On Aug. 2, Statistics Canada released police-reported hate crime data for 2021revealing, once again, that hate crimes targeting the Black and Jewish populations remain the most common reported by police.
“We are deeply concerned that incidents of hate crime rose yet again in Canada in 2021,” said Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and chief executive officer of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
There were 642 reported hate crimes against Black Canadians in 2021, a slight decrease from the 676 reported in 2020, but an 86% increase from the 345 incidents reported in 2019.
Overall, hate crimes targeting religious groups increased 67% from 2020, breaking a three-year downturn. Incidents targeting the Jewish community grew by 47% from 2020 to 2021. Statistically, this reflects 1.3 in 1,000 members of Canada’s Jewish community reporting having been the target of a hate crime in 2021.
Jewish Canadians remain the most targeted religious minority for hate crime and second overall. There are approximately 380,000 Jews in Canada, representing only one percent of the population, yet members of the Jewish community were victims of 14.5% of all reported hate crime in 2021.
“Statistically, Canadian Jews were more than 10 times more likely than any other Canadian religious minority to report being the target of a hate crime. This is alarming,” said Fogel.
“This report should be a call to action for all Canadians to stand against antisemitism and all forms of hate…. We are grateful that police services across the country take these incidents seriously, but more needs to be done to protect vulnerable communities,” he said. “This includes greater support for security and safety at community institutions such as houses of worship; equity, diversity and inclusion education that includes training on antisemitism; and a national strategy to target online hate and radicalization.
“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 should concern all Canadians. One hate crime is one too many.”
For more on the Statistics Canada report, visit www150.statcan.gc.ca and click on the link for the publication Juristat.
– Courtesy Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs