HAMILTON — The City of Hamilton will launch a public-awareness campaign this month aimed at helping residents recognize hate, report incidents and find support.

The campaign, called Hamilton Together: Show Up, Speak Out, Stop Hate, is scheduled to launch Thursday, October 22, from 4 to 5 p.m. on the second floor of Hamilton City Hall.

Campaign focuses on reporting and support

The City says the initiative is part of Hamilton’s 2025–2029 Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. Its goals include making reporting options easier to understand, improving coordination between municipal and community organizations, increasing public education and providing trauma-informed training for staff.

The work involves Hamilton Police Service, the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, the Hamilton Anti-Hate Coalition and other community partners.

Residents who experience or witness an immediate threat should call 911. Non-emergency hate crimes can be reported to Hamilton Police, while the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre accepts community reports and provides support related to hate and discrimination.

Police recorded an increase in 2025

Hamilton Police reported 332 hate- or bias-related incidents in 2025, including 138 criminal offences. The service said that represented a 12 per cent increase from the previous year, while cautioning that hate incidents remain substantially underreported.

Police said racially motivated incidents were the largest category, followed by incidents involving religion and sexual orientation. Black, Jewish and 2S&LGBTQIA+ communities were the groups most frequently affected in the service’s 2025 data.

The new campaign does not create a separate criminal offence or replace existing emergency, police, human-rights or community reporting channels. Its stated purpose is to make those routes clearer and improve coordination and prevention.

Sources: City of Hamilton: Hate Prevention and Response, accessed October 8; Hamilton Police Service: 2025 hate-crime statistics, July 20.

Hamilton City Hall from Commonwealth Square, October 24, 2007, by Rick Cordeiro via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0; file photo, not an image of the campaign launch.