Annual Hate Crimes data show a 19% increase in reporting to police in 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, February 12, 2024   10:15 am 

(Ottawa) — The Ottawa Police Service Hate and Bias Crime Unit 2023 Annual statistics show that the Unit addressed 460 incidents last year, including 344 criminal and 116 hate-motivated incidents, which marks an increase of 19.5% over 2022 (compared to 377 incidents that year).

In 2023, 43 individuals were charged with 123 counts of criminal offences and this included four formal hate crime charges under the Criminal Code of Canada for Public incitement of hatred. Furthermore, a total of 23 Youth Criminal Justice Act warnings were issued.

A hate crime is a criminal offence committed against a person or property motivated by hate/bias or prejudice based on race, national or ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation, or other similar factors.

The most serious violations in 2023 were:

• Mischief to property
• Threats
• Assault
• Harassing communication
• Theft under $5000

The *groups most victimized are:

• Jewish (92 reported incidents)
• LGBTQ2+ (65 reported incidents)
• Black (59 reported incidents)
• Muslim (21 reported incidents)
• India, Pakistan/South Asian (19 reported incidents)
• Chinese (15 reported incidents)

Note: the groups listed above are established and defined by Statistics Canada.

Hate crimes are extremely underreported. We encourage anyone who has experienced a hate incident to report it to us for further investigation.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of a hate-motivated crime, please report it to the Ottawa Police Hate and Bias Crime Unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 7300 or online.

Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 or at crimestoppers.ca.

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 Through the Community Safety Data portal data.ottawapolice.ca, members of the public can view, download, and interact with data released by Ottawa Police Service.

CONTACT:

Media Relations Section

Tel: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366