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About 100 supporters of the Canada First movement gathered at Queen’s Park on Saturday afternoon for a rally led by Joe Anidjar, leader of Canada First, drawing chants and opposition from roughly 40 counter-protesters who accused the group of spreading hate and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Canada First supporters waved Canadian flags and banners as Anidjar addressed the gathering. “We’re here to protect Canadian and Christian values,” he told the crowd.
Toronto police officers lined the area between the two groups while members of Community Solidarity Toronto and other organizations staged a counter-protest nearby, holding anti-racism banners.
Anidjar, a Canadian activist who describes himself online as a “Hockey Dad Fighting For Freedom,” told supporters that Canada First seeks to defend the country’s Christian identity and culture.
“This is a Christian nation, so the respect needs to happen,” he told the gathered crowd. “When people come here, whether Islamic or any other religion, we build mosques, we embrace your culture. But when people show disrespect, they pray in front of our churches, and they counter-protest me. That’s not cool, man. You don’t come to our country and protest Canadians.”
Dylan Letters, a Canada First supporter, told On The Record that he attended because he believes the country’s immigration system has been misused.
“Canada is the most multicultural country in the world, and we accept everybody,” he said. “But illegal immigrants are ruining our economy and destroying this country. We are all for immigration, but not mass immigration or illegal immigration.”
According to the Environics Institute’s 2025 Focus Canada national survey, public opinion on immigration has stabilized after sharp increases in concern in previous years. Fifty-six per cent of Canadians believe the country accepts too many immigrants, a majority view across most regions, with many respondents citing poor government management, housing pressures, and strain on public finances. Still, seven in ten Canadians said immigrants have a positive impact on the national economy, and three-quarters said newcomers make their communities better places or have no negative effect.
Letters said that working-class Canadians are struggling to keep up financially.
“How can I work a blue-collar job and still struggle to feed my kids when somebody comes here and gets paid $84,000 a year?” he said. “We are here to protect our beautiful country. Red and white, unite all the way.”
Canada’s cost of living remains high, despite a slowdown in overall inflation. According to Statistics Canada, the Consumer Price Index rose 2.4 per cent year over year in September 2025, with food prices up four per cent and rents increasing 4.8 per cent nationwide.
Donavin Comeau, founder of Right Path Canada, was the rally’s main guest speaker, and he dismissed accusations that the rally promoted hate speech in an interview with On the Record.
“Obviously, you’re going to get that from the left,” Comeau said. “It’s just a common misconception… We’re not the ones spreading hate. We’re trying to protect our students and our youth in classrooms from being indoctrinated on certain basic topics. We’re trying to protect our youth or our country so they can own a house one day.”
Comeau said Right Path Canada plans to visit university campuses across the country for a series of debates focused on freedom of speech and political discussion.
As Comeau and other Canada First speakers addressed their supporters, counter-protesters gathered across the lawn, chanting “No more racists, no more hate,” and holding anti-racism banners.
(OTR/Praise Ditep)
“The purpose of our movement is to say that everyone is welcome here, that hate does not belong,” said Susan McMurray, executive assistant at the Toronto and York Region Labour Council.
“What’s going on across the street is a bunch of white-supremacist, anti-immigrant mass-deportation talk,” McMurray said. “They blame immigrants for housing and health-care problems, and we say hate has no place here.”
The event remained peaceful, though tensions ran high as both sides exchanged chants. Police did not report any arrests.
McMurray said her coalition’s message was about unity rather than confrontation.
“We need to be in solidarity with each other,” she said. “Everyone is welcome here.”
In producing this story, we used Otter.ai to transcribe recorded interviews.
