List of incidents of civil unrest in Canada

This is a list of major incidents of civil disorder that have occurred in Canada. This list includes events that occurred prior to Canadian Confederation in 1867, as well as events that occurred in territories that were not part of Canada at the time that they occurred, such as the Newfoundland Colony and later Dominion of Newfoundland.

18th century

Year Incident Location
1753 Lunenburg Rebellion Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
1784 Shelburne riots Shelburne, Nova Scotia

19th century

Year(s) Incident Location
1826 Types Riot York, Upper Canada
1835–1845 Shiners' War Bytown, Upper Canada
1837 Upper Canada Rebellion Upper Canada
1837–1838 Lower Canada Rebellion Lower Canada
1837–1838 Rebellions of 1837–1838 Lower Canada and Upper Canada
1838 Patriot War Canada–United States border
1842–1844 Welland Canal Riot Welland Canal area, Upper Canada
1847 1847 Woodstock riot Woodstock, New Brunswick
1849 Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal Montreal, Lower Canada
1849 Stony Monday Riot Bytown, Upper Canada
1853 Gavazzi Riots Montreal and Quebec City, Lower Canada
1855 Toronto circus riot Toronto, Canada West
1861 1861 Newfoundland general election rioting Harbour Grace, Newfoundland
1863 Oil Springs riot Sarnia, Upper Canada
1869–1870 Red River Rebellion Red River Colony
1875 Louis Mailloux Affair Caraquet, New Brunswick
1875 Jubilee riots Toronto, Ontario
1875 Montreal anti-vaccination riot Montreal, Quebec
1883 The Harbour Grace Affray Harbour Grace, Newfoundland Colony
1885 North-West Rebellion Present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan
1885 Montreal anti-vaccine riot Montreal, Quebec[1]

20th century

Year(s) Incident Location
1903 1903 Consolidated Lake Superior riot Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
1907 Pacific Coast race riots of 1907 Vancouver, British Columbia
1914 1914 Saint John street railway strike Saint John, New Brunswick
1916 Battle of the Hatpins Ottawa, Ontario
1917 Conscription Crisis of 1917 Quebec
1918 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot Toronto, Ontario
1918 1918 Vancouver general strike Vancouver, British Columbia
1918–1925 Canadian Labour Revolt nationwide
1919 Winnipeg general strike Winnipeg, Manitoba
1931 Estevan riot Estevan, Saskatchewan
1932 1932 Colonial Building riot[note 1] St. John's, Dominion of Newfoundland
1932 Edmonton Hunger March. A march by 10,000 workers and farmers dispersed by club-wielding mounted policemen.[2][3][4] Edmonton, Alberta
1933 Christie Pits riot Toronto, Ontario
1934 Days of Shame Montreal, Quebec
1934 Battle at Old Market Square Winnipeg, Manitoba
1935 Battle of Ballantyne Pier Vancouver, British Columbia
1935 Regina Riot, culmination of the On-to-Ottawa Trek Regina, Saskatchewan
1938 Bloody Sunday Vancouver, British Columbia
1942 Battle of Bowmanville by German POWs Bowmanville POW camp, Ontario
1944 Terrace mutiny by soldiers unwilling to go overseas Terrace, British Columbia
1945 Halifax riot by sailors and soldiers on VE-Day. Dartmouth and Halifax, Nova Scotia
1949 Asbestos strike Asbestos, Quebec
1955 Richard Riot Montreal, Quebec
1958 Newfoundland Loggers' Strike Newfoundland
1966 1966 Vancouver Grey Cup riot Vancouver, British Columbia
1969 Sir George Williams affair Montreal, Quebec
1969 Murray-Hill riot Montreal, Quebec
1970 October Crisis Greater Montreal, Quebec
1971 1971 Kingston Penitentiary riot Kingston, Ontario
1971 Gastown riots Vancouver, British Columbia
1981 Cape Breton coal strike of 1981 Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
1987 Edmonton Celebration of Stanley Cup win. Celebration on Jasper Avenue turned into a riot. Dozens arrested.[5] Edmonton, Alberta
1987 On December 10, Toronto Libraries staged a one-day suspension of service against Bill C-54 (anti-pornography legislation) Toronto[6][7]
1988–1989 Temagami Blockade of 1988–1989 (concerning the Temagami Land Caution). Blockades were a chapter in 103-year-long fight for local First Nation control of Lake Temagami area, which ended partially successfully in 1995.[8][9][10] Temagami, Ontario
1989–1990 Mohawk Civil War Akwesasne, Ontario and Quebec
1990 Oka Crisis Oka, Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Quebec
1992 Yonge Street riot Toronto, Ontario
1994 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot Vancouver, British Columbia

