Overview of Protests Against COVID-19 Edicts in Quebec & Ontario From January - December 2020
Legacy media outlets refused to cover the numerous anti-lockdown protests which began almost as soon as the lockdown began in March 2020. Here's a quick listing of some of the events they missed.
Most Canadian’s only vaguely remember the early days of the great pandemic of 2020 - 2022. According to official government chronologies, the COVID-19 pandemic reached Canada in early 2020. The first “confirmed” case was announced in Ontario on January 25th, 2020.
Provincial lockdowns and restrictions began mid-March and included school closures, business shutdowns, and gathering limits in both Quebec and Ontario.
Protests against these measures emerged primarily from April 2020 onward, as the original series of government edicts intended to shut down all “nonessential“ Canadian business and government functions for “two weeks to flatten the curve,” continued on, seemingly indefinitely and without any independently verifiable legal or medical justification.
Public frustration grew over ongoing infringements on personal freedoms, the economic and political impacts of shutting down entire economies for long periods of time and a growing skepticism about the Covid-19 virus's actual severity.
Demonstrations were often organized by groups like "Hugs Over Masks," which developed out of the initial protests and drew consistent weekly crowds. The protesters typically called for an end to masking requirements and lockdowns, and were harshly critical of government public health edicts implemented during this period.
While remaining peaceful, clashes with police during protests often occurred and grew in frequency after fall 2020, mostly because of police provocation justified by increasingly onerous government restrictions on group meetings and new public masking edicts. These clashes grew in frequency as summer turned into fall.
Protests were more frequent in urban centers like Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa, with peaks in spring (as restrictions tightened) and fall/winter (amid second-wave measures).
Quebec implemented stricter rules, including a mask mandate in July 2020, while Ontario declared a state of emergency in March. By year's end, as cases surged, protests intensified but faced heavier enforcement.
A partial listing of protests during this period includes:
The first weekly rallies at the Ontario provincial legislature in Toronto at Queens Park, which began on April 27th, 2020 and included many activists, such as Chris Sky, Kelly Anne Wolfe, Vladislav Sobolev and others who would later grow to prominence in the movement.
The size of the protest group typically hovered around 200 people weekly.
Protesters asked Ontario Premier Doug Ford to cancel all emergency measures related to Covid.
By the end of the summer, large Toronto protests were also being reported at Dundas Square. Protests were being tied to broader complaints about government overreach and were being promoted online to bypass government and media restrictions on covering the protests.
In July 2020, a group of approximately forty “Hugs Over Masks” activists entered the Toronto subway system without masks to protest a series of recently instituted mask edicts.
Toronto introduced a bylaw making face coverings mandatory in “all enclosed public places” beginning July 7th, 2020. Masks were required on the Toronto Island ferry service beginning June 24th, 2020, and on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) buses and subways starting July 2nd, 2020.
The protesters claimed “exemptions” as allowed under the masking edicts and no immediate arrests occurred. However, the situation highlighted the growing “anti-mask” movement.
The these intermittent indoor protests against masking would continue and grow.
By May 17th, 2020 weekly protests were being noted in both Montreal and Quebec City. Some of the protesters gathered in Montreal against COVID-19 measures would drive to Quebec City for a larger demonstration later in the day.
The size of the protest groups typically hovered around 200 people weekly but grew over time.
The protesters focused on advocating school and business re-openings.
The first “province wide” Quebec protest against “mandatory masks in closed public spaces” occurred on Mount Royal, Montreal on July 25th, 2025 and was well attended.
The protest focused on promoting “freedom” over “mandates.”
Sometime in September, weekly protests against masking and closures, began on Parliament Hill, Ottawa. The Ottawa protesters claimed connections with international organizations in other countries also concerned about masking and lockdowns and how those edicts infringed on legally entrenched personal liberties.
The protests began with hundreds of participants but quickly grew to include others from across Canada.
As with the Toronto protests, the Ottawa protesters bypassed government and media restrictions on covering the protests by posting photo’s, videos and stories to social media.
In Burlington, Ontario on December 18th, 2020, a group of 75 or so protesters attempted a "citizen's arrest" of Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward for enforcing “illegal Covid-19 restrictions.”
The attempt failed as local police intervened. It was one of a series of unsuccessful attempts to make a “citizen’s arrest” of public officials enforcing “illegal edicts” during that period. Those attempts failed at their official goal but succeeded in drawing public attention to the fact that the promised “two week” lockdown had lasted for nine months with no end in site.
By fall, the generally safe and peaceful nature of the protests was taking on an increasingly dangerous and authoritarian tone.
While the social media posts promoting “anti-lockdown” events were increasingly successful at driving attendance to those protests, it also drew the attention of governments intent on insuring compliance with those edicts.
Authorities were forced to react to put a lid on the dissent, attempting to arrest the organizers and break up the protests, while legacy media outlets were forced to begin covering at least some of what was going on.
As noted in the November 25th, 2020 CBC News post, “Police lay charges as Etobicoke BBQ restaurant defies lockdown and opens for indoor dining — again,” local police started ticketing protesters in Ontario in November 2020 and the legacy media was finally on the job covering the fines being issued and the arrests being made, even while the legitimate reasoning behind the protests was being ignored.
Two days later, as recorded in the November 26th, 2020 Narcity post, “Chaos Is Breaking Out At Adamson BBQ & More Cops Just Showed Up,” mounted police broke up the Adamson’s BBQ protest by overwhelming protesters with their horses.
The fines and arrests which arose from the situation are still mostly before Canadian courts. Many will likely never be settled, if only because the law doesn’t support this sort of government overreach.
In Montreal, as noted in the December 20th, 2020 CTV News post, “Police hand out hundreds of fines at Montreal anti-lockdown demonstration,” Montreal police followed a similar path outside Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s office after Legault announced that “all non-essential businesses” would be required to close from December 25th to Jan. 11th, 2021.
Police issued over $400,000 in fines for violations during the protest, many of which are still before the courts. Six people were arrested and one claimed abuse.
The CTV post noted the change of focus in policing during the period:
The 269 tickets handed out at the demonstration were among the 353 given out in the past week. Police said that in that time, they've received 530 calls from people reporting public health violations.
Montreal officers have also visited two bars and nearly 3,700 businesses.
Laval police have also been busy, handing out 64 tickets last week but also issuing 252 verbal warnings.
In essence and according to the CTV post, by the end of 2020 a great deal of effort was going into insuring that “protesters respected health measures.”
Unfortunately for the authorities, that battle had already been lost. In 2021, the real battle would be whether the existing authorities could retain “control.”
For more on the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, check out the December 29th, 2021 Triggernometry on YouTube post, “Vaccine Hesitancy EXPLAINED.”
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