A decade ago the Halifax Regional Municipality saw fewer than 10 reported hate crimes annually, but a new report shows those numbers spiked to more than 100 in 2023. A staff report for the Board of Police Commissioners says there were 121 reported hate crime incidents in the municipality in 2023; there were 72 in 2022. Those two years represent a significant spike compared to the past decade. In 2014 there were seven reported hate crimes, and in 2021 there were 19. The report also found there were 742 hate incidents – which are not criminal offences – between 2022 and 2024 across the municipality. “Across both hate crimes and hate incidents in HRM, the most targeted characteristic is race, with hate towards Black, South Asian, and Arab/West Asian groups being most common,” the report reads. “Hatred towards actual or perceived newcomers (xenophobia) is the second most targeted characteristic, followed by sexual orientation, religion, and gender.” The report says the Halifax Regional Police charged 10 people with 17 hate crime-related offences in 2024. “The most common charges were assault, mischief/property damage, and uttering threats,” the report reads. “Where a hate crime is recorded but no charges were laid, this could be for several reasons. The most common reasons are that no suspect has been identified (for example, on hate graffiti files or where the suspect is a stranger and there is no video evidence), followed by files where the victim does not wish to proceed with charges. “In the latter cases, the most common reasons for not wanting to proceed with charges were fear of retaliation, they wanted the individual talked to, and/or just wanted to report the incident but not seek charges.” The Board of Police Commissioners will meet on Wednesday to discuss the report. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
