Ontario offers $10K grants to religious, cultural institutions for anti-hate measures

Religious groups and cultural and Indigenous communities in Ontario will soon be able to apply for grants of up to $10,000 to protect their facilities from hate-motivated crimes.

Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism Michael Ford announced today that the province would spend $25.5 million over two years on a new anti-hate security and prevention grant.

He says no Ontarian should live in fear that they will be targeted because of their background, who they love or how they worship.

The government says there were more than 1,500 police-reported hate crimes in Ontario in 2021, with Indigenous, Black, Muslim, Jewish and LGBTQ communities beingthe most targeted groups in recent years.

Applications for the new grant are set to open this summer and eligible organizations include those representing religious and spiritual communities, Indigenous organizations, and cultural groups such as those representing the LGBTQ community.

The government says the grants can go toward building upgrades, lock enhancements, camera installations, staff training, security assessments, cyrbersecurity measures, repairs and the hiring of short-term security staff.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims welcomed the announcement.

"These are all critical steps toward a province thattakes the protection of its marginalized communities seriously," the organization said in a statement.

"The $25 millionincrease in funding is a necessary step towards helping a large number of cultural and faith-based organizations across the province to beef up their facilities' security against possibly hatefulactors and crimes," the council said.