21st century

Year Incident Location
2001 Edmonton Canada Day riot. Crowds broke shop windows, threw rocks at police officers, overturned mail boxes and park benches, and kicked in phone booths.[11] Edmonton, Alberta
2002 Concordia University Netanyahu riot Montreal, Quebec
2006 Edmonton Stanley Cup Playoff run. Perhaps as many as 50,000 youths gathered on Whyte Avenue on different nights. Mischief, vandalism, open fires on the street, nudity.[12][13][14] Edmonton, Alberta
2006 2006 Grand Manan riot Grand Manan, New Brunswick
2010 2010 G20 Toronto summit protests Toronto, Ontario
2011 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot Vancouver, British Columbia
2012 2012 Quebec student protests Quebec
2014 HMP chapel riot St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
2020 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation territory, BC
2022 Canada convoy protest nationwide

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada and instead was a separate Dominion of the British Empire

References

  1. ↑ Bliss, Michael (1991). Plague: A story of smallpox in Montreal. Première édition. pp. 208–214. ISBN 978-0002156936.
  2. ↑ Berlando, Roy (December 20, 1932). Item A9217 - Hunger March, Edmonton (Photo). Edmonton, AB.
  3. ↑ Dunn, Maria; Dolinsky, William. "We Were Good People". mariadunn.com.
  4. ↑ The Alberta Hunger-March and the Trial of the Victims of Brownlee's Police Terror (Pamphlet). Edmonton, AB: C. L. D. L. Hunger March Defense Committee. 1936.
  5. ↑ Zazula, John (June 1, 1987). "June 1, 1987: Stanley Cup celebrations turn into riot in downtown Edmonton". CBC News. Edmonton, AB: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  6. ↑ McLaughlin, Danielle S. (October 14, 2025). "Librarians Are My Heroes". cfe.torontomu.ca. Centre for Free Expression.
  7. ↑ Borovoy, A. Alan (1991). Uncivil Obedience. Lester Publishing Limited. pp. 60–61. ISBN 1-895555-08-6.
  8. ↑ Lowery, Biff (Summer 2021). "The "Tenets for Temagami": A Retrospective" (PDF). Temagami Times. Vol. 51, no. 2. Temagami Lakes Association. pp. 6–8.
  9. ↑ Calverley, David (Winter 2006). "Blockades and Resistance: Studies in Actions and Peace and the Temagami Blockade of 1988–89". University of Toronto Quarterly. 75 (1). University of Toronto Press: 457–458. doi:10.1353/utq.2006.0011.
  10. ↑ Hodgins, Bruce; Lischke, Ute; McNab, David T., eds. (2003). Blockades & Resistances: Studies in Actions of Peace and the Temagami Blockades of 1988–89. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0889203815.
  11. ↑ "Sixteen arrested in Canada Day riot in Edmonton". CBC News. Edmonton, AB: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. July 3, 2001.
  12. ↑ Neufeld, Lydia (March 29, 2017). "Oilers, police aiming to avoid repeat of 2006 playoff riots". CBC News. Edmonton, AB: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  13. ↑ "City officials meet to discuss Whyte Ave. violence". CBC News. Edmonton, AB: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. May 29, 2006. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  14. ↑ The Edmonton Oilers 2006 Cup Run Burnt The City To The Ground. Edmonton, AB: Dive In Canada. June 9, 2025 – via Youtube.
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