Police-reported hate crimes level off in 2024 after multi-year rise, Statistics Canada says

The number of police-reported hate crimes in Canada remained largely unchanged in 2024 following several years of sharp increases, according to new data released by Statistics Canada.

The agency reported 4,882 hate crimes in 2024, marking a one per cent increase over the previous year. The latest figures follow a 34 per cent rise between 2022 and 2023, and a broader trend that has seen reported incidents more than double since 2018, according to the federal data agency.

Statistics Canada said incidents targeting race or ethnicity increased by eight per cent in 2024. At the same time, police-reported hate crimes targeting sexual orientation dropped by 26 per cent compared with 2023 levels.

Cases targeting religion remained relatively stable year over year, the agency said. That follows a significant increase between 2020 and 2023, when reported incidents in that category rose by 154 per cent.

The data comes as the federal Liberal government has introduced legislation aimed at updating hate crime provisions in the Criminal Code. The proposed bill would create new offences and establish a legal definition of “hatred” for the first time, though details on timelines and parliamentary review were not included in the release.