Hate-motivated crime increased by 94 per cent in 2023: Regional police

Waterloo Regional Police are reporting a massive spike in the number of hate-motivated crimes across the region.

New data shows in 2023, there were 369 hate-motivated crimes reported, an increase of 92 per cent compared to the 190 reported in 2022. Since 2019, the amount of hate-motivated crime has increased year over year.

Waterloo Region is above the national average that was recorded in 2022.

Last year saw two months with significant increases, April with 50 and June with 52. When comparing the monthly totals between 2022 and 2023, the month of June saw the greatest increase between both.

“Of the 52 reported incidents in June 2023, three categories experienced the greatest overall increases relative to 2022: 9 incidents targeted the Jewish community, 8 incidents targeted ‘other sex’ which are related to transphobic incidents, and 18 incidents affected ‘unknown sexual orientation’ which broadly targets the 2SLGBTQIA+ community,” the report reads.

Geraldine Stafford, the manager of diversity and equity with Waterloo Regional Police, said this trend supported the move by police to launch their #hatehurtsWR public information campaign.

“The main call to action for this month is report hate to police,” Stafford said during Wednesday’s police board meeting.

A copy of the report and the presentation to the Waterloo Regional Police Board can be found here.