OTTAWA (AFP)---Hate crimes account for less than one percent of all crime in Canada, a police study showed, but its main victims are blacks, followed by South Asians and people of Middle Eastern origin, according to a government study released Monday.
In 2006 there were 892 hate crimes reported country-wide, according to Statistics Canada's study.
The motivation in 60 percent of them was race or ethnic origin; 25 percent on religion; and 10 percent on sexual orientation.
A full half of the race and ethnic-based crimes were aimed at blacks; 13 percent at South Asians and 12 percent at Arabs and people from western Asia, the report said.
Among religion-focused hate crimes, two-thirds of those reported were against Jews, 21 percent against Muslims, and six percent against Catholics.
Most of 80 incidents involving sexual orientation were directed at homosexuals, and more than half were violent, usually involving an assault, a much higher violence rate than for hate crimes in other categories.
"As a result, incidents motivated by sexual orientation were more likely than other types of hate crime incidents to result in physical injury to victims," the report said.
Statistics Canada also showed that youths aged 12-17 years old were far more likely to be involved in hate crimes than older people; they accounted for 38 percent of hate crimes reported in 2006, the study said.
