THUNDER BAY — Five years ago, MP Patty Hajdu described the incidence of hate crime in the Thunder Bay area as "appalling."
Statistics Canada data at the time showed that, based on incidents reported to police, the city had the highest hate crime rate among Canada's census metropolitan areas.
New data released Tuesday shows there are currently 14 CMAs across the country with worse rates than Thunder Bay.
In 2021, the city's rate was 8.0 reported hate crimes per 100,000 population, down from 11.1 per 100,000 a year earlier, when the city had the fifth highest rate among CMAs.
Ottawa now has the worst rate in the country at 23.2 incidents per 100,000, followed by Peterborough (18.7) and Kingston (16.7).
The average hate crime rate for 35 census metropolitan areas last year was 10.2 per 100,000.
For the entire country, the rate was 8.8.
The Statistics Canada report shows there was a sharp increase in the number of hate crimes committed nationally and reported to police in 2021, with 3,360 incidents compared with 2,646 the year before, and only 1,951 in 2019.
