Dozens gather for anti-immigration rally, counter-protest in downtown Toronto

Dozens gathered at Nathan Phillips Square Saturday to protest mass immigration, prompting a counter-protest, news conference and multiple arrests by Toronto police.

Canada First Movement founder and president Joe Anidjar said he started the initiative in 2024 to send a message across the country.

“Before, we had a great immigration system where people came here, they knew they had to work hard,” he told CBC Toronto Saturday. “Now we're paying for people's livelihoods. And that's just not the way. That's not where I want my tax dollars going.”

Anidjar added he wants to see more money go towards homelessness and mental illness support within the city, rather than towards wars overseas.

“We want to put our people first. We want to put our needs first,” he said.

Ron Bouwmeister, an attendee of the Canada First rally, said he’s protesting for his grandkids.

“My kids, my grandkids are blonde. I was blonde. Now you look [at] all the schools, there's no blonde people anymore. That's wrong because we need a mixture.” he said. “I want my Canada back.”

In a post to social media Saturday afternoon, Toronto police said a total of 11 arrests were made at a demonstration at Queen Street W. and Bay Street.

Rhetoric 'needs to be stopped,' councillor says

The Canada First rally prompted a counter-protest by Community Solidarity Toronto, which focused on reducing hate in the city and garnered approximately 150 attendees.

Dana Julien, a protester holding a sign that said ‘Immigrants are welcome here,’ said he’s standing with migrants who are being turned into “scapegoats.”

“When there's a big vocal expression or even a pathetic vocal expression of hatred towards immigrants, I want to be there to stand against it,” he said.

Councillors and activists preceded the Canada First rally with a news conference inside Toronto City Hall Saturday, warning of the dangers of anti-immigration rhetoric, particularly in light of a recent killing in the U.S. involving an immigration agent in Minneapolis, Minn.

Nigel Barriffe, president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, said it’s not fair to blame immigrants for the ongoing affordability crisis in Canada.

“It's not their fault,” he said. “We've had waves of immigration that have come to this country and built it [into] the beautiful society that we have now. So to blame immigrants for the problems that are happening is a lie.”

For United Church Rev. Sarah Miller, who is also a member of the Toronto East Anti Hate Mobilization, the point behind anti-immigration protests is to make it “safer to be racist.”

“I am concerned about creating an environment like that because that reduces safety for everyone,” she said. “That creates division where there is coexistence, where people are living and working together in very positive ways.”

Coun. Neethan Shan (Scarborough-Rouge Park) told CBC Toronto he wants the affected communities to know Toronto stands in solidarity with them.

“This xenophobia, these anti-refugee, anti-immigrant sentiments that are being spread deliberately to cause fear, deliberately to create a foundation for further racism and hate needs to be stopped,” he said.

Anidjar said that’s not what’s happening.

“If you take a look around, it's very multicultural. It's people from all different backgrounds and races,” he said. “At the end of the day, we want to preserve our culture, our identity and our way of life.”