Hate crimes are on the rise in Sudbury, Ont., and across Canada

Hate crimes are on the rise in Sudbury. The northern Ontario city now ranks fifth in Canada for its rate of police-reported hate crimes based on population.

According to Statistics Canada, Sudbury had a hate crime rate of 18.7 cases per 100,000 population in 2022 the most recent year with statistics available.

That's a sharp increase from previous years. In 2018, Sudbury's hate crime rate per 100,000 population was 1.8 and itincreased to 5.9 in 2021.

Police-reported hate crime across Canada rose five per cent in 2022compared to the previous year.

The cities with the highest hate crime rates in Canada are all in Ontario. Ottawa was in the top spot at 28.3 per 100,000 population, while Kingston occupied the second spot at23.1.

Statistics Canada says 55 per cent of reported hate crimes in 2022 were motivated by race or ethnicity and 14 per cent were motivated by sexual orientation.

Rita OLink, a trans woman in Sudbury who does work supporting that community in northeastern Ontario, says she feels less safe in Sudbury today than she did beforethe COVID-19 pandemic.

"At one time in Sudbury I felt pretty safe. It was a good community to be in," OLink said.

"I used to brag to those in Toronto about how much better it was up here, but now I don't feel as safe anymore."

OLink saidshe's more careful about where she goes at night and what areas she visits downtown.

"We're called all sorts of slurs," she said. "Told that we should die threats of violence."

OLink saidif someone witnesses a hate crime they should intervene if they feel safe doing so.

"The other thing you can do is take your phone out and start recording. Make sure you're safe, of course," she said.

"But if you start recording, that'll cause the aggressor to back down."

Greater Sudbury police Det. Const. Mark Renford saidthey've put a lot of effort into training officers to understand hate crimes and their motivation, which leads to better reports.

Renford saidvideo evidence of a hate crime can be helpful to police when they're investigating a case.

In addition to calling 911, he said,people can also report hate crimes to their non-emergency lineif the crime is not happening in real time.