 12:38 PM

OTTAWA, ON — New figures released by Statistics Canada show hate crimes reported to police continued to spike across the country in the second year of the pandemic as people were targeted by race, religion and sexual orientation.

The agency says in a news release that all provinces and territories experienced increases in hate crime reports in 2021 except Yukon, where they were unchanged.

Incidents motivated by religion were up 67 per cent across Canada, while reports to police involving sexual orientation rose by 63 per cent, and race-related incidents were up six per cent.

The statistics agency says the pandemic “exacerbated experiences of discrimination,” including hate crimes, and “underscored an increase in discourse” about the issue.

Overall, there were 3,360 hate crimes of all motivations reported to police in 2021, up by 27 per cent, after a 35 per cent increase in 2020.

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Reports of hate crime targeting East or Southeast Asians rose 16 per cent to 305 incidents in 2021, a level that is more than four times higher than it was in 2019.

Statistics Canada says community awareness and relations with police can influence whether incidents get reported at all, and just over one in five reported incidents result in charges being laid or recommended.

It says the victims and those accused of reported hate crimes are most often men and boys.

In Alberta, a total of 339 hate crimes were reported to police in 2021, up from 294 the year before. There were increases in incidents that were motivated by religion (91 in 2021, up from 30) and sexual orientation (43 in 2021, up from 39), while matters relating to race or ethnicity were down to 189 in 2021 from 213.

Statistics Canada said the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) received 10 reports of hate-motivated crimes in 2021, up from eight in 2020 and two in 2019.

A spokesperson with LPS told Lethbridge News Now that the majority of incidents in the city involved graffiti with racial slurs and symbols on buildings.

“There was also an assault where the subject uttered racial slurs then pushed an employee at business, one threats where racial slurs and threats were uttered at a clerk at a business and one incident where harassing/hate-motivated communications were sent to a religious organization,” reads a statement from LPS.

The full report on police-reported hate crime in Canada in 2021 can be accessed on the Statistics Canada website.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now