The number of hate crimes reported by police in the first year of the pandemic increased by 37% in the country compared to 2019, according to Statistics Canada.
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For example, in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, police services reported 2,669 hate crime incidents in Canada.
“This is the highest number of police-reported hate crimes recorded since comparable data became available in 2009,” Statistics Canada said.
In 2020, the number of hate crimes targeting race or ethnicity almost doubled (+80%) compared to a year earlier, and was responsible for most of the increase in the number of hate crimes observed nationwide.
“The pandemic has further exposed and exacerbated issues surrounding community safety and discrimination in Canada, including hate crimes,” the federal agency said.
The largest increases targeted Blacks (+318 cases, +92%), East or Southeast Asians (+202 cases, +301%), Aboriginals (+44 cases, +152%) and South Asians (+38 cases, +47%).
Increase in most provinces
When population size is taken into account, the rate of hate crimes in Canada from 2019 to 2020 increased by 35% to seven incidents per 100,000 population.
Among the provinces, the most marked increases were recorded in Nova Scotia (+70%; +23 cases), British Columbia (+60%; +198 cases), Saskatchewan (+60%; +20 cases ), in Alberta (+39%; +84 cases) and in Ontario (+35%; +316 cases).
Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories reported no increases.
In Quebec, 86 more incidents were recorded in 2020, compared to 2019, for a total of 485 hate crimes reported by police. Relative to the size of the population, this is 5.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (compared to 4.7 in 2019).
Decrease in hate crimes targeting religion
In addition, Statistics Canada notes that hate crimes targeting religion have decreased for a third consecutive year, posting a 16% drop in 2020.
The Jewish and Muslim populations continued to be targeted more frequently, accounting for 62% and 16%, respectively, of hate crimes motivated by religion.
“The decrease in the number of hate crimes targeting religion is mainly explained by the fact that the number of hate crimes targeting the Muslim population decreased by 55% in 2020, from 182 incidents to 82 incidents,” notes Statistics Canada. The largest declines were observed in Quebec (-50 cases), Ontario (-27 cases) and Alberta (-19 cases).
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com