Police-reported hate crimes are at an all-time high in Canada.
A Statistics Canada report released Thursday shows the number of hate crimes rose by 47 per cent in 2017, the last year for which data was collected.
The report says 2,073 hate crimes–the most since 2009 when data became available–were committed.
Hate crimes, the report says, account for 0.1 per cent of the over 1.9 million non-traffic crimes reported by police.
Police forces across the country dealt with a record number of hate crimes in 2017, Statistics Canada data found. Here, anti-Semitic graffiti that was spray painted on the door of The Glebe Minyan in Ottawa in 2016 is cleaned up. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Statistics Canada says the increase was largely driven by incidents in Ontario and Quebec, including the attack on the Quebec City mosque in which six worshippers died in January 2017.
The agency says the increase was largely driven by incidents targeting Muslim, Jewish and black people.
Noting that the increase could be partially attributed to more people reporting incidents, it cautioned that a large number of hate crimes are not reported.
A survey earlier this month found differing views–depending on the region–about whether racism was getting better or worse in Canada.
With files from CBC, Global News, Statistics Canada
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