According to the Toronto Police Annual Hate Crimes Statistical Report, which will be presented to the police council next week, there were 257 hate-motivated incidents last year, up from 210 in 2020 and well above the 167-decade average.
“These increases are believed to be attributed to international and geopolitical events, including the COVID-19 pandemic,” the agency said in a statement.
Of the 257 hate cases, 75 were motivated by religion, 57 by ethnicity, 54 by race and 26 by sexual orientation, according to the report.
He noted that most of the victims of these hate incidents were members of Jewish, Black, East and Southeast Asian and LGBTQ2S + communities.
Police said the property malpractice (111 cases), which included vandalism, was the top hate crime, followed by assault (86) and threats (31).
According to the report, hate attacks increased from 24 percent in 2020 to 33 percent in 2021. Almost half of the attacks were of national or ethnic origin.  Police said the cases involved a suspect targeting a victim based on his or her cultural traditions or country of origin.
“The number of reported hate crimes targeting people on the basis of ethnicity or ethnicity was higher in 2021 than in any previous year since the Toronto Police Department began collecting this data in 1993,” the report said. .
Police said the East and Southeast Asian communities were the most targeted in this category.
They added that they saw an increase in anti-Asian hatred in March when shots were fired at an Atlanta spa.  The incident left behind eight dead – six of whom were Asian women.
Police said hate crimes against East and Southeast Asian communities increased from 7 percent in 2020 to 16 percent last year.
“In all of these attacks, the victims were subjected to derogatory comments and were either punched, pushed or spat at by the suspect or suspects during the attack,” police said in the report.
They added that four of the anti-Asian incidents saw the suspect blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Police, meanwhile, said 56 of the 75 religion-motivated hate crimes targeted Jews, while 14 of them turned against Muslims.
Michael Mostyn, chief executive of B’nai Brith Canada, said the data from the police was worrying.
“This is something that is of great concern to the Jewish community,” Mostyn said.
“The increase in violence in the Jewish community last year is something that has really shaken our community in Toronto and across the country.”
Bernie Farber, president of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, was not surprised by the data.
“Hate crimes against Jews are not a new sad thing to say. Anti-Semitism has literally been with us since time immemorial. And when hate crimes in general increase, Jews are unfortunately at the top of this list. It affects people personally. It is a “It’s a terrible situation for all members of the Jewish community,” Farber said.
He noted that nothing significant was being done to combat the rise of anti-Semitism and other hate crimes.
“This has probably been the most difficult period in the last three or four years. And certainly, social media has provided the platform for people with hatred in their hearts to really get their message across to those who tend to take over. “Hands to act physically,” Farber said.
Nigel Barriffe with the Urban Alliance on Race said there should be a plan to deal with these incidents.
“We do not have a system that actually encourages more reports. And then, even when people do report, we do not really have a system in which accusations are made, and those perpetrators of this are held accountable. hate., “he said.  “We need real resources to deal with it.”