OTTAWA – Statistics Canada reports that more than 900 hate crimes have been recorded by police in Ontario so far this year, part of a broader national increase in police-reported hate incidents. The federal agency published preliminary quarterly data showing elevated year to date totals for hate crimes and cybercrime across regions.
The finding underscores a sustained rise in hate-motivated offences that government, law enforcement and Jewish community groups say has accelerated since October 2023. Nationally, police-reported hate crimes more than doubled in recent years and remained elevated through 2024 and into 2025, according to Statistics Canada.
Toronto and other Ontario police services have reported steep increases in antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents in city streets, at protests and online. Toronto Police Service documentation and earlier reporting point to a marked climb in incidents linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict and to related tensions that have spilled into public life. Toronto police have said they are treating many such incidents as hate crimes and have cooperated with community groups on investigations and safety planning.
Jewish advocacy and communal organizations said the Statistics Canada totals confirm what families and communal institutions have been experiencing on the ground. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said the numbers are startling and called for urgent action to protect places of worship, schools and community centres. CIJA noted that Jewish people continue to be disproportionately targeted for religiously motivated hate crimes.
Bโnai Brith Canada and other watchdog groups pointed to the same dataset to underline the scope of the problem. These organizations have urged stronger criminal enforcement, better resourcing for police hate crime units, and expanded education programs in schools to counter prejudice and to teach the history and consequences of antisemitism. They said the Statistics Canada release validates community appeals for clearer government policy and funding to address online and offline hate.
Statistics Canadaโs preliminary dashboard and tables provide year to date totals by province and by type of motivation. Analysts caution that preliminary quarterly numbers can change as police continue to report incidents and investigations proceed. Nevertheless the year to date totals are widely used by researchers and advocacy groups to identify trends and to press for policy responses.
Legal and policy responses are under discussion at multiple levels of government. Federal and provincial officials have recently proposed measures to tighten hate-crime laws, improve data sharing and strengthen protection for places of worship and other vulnerable sites. The Department of Justice and public safety offices are consulting with civil society on legislative and programmatic steps to reduce hate-motivated violence and harassment.
Community leaders and school administrators said the Statistics Canada figures must translate into concrete prevention. They urged school boards to bolster Holocaust and human rights education, asked municipalities to expand security funding for cultural institutions, and requested that police make hate-crime units more accessible to victims.
Experts stress that the recorded incidents likely understate the true prevalence of hate. Many victims do not report abuse to police because they fear retaliation, doubt the system will respond, or regard incidents as too minor to justify police involvement. That underreporting in turn complicates efforts to measure the full scope of the problem and to allocate resources effectively.
As Ontario records more than 900 police-reported hate crimes year to date, community organizations said they will continue to press for a combined approach of law enforcement, education and civil society action. They said protecting vulnerable communities and defending the Jewish community against growing antisemitism must remain a public policy priority.
This article is based on verified information from Statistics Canada, Toronto Police Service, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Bโnai Brith Canada, and Reuters.