Hate Crime What is a hate crime? Put simply, a hate crime is a criminal offence driven by bias, prejudice or hate. That motivation can relate to race, nationality, ethnicity, language, colour, religion, gender, age, mental or physical disability, or sexual orientation. What is a hate or bias incident? A hate or bias incident involves the same kinds of harmful attitudes, but it doesn’t always meet the legal threshold of a crime under the Criminal Code of Canada . This can include behaviour like …