Canada is witnessing a record increase in hate crimes in recent months. According to data from Statistics Canada, these crimes are beginning to affect the mental health of Canadians.

According to the study, people living in Canadian cities with high rates of hate crimes were less likely to report positive physical and mental health compared to people in other parts of the country.

Statistics Canada said it found that 50 percent of Canadians living in cities with rising hate crimes suffer from mental health problems, compared to 46 percent who said they felt positive and excellent mental health.

The study stated: "Hate crimes not only affect the individuals who experience them, communities that sympathize with the victims may feel at risk of being targeted next, and beyond the targeted populations, hate crimes also negatively affect social cohesion and the sense of belonging of other people living in the affected areas."

The study explored the links between hate crimes reported by the police, and social impacts and trends.

The study generally found that areas experiencing more hate crimes saw lower scores in quality of life indicators; however, Statistics Canada indicates that the study did not measure whether poor quality of life outcomes resulted from experiences related to hate crimes or contributed to the conditions that led to hate crimes.

In this regard, Rachel Tsetsouminias, an analyst at Statistics Canada who worked on the report, said the results have direct significance and implications, noting that this is the first time Statistics Canada has used quality of life indicators—used to measure how well Canadians are doing in terms of income, access to healthcare, air quality, mental and physical health, among other criteria—in a study about hate crimes.

Among Canadians living in areas with high hate crimes, 51 percent reported "excellent or good physical health" compared to 54 percent of residents of other cities.

The study also stated: "Individuals who experience hate crimes based on their race, religion, or similar characteristics may suffer severe psychological distress, as such incidents represent an assault on a fundamental part of the victim's personal identity."

The study comes after the total number of hate crimes rose to a record level of 3,576 incidents reported to the police in Canada for the year 2022.

The rate of hate crimes nationally nearly doubled in 2022 compared to 2019, with 9.2 incidents per 100,000 people in 2022 compared to 5.2 in 2019.

According to Statistics Canada, there were about 223,000 self-reported hate crimes in Canada in 2019, while law enforcement reported only 1,951 incidents, or less than one percent of perceived hate crimes in 2019.

It also revealed that the six areas with the highest rates of hate crimes are the cities of Ottawa in Ontario (28.3), Kingston (23.1), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (22.7), Hamilton (20.6), Greater Sudbury (18.7), and Brantford (16.4).

Additionally, the study found that race was the motive behind more than half (55%) of the hate crimes reported in 2022.