The federal government has confirmed a surge in arson attacks on churches and other religious institutions following claims of mass graves being discovered at a former residential school site located in Kamloops, B.C., in 2021.
According to a cabinet response to an Inquiry of Ministry tabled in the House of Commons on Sept. 16, there were 90 arson attacks in 2021 and 74 attacks in 2022, up significantly from the average of 43 police-reported arson attacks on places of worship from 2015 to 2020. The document did not cite data after 2022.
