“Hate Has No Place in Ontario”: Ontario Police Leaders Issue New Hate/Bias Crime Resource Document

Media Release

“Hate Has No Place in Ontario”: Ontario Police Leaders Issue New Hate/Bias Crime Resource Document

Police Concerned with Hate/Bias Crimes and Impact on Communities  

For Immediate Release: June 26, 2024

(Toronto, ON) – Ontario’s police leaders have issued a resource document on hate/bias crimes designed to assist police personnel and community members in understanding and proactively responding to growing concerns about the impact of hate- and bias-related incidents and crimes in Ontario communities. 

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police’s (OACP) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee has developed a Hate/Bias Crime: A Review of Policies, Practices, and Challenges, building on a previous version of the document released in 2020. The new document takes a fresh look at the many issues related to hate and bias crimes considering world events during the past year that have impacted the safety and well-being of individuals and groups across Ontario.

This resource document is designed to assist police officers and other personnel in effectively dealing with criminal incidents and activities motivated by hate toward identifiable individuals and groups.

“Hate has no place in Ontario. Crimes and incidents motivated by hate or bias harms individuals and whole communities. As police leaders, we cannot stand by while Ontarians are threatened, intimidated, and made to fear for the safety of their families and communities.” said OACP President Deputy Chief Roger Wilkie.

The document emphasizes that Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees rights and fundamental freedoms for everyone who calls Canada home. This includes the freedom of opinion, expression, and peaceful assembly. Police officers and personnel play a critical role in ensuring all citizens enjoy those rights in a respectful and safe manner. However, the OACP also maintains that these rights are not without limitations. The Charter (Section 1) specifies “reasonable limits” to free speech, and the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld restrictions on forms of expression deemed contrary to the spirit of the Charter.

Ontario police services are concerned about incidents of public expressions of hate and violence and the harm they cause to individuals and groups that are at particular risk of hate/bias crime victimization. Such groups include Indigenous Peoples and those targeted because of race, religion, ethnicity, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, or an intersection of more than one of these identities.

Hate/bias crime is a broad legal term that encompasses a diversity of motives, perpetrators, victims, behaviours, and harms. It is defined in the Criminal Code of Canada in sections 318, 319, 430(4.1) and the purposes and principles of sentencing (718.2(a)(i)). These criminal acts represent a clear danger to the safety and well-being of individuals as members of diverse and distinct communities in Ontario.

Members of the OACP and members of all Ontario police services are committed to working with community members across Ontario to ensure that hate/bias crimes are handled by police with professionalism, commitment, and sensitivity. The OACP is committed to ensuring police personnel are equipped with the skills and knowledge to effectively respond to hate and bias-motivated occurrences and crimes in every community in Ontario.

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Hate/Bias Crime: A Review of Policies, Practices, and Challenges is available here.

For more information, contact: 

Dr. José Luís (Joe) Couto
Director of Government Relations & Communications

T. (416) 926-0424 ext. 22
C. (416) 919-9798
E. media@oacp.ca

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