Toronto hate crime report finds Jews most targeted group, anti-Asian incidents on the rise

The number of hate crimes in Toronto reported to police rose again in 2021, a year that saw the Jewish community as the most targeted group and a significant increase in anti-Asian incidents.

According to the Toronto police's Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report, which will be presented to the police board next week, there were 257 hate-motivated incidents last year, up from 210 in 2020 and way above the 10-year average of 167 cases.

“These increases are believed to be attributed to international and geopolitical events, including the COVID-19 pandemic,” the service said in its report.

Of the 257 hate incidents, 75 were motivated by religion, 57 by national or ethnic origin, 54 by race and 26 by sexual orientation, according to the report.

It noted that most of the victims of these hate incidents were members of the Jewish, Black, East and Southeast Asian and the LGBTQ2S+ communities.

Police said mischief to property (111 cases), which includes vandalism, was the top hate offence, followed by assault (86) and uttering threats (31).

According to the report, hate-motivated assaults increased from 24 per cent in 2020 to 33 per cent in 2021. Nearly half of the assaults were motivated by national or ethnic origin. Police said these cases involve a suspect targeting a victim based on their perceived cultural traditions or their perceived country of origin.

“The number of reported hate crimes targeting individuals on the basis of ethnic or national origin was higher in 2021 than in any previous year since the Toronto Police Service began collecting this data in 1993,” the report noted.

Police said the East and Southeast Asian communities were the most targeted in that category.

They added that they saw an increase in anti-Asian hate in March when the Atlanta spa shootings occurred. The incident left eight people dead – six of whom were Asian women.

Police said hate crimes against the East and Southeast Asian communities climbed from seven per cent in 2020 to 16 per cent last year.

“In all of these assault occurrences, the victims were subject to derogatory comments and were either punched, pushed, or spat on by the suspect(s) during the assault,” police said in the report.

They added that four of the anti-Asian incidents saw the suspect blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, police said 56 of the 75 hate crimes motivated by religion targeted Jews, while 14 of those were directed against Muslims.

Michael Mostyn, the chief executive officer of B’nai Brith Canada, said the data from police is disturbing.

“This is something that is of great concern to the Jewish community,” Mostyn said.

“The increase in violence to the Jewish community last year is something that really has shaken our community in Toronto and across the country.”

Bernie Farber, the chair of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, was not surprised about the data.

"Hate crimes against Jews is nothing new sad to say. Antisemitism has been with us literally since time immemorial. And when hate crimes generally rise, Jews are sadly on the top of that list. It affects people personally. It is a scary situation for all members of the Jewish community," Farber said.

He noted that nothing significant is being done to combat the rise in antisemitism and other hate-motivated incidents.

"This has probably been the most difficult time over the last three or four years. And certainly, social media has provided the platform for people with hate in their hearts to actually get their message out and for those who are inclined to take matters into their own hands to act out physically," Farber said.

Nigel Barriffe with the Urban Alliance on Race said there needs to be a plan to tackle these incidents.

"We don't have a system that actually encourages more reporting. And then even when people are reporting, we don't actually have a system where it's taken seriously and that charges are laid, and that we hold these perpetrators of this hate accountable," he said. "We need the actual resources to deal with this."