Freedom Convoy 2022 (French: Convoi de la Liberté) is an ongoing protest in Canada that began with truck drivers protesting the end of the temporary November 19, 2021 COVID-19 vaccine requirement exemption for cross-border truckers and the implementation on January 15, 2022 of a requirement for proof of vaccination to enter into Canada, without which, a 14-day quarantine would be imposed.^[7] The demonstration quickly developed, as groups associated with the protest changed their messaging to include the “repeal of all public health measures”,^[8] expressed a number of “antigovernment grievances”, particularly against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,^[9] and called for “the overthrow of the federal government.”^[8] The demonstration which began to arrive on Parliament Hill on January 29, grew to include up to hundreds of trucks, and thousands of protesters. It was described as “unique in nature, massive in scale, polarizing in context and dangerous in literally every other aspect of the event itself” by the Chief of Ottawa Police Services.^[10]

Composed of several routes traversing all of the Canadian provinces, the truck convoys converged on Ottawa on January 29, 2022, with a rally at Parliament Hill.^[11] The protest continued into February.^[12][13][14]

Both Canada and the United States accommodated cross-border truckers with a temporary 4-month-long exemption from the new COVID-19 regulations implemented by both countries in the fall of 2021, to prevent supply chain disruptions. The temporary exemptions for Canadian truckers ended on January 15, 2022 and the United States Department of Homeland Security exemption ended a week later on January 22, 2022. DHS, guided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had announced in October 2021 that all non-U.S. travelers entering the United States had be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.^[15][16] The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) estimates that 85% of the 120,000 Canadian truck drivers are already vaccinated against COVID-19,^[17] and that these mandates would potentially impact 26,000 of the 160,000 drivers in both the United States and Canada who regularly cross the border.^[18] Prior to January 15, 2022, truck drivers and other essential workers had been temporarily exempt from the two-week quarantine for unvaccinated travellers crossing Canada’s borders. The exemption’s abolition has been criticized by some politicians and truckers for having the potential to exacerbate the supply chain disruptions already experienced in Canada.^[19]

The convoy has been condemned by trucking industry groups.^[20][21] On January 27, Prime Minister Trudeau said that almost 90% of Canadians were vaccinated, as were many truckers in Canada, and that a “small fringe minority of people” in the convoy do not “represent the views of Canadians.”^[22] A January 29 CTA statement cautioned the public that a “great number of protestors” with no connection to the trucking industry “have a separate agenda beyond a disagreement over cross border vaccine requirements.”^[23]

Main stream media raised concerns that organizers and groups associated with the protest have histories of white nationalism, racism, Islamophobia,^[24] Q-Anon^[1] and other conspiracy theories, and far-right groups, including those who promote violence.^[25][7][26]

Illegal acts committed by protesters drew widespread condemnation. Protesters were seen desecrating the statue of national hero Terry Fox, the National War Memorial, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and several emergency vehicles were attacked with rocks.^[27][28] On February 1, Ottawa Police reported that there had been no injuries related to the protest.^[29] Three arrests have been made in connection to the protests.^[30]