Jewish Canadians faced the highest number of religiously motivated hate crimes in 2024, with police reporting 920 incidents targeting the community, according to new Statistics Canada data released Tuesday.The figures show Jewish people remained by far the most targeted religious group, accounting for nearly 70% of all religion-based hate crimes despite representing just over 1% of Canada's population. While Jewish hate crimes dropped slightly by 4% from the previous year's peak of 959 incidents, the numbers stayed at historically high levels.Overall hate crimes across Canada climbed to 4,882 incidents in 2024, a 1% increase from 2023's total of 4,828. The data reflects a five year trend that has seen hate crimes surge 85% since 2020.Religious hate crimes remained virtually unchanged at 1,342 incidents, down from 1,345 in 2023. .Muslim Canadians experienced 229 reported hate crimes, while Catholics experienced 61 incidents. Other religious groups combined for 105 cases.Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) Chief Executive Officer Noah Shack described the statistics as “shocking.” “In 2024, a Jewish Canadian was 25 times more likely to experience a hate crime than any other Canadian,” said Shack.“But numbers don’t paint the full picture. They reflect only a fraction of what Jewish Canadians experience every day. The daily reality is families wondering if it’s safe to walk to synagogue, school buses being checked for explosives, and students being bullied and harassed for being Jewish.”.“When any community is targeted because of who they are, it erodes the values all Canadians count on,” said Shack.“That’s why we need our leaders to step up with urgent and effective measures: increase support for security of Jewish institutions, criminalize the glorification of terrorism, ensure police enforce the law and give them the tools they need, and stop extremists from inciting or promoting violence in Canada.”Race and ethnicity-based crimes continued dominating hate crime statistics, representing 2,377 incidents or nearly half of all reported cases. Black Canadians suffered 873 incidents, while South Asian communities experienced 321 cases, and Arab or West Asian groups faced 310 incidents.Statistics Canada's data covers police services representing over 99% of the Canadian population.
