Canada convoy protest

A series of protests and blockades in Canada against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy (French: Convoi de la liberté) by organizers, began in early 2022. The initial convoy movement was created to protest vaccine mandates for crossing the United States border, but later evolved into a protest about COVID-19 mandates in general. Beginning January 22, hundreds of vehicles formed convoys from several points and traversed Canadian provinces before converging on Ottawa on January 29, 2022, with a rally at Parliament Hill. The convoys were joined by thousands of pedestrian protesters. Several offshoot protests blockaded provincial capitals and border crossings with the United States.

In late 2021, both Canada and the US accommodated unvaccinated cross-border truckers by exempting them from COVID-19 vaccine requirements to prevent exacerbating existing supply chain disruptions. The exemptions in Canada ended on January 15, 2022, and the US exemption ended on January 22, 2022. Of the 120,000 Canadian licensed truck drivers who regularly serve cross-border routes, approximately 85 per cent were vaccinated against COVID-19 by January, leaving up to 16,000 Canadian truckers potentially affected by the restriction.

Protesters occupied the downtown core of Ottawa and stated that they would not leave until all COVID-19 restrictions and mandates, trucking related and beyond, were repealed. Officials expressed concern about the economic impact of border blockades. On February 11, Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency, introducing new legal sanctions on the impediment of trade routes, highways, airports, ports, bridges and railways. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden spoke on February 11 to discuss ending blockades at the border. On February 14, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time since its passing in 1988. Between February 17 and 20, a large joint-operation police presence in Ottawa arrested organizers and protesters, removed parked vehicles, and dismantled blockades from Ottawa streets. By February 21, most of the protesters had been cleared from Ottawa.

The convoy was condemned by trucking industry and labour groups. The Canadian Trucking Alliance stated that most protesters had no connection to trucking. Near a blockade in Coutts, Alberta, multiple weapons were seized, and four men charged with conspiracy to commit murder of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers. Officials raised concerns of some protesters' involvement with far-right extremist groups, including those promoting violence, and that some protesters called for the federal government of Canada to be overthrown. Some sources have called the protests an occupation or a siege. On the political front, Trudeau and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh condemned the convoy, while many members of Parliament from the Conservative Party of Canada endorsed the convoy; Republican politicians from the United States, as well as other conservative politicians and media figures, also endorsed the convoy.