A Montreal police shoulder patch is seen on an officer in Montreal on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

By The Canadian Press

Hate crimes numbers stayed steady in 2024 after years of increases: StatCan

Mar 30, 2026 | 9:49 AM

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the number of police-reported hate crimes stayed steady in 2024, after sharp increases in prior years.

StatCan says there were 4,882 hate crimes in Canada in 2024, a one per cent increase over the previous year.

That followed a 34 per cent rise between 2022 and 2023 and after the number of police-reported hate crimes more than doubled since 2018.

StatCan reports an eight per cent increase in incidents targeting race or ethnicity in 2024, and a 26 per cent drop in the number of cases targeting sexual orientation.

The number of police-reported hate crimes targeting religion stayed relatively stable, following a 154 per cent increase between 2020 and 2023.

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The Liberal government has introduced a new hates crimes bill that would create new Criminal Code offences and define “hatred” in criminal law for the first time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press