Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is preparing to introduce sweeping new hate-related Criminal Code offences this week, in what could be one of the most significant federal crackdowns on hate crimes in recent years. A government source told CTV News that the bill — expected to be tabled as early as Tuesday — will make it easier for law enforcement to lay charges in cases targeting religious, cultural, and community facilities.
The legislation will propose three new offences: wilful intimidation, obstruction, and a standalone hate crime offence. The first would make it illegal to intimidate someone in order to prevent them from entering or using facilities tied to an identifiable group, including places of worship, schools, or cultural centres. The obstruction offence would similarly target anyone wilfully blocking or preventing access to such spaces.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser emphasized that the government is acting in response to rising hate crime numbers, which Statistics Canada says have nearly doubled since 2020. Fraser said the goal is to protect faith-based communities and other targeted groups while preserving lawful protest rights, noting that exemptions will be built into the law to respect Charter freedoms.
The third proposed measure — a standalone hate crime offence — would allow prosecutors to attach hate motivation to other crimes, even when the offence does not take place near a religious or cultural facility. This means crimes motivated by race, religion, or sexual orientation could be charged with an additional hate designation, giving law enforcement and the courts a more precise tool to address rising hate incidents.
Cities across Canada have already begun introducing “bubble zone” bylaws to protect sensitive sites from harassment, but the federal bill is expected to set a nationwide standard for confronting hate-motivated crimes. If passed, it would mark a major step in Canada’s effort to safeguard vulnerable communities and ensure their right to safely access public and cultural spaces.