New data from Statistics Canada suggests the Waterloo Region in southern Ontario had the highest rate of police-reported hate crimes in the country in 2023, prompting police and advocates to call for urgent action to deter hateful behavior.
In response to the federal agency's findings, including that Waterloo Region reported 34 hate crimes per 100,000 residents last year, Chief Mark Crowell of the Waterloo Regional Police Service said it “causes us great concern.” He also noted that numbers have increased at both the provincial and national levels.
Crowell said the region's hate crime findings put it “ahead of communities like Calgary.” [and] Edmonton.
“We also had the highest rate per 100,000 people, so that is a matter of great concern and there are some good things happening, but there is still a lot of work to do.”
Statistics Canada recently released police-reported hate crime figures for 2023, showing the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo census metropolitan area had the highest rate of any city in the country. (Statistics Canada)
Breaking down the data, Crowell found that about 58 percent of reported hate crimes were non-violent – including horseplay and offensive graffiti – while the other 40 percent included crimes such as assault, threats, harassment and arson.
According to the new data, issues such as a heightened political environment, polarization on social media and anti-newcomer and anti-immigrant sentiment are impacting social discourse in communities and ultimately community action, Crowell said.
In addition, ethnic origin is the focus of around half of the hate-motivated crimes reported by the police.
“About 50 percent [in this category] are pro-Black, and that is astounding,” Crowell said, adding, “There is significant anti-Black racism in our community.”
Chief Mark Crowell of the Waterloo Region Police Department says anti-newcomer and anti-immigrant sentiment influences social discourse in Waterloo Region communities and ultimately community actions. (Carmen Groleau/CBC)
Seventeen percent of hate crimes reported by police targeted members of the South Asian community, while 16 percent involved Arab individuals, Crowell said of the data.
“About 18 percent of all hate crimes are directed against religion, but about 87 percent of them are directed against the Jewish community – i.e. anti-Semitism. About 13 percent are directed against the Muslim religion and Islam,” Crowell said.
“The next highest category of those affected concerns sexual orientation. So the statistics show us that hate-motivated crimes target the 2SLGBTQ+ The community at large is a significant part of it.”
Hate against 2SLGBTQ+ is increasing
Scott Williams is the Executive Director of Spectrum, an organization supporting 2SLGBTQ+ individuals in the Waterloo Region and the broader community. It offers peer support, community partnerships, education and training, resources and events.
Williams said the data confirms what the organization has always known — that hate is on the rise in Waterloo Region.
“Unfortunately, these results come as no surprise to us,” Williams wrote in an email to CBC News.
“We know from our participants that hate against 2SLGBTQIA+ is increasing in our community.
“In times like these, we need our allies to step up and help educate people about 2SLGBTQIA+ issues and help us work towards an inclusive community where all 2SLGBTQIA+ people are welcomed, celebrated and supported as their authentic selves will,” said Williams.
There are concerns that the numbers could be even higher
Reacting to the report, Sarah Shafiq, director of advocacy, research and outreach at the Coalition of Muslim Women of KW, said “this is really concerning” for a “really diverse” community where nearly 25 percent of the population is racially motivated .
“This hatred towards any identity, any group is truly unacceptable,” she told CBC News.
Sarah Shafiq, director of advocacy, research and outreach at the Coalition of Muslim Women KW, says Statistics Canada's findings are concerning. (Submitted by Sarah Shafiq)
Shafiq fears the number of hate crimes in Waterloo Region could be even higher than stated in the Statistic Canada report.
“I want to emphasize that certain communities are uncomfortable reporting cases to the police, so the numbers and what we see don't give us a real picture of what exactly is going on,” she said.
“Certainly it’s those from racialized communities in general [not comfortable]And the Arab communities in particular do not feel comfortable.
“They don’t have the trusting relationship with the police to make hate reports that they experienced, and so the numbers are quite misleading if you rely solely on police-reported data.”
“Tip of the iceberg”
The Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region (CCAWR) is “saddened and disturbed” by the report’s findings, the group’s president said.
“Individuals and families are subject to targeted attacks and human rights violations based on their ethnicity, religion, origin or other grounds of discrimination prohibited by the Canada Human Rights Act,” said Lannois Carroll-Woolery.
“In 2023, one of our members was threatened by someone with an ax and demanded that he return to his homeland.”
Only by acknowledging cancer can we provide the resources – human, financial and social – needed for systemic change.– Lannois Caroll-Woolery, CCAWR President
Carroll-Woolery said: “Hate crimes are the proverbial tip of the iceberg.”
She said the report was “a call to action” for police, school boards, local governments and representative community associations.
“It is time to stop pretending that racism and prejudice are not anchored here. Only by acknowledging cancer can we provide the resources – human, financial, social – needed for systemic change.”
VIEW | Ottawa launches program to protect communities from hate crimes:
Ottawa launches program to protect communities from hate-motivated crimes
The federal government has announced the funding of its action plan to combat hate. The plan is a response to the increasing number of hate incidents within Canadian communities, such as Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
Barbara Perry, director of Ontario Tech University's Center on Hate, Bias and Extremism, said Waterloo Region has been in the top 10 for hate crimes reported by police for several years and called it “very disturbing.”
She pointed out that Kitchener-Waterloo is one of the areas where law enforcement has made more targeted efforts to encourage reporting in recent years.
Still, she said, “that's really not enough to explain the kinds of increases we're seeing… there's something else going on.”
The federal government recently announced funding for its action plan to combat hate, and Perry said this and other government efforts are important, particularly in terms of funding work in local communities.
To change the situation, “this new action plan and the associated funding must be leveraged and leveraged to implement a whole range of different strategies online and offline,” she said.
Barbara Perry, director of Ontario Tech University's Center on Hate, Bias and Extremism, says it is “very disturbing” that Waterloo Region has been in the top 10 for hate crimes reported by police for several years. (CBC)
For his part, Crowell said Statistics Canada's report offers “a little bit of a silver lining.”
“When we look at intimate partner violence and sexual violence, when we have high levels of reporting, we can see that our systems are working. That means there is trust in our institutions, people are engaged, they are.” “We come forward and we believe that through reporting things can be done,” he said.
“At the same time, people are alarmed and we have one of the fastest growing and most diverse communities in Canada. So we know that just one of these incidents can be devastating to make people feel safe and secure.” an individual, a family, a neighborhood indefinitely and their sense of security in our community – there is so much work that we have to do.”
Crowell said fighting hate has been identified as a top community priority in the Region of Waterloo's Safety and Well-Being Plan.
“Education must never stop. We know that none of us were born with hate in our hearts. “We know there are ways we can intervene with young people, particularly to eradicate ignorance and some of these behaviors that lead to violent outcomes,” he said.
“It cannot be said enough that hate has no home in Waterloo Region. We will continue to come together to try to break down every barrier, every silo, unite and build systems that work.”