Findings

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Incidence of police-reported and victim-reported hate crime

While both police-reported data and self-reported victimization data show that the proportion of hate crime is relatively low, the volume of hate-motivated offences collected by each type of survey is very different. Typically, self-reported victimization surveys yield higher crime counts than police-reported surveys and hate-motivated crimes were no exception to this trend. [Full text]

Racially-motivated incidents most common

Both police-reported data and victimization data identify motivations for hate crime incidents, although their methodologies differ. For police-reported surveys, the categories of hate crime motivations are mutually exclusive and police may only indicate one underlying motive. In contrast, the GSS allows respondents to indicate multiple motivations for a single hate crime incident. [Full text]

Highest rates of hate crime in Calgary and Kingston

Due to relatively low coverage in some provinces, provincial comparisons of police-reported hate crime are limited to Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia where virtually 100% of all police services and detachments participated in the hate crime study. [Full text]

Hate crime rates higher among youth

Data from police show that youth (12 to 17 years) were more likely than older age groups to be accused of a hate crime. The rate of youth accused of a hate-motivated offence in 2006 peaked among 12 to 17 year-olds and gradually decreased with increasing age. The 120 youth accused in 2006 accounted for more than one-third (38%) of all those accused of a hate crime, double the proportion of youth accused of committing a non-hate crime (18%). [Full text]

Most hate crimes committed by strangers

Police-reported data indicate that hate crime incidents differ from crime in general in that they are more likely to be committed by strangers than by persons known to the victim. [Full text]

Consequences of hate-motivated crime

Hate-motivated crimes are unique in that they can have effects on the victim beyond those commonly associated with non-hate crimes. The personal characteristics related to hate crime victimization (e.g. race, religion, sexual orientation) are often core elements of the victim's sense of identity and, when targeted, can create feelings of anger and vulnerability. [Full text]

Race-motivated hate crimes most common type in other countries

According to the 2007 international Hate Crime Survey conducted by Human Rights First, there are over 30 countries in Europe and North America that have adopted hate crime legislation (McClintock and LeGendre, 2007b). However, only Canada, Sweden and the United States publicly report hate crime statistics according to the categories of race, religion and sexual orientation. [Full text]

Summary

There are two different data sources used to measure the incidence and characteristics of hate-motivated crime in Canada. The UCR Survey reflects the amount of crime that is reported to, substantiated by, and deemed by police to be motivated by hatred toward a specific group. The GSS gathers self-reported victimization data from Canadians who have been victimized by a crime and asking them if they believe the incident had been motivated by hate. [Full text]