FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OTTAWA, ON – On Monday, Statistics Canada released police-reported hate crime data for 2019. In response, Shimon Koffler Fogel, President and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) issued the following:
“We are concerned that incidents of hate crime increased again in Canada in 2019, and exceeded the 10-year average. The 7% overall increase appears to be attributable to attacks motivated by sexual orientation and race or ethnicity.
“Among the troubling aspects of the report is the 8% increase in violent hate crimes which now account for 44% of the total. Also troubling are the record high number of attacks motivated by sexual orientation.
“It is important to note that this is 2019 data and does not reflect the impact Covid-19 has had on our society. That data is not yet available, but Statistics Canada does cite a crowdsourcing survey that suggests that 2020 will see a significant increase in hate crimes targeting visible minorities, particularly Canadians of Asian ethnicity.
“Though we welcome the 20% decrease in crimes targeting the Jewish community, Jewish Canadians still remain the most targeted religious minority for hate crime and second overall. Jewish Canadians were targeted 296 times in 2019. Even with a 20% year over year decrease, attacks on Jewish Canadians still occurred on average five times per week during 2019. Those numbers are particularly troubling since the Jewish community accounts for only 1% of the population and yet are the targets of 17% of police-reported hate crime.
“Although Canada remains one of the best countries in the world in which to be Jewish, or any other minority for that matter, these numbers are troubling and should concern all Canadians of good will.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) is the advocacy agent of the Jewish Federations of Canada
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Additional information:
- There were 1,946 police-reported hate crimes in Canada in 2019, up 7% from 2018.
- Other than a single peak of 2,073 hate crimes in 2017, police-reported numbers are the highest since 2009.
- Full Statistics Canada Report here.
- Juristat: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/85-002-X202100100002
- Infographic: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2021021-eng.pdf?st=PvrcTk5X
