New data from Statistics Canada show the number of hate crimes reported to police across the country went up 37 per cent in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the previous year.
The agency says 2,669 hate crimes were reported in 2020 — the highest number since comparable data became available in 2009.
The report also shows the overall rate of police-reported crime, excluding traffic offences, dropped 10 per cent from 2019 to 2020.
Statistics Canada says police-reported hate crimes targeting race or ethnicity rose 80 per cent in 2020 compared with 2019 and accounted for the
