Glossary & key terms

Understanding the language around racism and hate can help when reporting an incident or seeking support. These definitions come from the Community Response Protocol framework.

Levels of hate: discrimination, activity, and crime

The RCMP describes three levels, from non-criminal discrimination to criminal hate crime.

Level 1

Discrimination

An individual or group action, or systemic (institutionalized) practices based on prejudice against those who are perceived to be different due to race, religion, sexual orientation, place of origin, ethnicity, disability, gender, age or any other identifiable characteristic. This would include racism that involves stereotypes, attitudes of prejudice, discrimination and an ideology of superiority.

Level 2

Hate Activity

A hate or bias related incident is an act or attempt by an individual or group directed at a person, property or public order that demonstrates intentional hostility to another because of race, religion, sexual orientation, place of origin, ethnicity, disability, gender, age or other identifiable characteristic. Most hate/bias incidents, while abhorrent in nature, are not Criminal Code offences — it is a Hate Activity until a law within the Criminal Code has been broken.

Level 3

Hate Crime

A criminal offence committed against a person or property which is motivated by the suspect’s hate, prejudice or bias against an identifiable group based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or any other similar factor.

Key terms

Ableism: Discrimination in favour of able-bodied people.
Ageism: Discrimination on grounds of age.
Bias: An inclination, opinion, or preference formed without any reasonable justification. Bias is reflected in a person’s prejudices or attitudes towards a different race, class, gender, cultural background, etc. and can often result in unfair treatment of individuals or groups.
Bigotry: The character or conduct of intolerance towards another’s beliefs, religion, race, sex, mental or physical ability or sexual orientation.
Bisexuality: A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender or gender identity though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree.
Cisgender: Used to describe a person whose gender identity matches the sex assigned at birth.
Cissexism: Discrimination against a person who does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Classism: Discrimination on grounds of socio-economic status.
Discrimination: When prejudice and bias move from a state of opinion or mind to action. Discrimination means to treat a person or group differently or negatively because of prejudice and bias. This can take on many different forms such as harassment, unequal pay or benefits, unequal conditions or service provisions, to hate propaganda.
Gender: The range of physical, mental, and behavioural characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity (e.g. woman, man, transgender, or other).
Gender Expression: Any and all mannerisms and personal traits which serve to communicate a person’s identity and personality as they relate to gender identity and gender roles. It is how a person expresses their gender to others.
Gender Identity: A person’s private sense, and subjective experience, of their own gender. It is a person’s self-identification of their gender.
Gender Non-conforming: A term used to describe some people whose gender expression is different from conventional expectations of masculinity and femininity.
Harassment: Physical, visual, or verbal conduct that is unwelcome, discriminatory, involves intimidation or an abuse of power, and denies the respect and dignity of an individual.
Hate/Bias Crime: A criminal offence committed against a person or property which is motivated by the suspect’s hate, prejudice, or bias against an identifiable group based on race, religion, sex, gender, age, mental or physical ability, sexual orientation, or any other similar factor (as defined in section 718.2 of the Criminal Code of Canada).
Hate/Bias Incidents: Actions that are not criminal in nature and may be covered by the Human Rights Code of Canada.
Healthism: The narrow conceptualization of health; being healthy is attributed merely to an individual’s choices rather than examining the various social determinants and systemic injustice affecting one’s health.
Heterosexism: Discrimination based on the belief that heterosexuality (opposite-sex sexuality) is the only acceptable and normal sexual orientation.
Homophobia: A fear or hatred of homosexuals or homosexuality.
Intolerance: Not allowing or enduring differences in opinions, teaching, worship, lifestyle, etc.
Islamophobia: A dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force.
LGBTQ: An acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and/or questioning.
Prejudice (Bias): To ‘pre-judge’; an attitude towards a person or group. When applied to racism, prejudice refers to beliefs or attitudes about an individual or group based on negative or positive stereotyping. Internalizing prejudice leads to bias, which is a predisposition to build on stereotypes. Together prejudice and bias form the motivation for discrimination. Prejudice and bias are a state of mind and there are no laws to prohibit them.
Privilege: A special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste.
Propaganda: The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause, or information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.
Racism: A set of beliefs that asserts the superiority of one ‘racial’ group over another (at the individual as well as institutional level), and through which individuals or groups of people exercise power that abuses or disadvantages others on the basis of skin colour and racial or ethnic heritage.
Individual Racism: Any action or practice which denies equality to any person because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or culture.
Systemic Racism: The social and organizational structures, including policy and practices, which — whether intentionally or unintentionally — exclude, limit, and discriminate against individuals not part of the traditional dominant group. Systemic racism is most often an unconscious by-product of ethnocentrism and unexamined privilege.
Racialization: To differentiate or categorize according to race, and to impose a racial character or context on a person or group.
Relevant Service Providers: Service providers that offer services and resources directly related or useful in the event of a hate crime or critical incident involving discrimination.
Sex: The biological distinction between male and female.
Sexism: Discrimination on the grounds of sex.
Stereotype: A false or generalized conception of a group of people which results in the unconscious or conscious categorization of each member of the group, without regard for individual differences. Stereotyping may relate to race, age, ethnicity, linguistic, religious, geographical, or national groups; social, marital, or family status; physical, developmental, or mental attributes; and/or gender.
Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Transphobia: The fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, transgender people.
Xenophobia: The fear of other people, groups, or cultures that are different from one’s own.