Anti-racism toolkit launched in Nanaimo to help residents respond to hate crimes

A Nanaimo non-profit that works with immigrants and refugees has created a new anti-racism toolkit to help residents respond to hate crimes and racist incidents, saying the resource is needed as more newcomers report feeling unwelcome in the city.

The toolkit was developed by the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society and is designed to help people understand what to do if they experience or witness hate. The organization publicly promoted the launch of the toolkit this week and said it is intended to strengthen community belonging and improve people’s understanding of how to report harmful incidents.

Toolkit focuses on reporting and response

According to the organization, the guide is meant to give people practical information on how to respond when racism happens in person or online.

That includes helping residents understand where to report incidents, how to document what happened and how to support victims. The group says the goal is not only to respond after harm occurs, but also to help make Nanaimo feel safer and more welcoming for people from diverse backgrounds.

The toolkit launch comes as organizations across Canada continue to push for stronger support systems for hate-crime victims, especially because reporting processes can be confusing or discouraging for many people. Research published in 2026 found that survivors often face inconsistent responses and that support systems remain uneven.

Nanaimo has become more diverse

The organization says Nanaimo has become significantly more diverse in recent years, and that some of this change has led to friction and racist backlash.

Its staff say newcomers and racialized residents have reported being told to “go back” to where they came from or accused of taking jobs away from locals. Those experiences, they argue, show why practical anti-racism education is still urgently needed at the community level. The society has also been active in broader anti-racism programming in Nanaimo, including public arts and community initiatives.

Broader concern over hate crimes

The toolkit arrives against a backdrop of rising hate-crime concerns nationally and provincially.

Statistics Canada says police-reported hate crimes in Canada increased to 4,882 incidents in 2024, up slightly from 2023 and more than double the level recorded in 2018.

British Columbia has also expanded enforcement resources in response. In July 2025, the province announced more than $734,000 in additional funding for the B.C. RCMP hate crimes unit, adding five officers and one intelligence analyst and increasing the unit’s capacity from two officers to eight.

For Nanaimo’s multicultural society, the toolkit is meant to be one local response to that broader trend: giving people clearer tools to confront hate, support one another and build a stronger sense of belonging in the city.