Ottawa has seen a 23.5 per cent increase in hate and bias-motivated incidents in 2023 compared to this time last year, a rise the city’s police chief described as “concerning.”
Police have reported 221 hate-related incidents in 2023 so far, 158 of which have been deemed criminal. Twenty-three people have been charged with 56 counts of hate-motivated offences, with one formal charge of public incitement of hatred.
“Across North America and really the world, we’ve seen this trend of hate crimes on the rise,” Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs said.
“We want the community to know that we take every report seriously and we will fully investigate each incident.”
Police said the Jewish community was most commonly targeted, with 36 reported incidents, followed by the LGBTQ community at 32 incidents. Ottawa’s Black, Chinese and Muslim communities were also among those predominantly affected by hate-motivated crimes, police said.
“The statistics are sobering because we know that they only tell part of the story,” said Stubbs.
“So often these types of incidents go unreported and we know that this data only provides a glimpse of what people are experiencing out in the community.”
In 2021, Ottawa had the highest hate crime rate among 35 census metropolitan areas, at 23.2 incidents per 100,000 population, well above the national average rate of 8.8, according to Statistics Canada
StatCan said that only 23 to 30 per cent of hate crimes are reported.
Ottawa police said the entire country is also seeing an increase in the number of reported incidents, with a 27-per-cent rise in reporting in 2021 alone.
Police said they are working with impacted communities to better address safety concerns, including protecting Pride celebrations and educating the public on how to report hate crimes.