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Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2017: Highlights
* In 2017, police reported 2,073 criminal incidents in Canada that were motivated by hate, an increase of 47% or 664 more incidents than reported the previous year.
* The increase in the total number of incidents was largely attributable to an increase in police-reported hate crimes motivated by hatred of a religion (+382 incidents) or of a race or ethnicity (+212 incidents). Hate crimes accounted for less than 0.1% of the nearly 1.9 million police-reported crimes in 2017 (excluding traffic offences).
* Between 2016 and 2017, the number of police-reported crimes motivated by hatred of a race or ethnicity increased 32%, from 666 to 878. Much of this increase was a result of more hate crimes targeting the Black (+107 incidents) and Arab and West Asian populations (+30 incidents). Hate crimes targeting the Black population remained one of the most common types of hate crimes (16% of all hate crimes).
* Compared with 2016, the number of police-reported hate crimes motivated by religion rose 83% in 2017, from 460 to 842. Hate crimes against all religions saw increases. Police-reported crimes motivated by hate against the Muslim population rose from 139 incidents to 349 incidents in 2017 (+151%). Hate crimes against the Jewish population continued to rise in 2017, from 221 to 360 incidents (+63%).
* Police-reported hate crimes targeting sexual orientation rose 16% in 2017 to 204 incidents, compared with 176 incidents in 2016.
* The provinces of Ontario (+411 incidents) and Quebec (+162 incidents), and more specifically the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) of Toronto (+229 incidents) and Montréal (+117 incidents), accounted for much of the national increase. Changes in the Toronto CMA were driven by a rise in police-reported hate crimes targeting the Muslim, Black, and Jewish populations. The increase in Montréal was primarily explained by hate crimes against the Muslim and Arab and West Asian populations.
* Based on data from police services that reported incident characteristics of hate crimes, a 64% increase in non-violent hate crimes accounted for much of the national increase. Non-violent hate crimes accounted for 62% of all hate crimes in 2017. The number of non-violent hate crimes grew from 755 to 1,239 incidents, primarily driven by increases in mischief (+378...