Elham Asaad Buaras
Statistics Canada reported earlier this month that the country’s hate crime rate increased by 72% between 2019 and 2021, following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, hate-motivated crimes targeting religion increased by 67%, crimes targeting sexual orientation increased by 64%, and crimes targeting race or ethnicity increased by 6%. As a result, minority groups have urged the government to pass an anti-racism law as a result.
The council has asked the federal government to pass an Anti-Racism Act to collect specific information about the culprits, where the crime takes place, and the circumstances under which it occurs to hold those responsible accountable.
Immigrant workers accounted for 84 percent of total labour force growth in the 2010s, according to Statistics Canada, making migration a critical growth engine for the Canadian economy.
Canada welcomed a record 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021, and Ottawa has set an ambitious target of 432,000 newcomers this year.
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Several incidents targeting Asians have put Manan Doshi, an international student who recently came to Canada, in doubt about remaining in the country.
Doshi said his family asked him to return to India after he witnessed some life-threatening incidents at Toronto subway stations that scared him.
Mohammed Hashim, Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, has recommended the federal government invest $15 million Canadian dollars ($11.6 million) to help hate crime victims.
“This is unacceptable because hate can forever damage people’s ability to participate in society,” Hashim said.
According to the updated data, hate crimes against Muslims increased by 71% in 2021 compared to 2020, when there were 144 incidents.
“This year, there was a dramatic spike in anti-Muslim hate, as per the Stats Canada numbers,” said the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
“We lost Canadian Muslims to hate in 2021. These numbers also do not tell the whole story—we know that the numbers of hate crimes vastly exceed what is shown up in hate crime stats.”
Muslims in Canada have been targeted by major hate attacks in recent years, including a mass shooting that claimed six worshippers at a mosque in Quebec City in 2017.
Last year, an assailant ran over a Muslim family with his truck in London, Ontario, killing four people in what police described as an Islamophobic attack.
