Thank you, sir.

It's truly a privilege to speak before you today and share with you information relating to the service's hate crime unit and its mandate, how the service investigates and responds to hate crime, the significant 47% increase in hate crime reporting in 2023, and the extensive community outreach education efforts made by the service in an effort to address and combat hate crimes.

It is important to note that not all police services have a dedicated hate crime unit, and how police respond to hate-motivated crimes differs from service to service.

The hate crime unit was established in 1993 and is responsible for collecting statistical data and ensuring the thorough investigation of hate crime offences within the city of Toronto. Since its inception, the hate crime unit has been embedded with the security section of intelligence services. This placement is by design, as hate crimes can be precursors to violent extremism in the forms of criminal extremism and terrorism, two areas of investigation falling under the security section mandate. This enables mutually supportive actions in circumstances where investigations of hate crime and violent extremism overlap.

The investigation of hate crimes is a Toronto Police Service priority. Hate crime laws are complex because determining motivation of bias, prejudice or hate can be difficult, and context is key. An essential part of the hate crime unit's mandate is to provide internal training to its members and to assist in the development of public education programs in partnership with other members of the service and the community.

In 2023-24, the hate crime unit delivered training to new recruits, dispatchers, auxiliary officers and members of the public safety unit who are specially trained to respond at public protests and demonstrations. These efforts help to ensure that police officers and community members are able to recognize hate crimes and work collaboratively to ensure that these crimes do not go unreported.

The reporting of hate crimes is essential because it helps to identify trends and patterns across the city, which then inform service-wide strategies such as hate crime prevention, community outreach and public education. Other aspects of the hate crime unit mandate include conducting investigations, assisting and providing expertise to all hate crime and hate propaganda investigations and prosecutions, providing follow up and assistance in regard to all hate-related incidents to victims of hate crime and the affected communities, attending demonstrations and gathering evidence, and investigating any suspected hate crimes or hate speech or signage.

As you may be aware, a very high threshold must be met to lay hate propaganda charges, which require the consent of the Attorney General of Ontario. The hate crime unit liaises regularly with the Ministry of the Attorney General's specialized hate crimes working group in relation to hate crime investigations, and seeks AG consent in relation to hate propaganda charges, as required.

The hate crime unit also facilitates the exchange of information through its internal networks and with various law enforcement agencies at the provincial, national and international levels. This includes co-hosting weekly meetings with the province's hate crime and extremism investigative team, and continued partnership with the RCMP and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. It also includes taking part in national and international summits, including last year's Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh to share ideas and build working relationships between subject matter experts and various government agencies, community leaders, academics and law enforcement members.

The hate crime unit is also responsible for reviewing, classifying and recording all reported hate-motivated occurrences. The classification of hate crimes is based on the criteria set in the Criminal Code and guidelines set by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics.

This coming Friday, the service will be presenting its “2023 Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report” to the Toronto Police Service Board.

With the exception of 2022, the number of reported hate crimes has been steadily increasing since 2018. There are multiple factors that can affect the fluctuation in the number of reported hate crimes and the different community groups that are victimized, including geopolitical events and heightened awareness stemming from community educational programs, hate crime training and increased media coverage.

In 2023, the service experienced a 47% increase in reported hate crimes compared to 2022, from 248 to 365. Over the past 10 years, between 2012 and 2022, the average number of reported hate crimes has been approximately 174 per year. The ongoing Middle East conflict that escalated after the events of October 7, 2023 is a significant contributing factor to the increase in reporting.

In 2023, there were increases in reported hate crime in the following victimized categories. Anti-Semitic occurrences increased from 65 in 2022 to 135 occurrences in 2023. Anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab occurrences increased from 12 in 2022 to 36 in 2023. Anti-2SLGBTQ+ reported hate crimes increased from 40 in 2022 to 65 occurrences in 2023.

There was a 32% increase in the number of reported hate crimes after October 7 during the months of October, November and December in 2023 compared to the same time period in 2022. Mischief to property offences were the highest reported—