Hate crimes in Toronto, Canada, have increased by 93% since the October 7 massacre when compared to the prior year, and most of the incidents were antisemitic, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said on Monday morning in an update to the Toronto Police Services Board.
“It has been 163 days since the Middle East crisis began, and the impact of the geopolitical unrest abroad continues to affect people worldwide, including in Canada and right here in Toronto,” said Demkiw. “We are laser focused on the task at hand: keeping the city safe.”
Police have responded to 989 hate crime calls since October 7; there have been 304 since the beginning of 2024. This marks an increase of 225 calls from the same time the previous year. There have been a total of 84 confirmed hate crimes since the year began, an 83% increase compared to 2023.
Anti-Jewish crime accounted for most targeted hate crimes in 2024
Anti-Jewish crime accounted for more hate crimes than any other category in 2024 and preceding years. February was the month with the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the last three years, according to the police. There have been a total of 47 antisemitic hate crimes in Toronto since the year began.
“While we saw a reduction in calls for service for hate crimes in December and January, we have seen a significant increase in February, with a 67 percent rise in calls,” said Demkiw. “Of the 84 hate crimes so far in 2024, 56 percent are antisemitic. Last month saw the highest number of antisemitic occurrences in the last three years.”
Demkiw said that the second-highest bias category was crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people, followed by anti-black racism and Islamiphobia. The police said that there have been five anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, or anti-Palestinian hate crimes this year, an increase of one from the same time last year.
“While underreporting of all forms of hate crimes is a concern, I know from talking to people in the community that Islamophobia is a significant concern, and given our statistics, I am concerned about significant underreporting in this regard,” said Demkiw.
There have been a total of 69 arrests and 173 charges laid related to hate crime incidents since October 7. Twenty-five percent of the charges were mischief-related, 17 percent were for uttering threats, and 16 percent were assaults.
Twenty-four protest-related arrests and 30 associated charges have been made since October 7.
Since October 7, there have been “342 hate-related graffiti occurrences,” according to the police.
“There was a spike in hate-related graffiti in October and November 2023, and although the numbers began to decline over the following few months, there was another peak in February 2024,” said the police.