The Canadian convoy protests was a series of anti-vaccination protests and blockades in Canada which began on 22 January 2022, when hundreds of vehicles formed convoys from several points and converged on the capital of Ottawa on 29 January 2022 as part of the "Freedom Convoy" movement organized on 15 January. The "Freedom Convoy" was organized in response to the ending of vaccine exemptions for Canadian truckers on 15 January 2022 and American truckers on 22 January 2022; by then, 85% of Canada's 120,000 licensed truck drivers had been vaccinated against COVID-19. The remaining 12,000-16,000 unvaccinated truck drivers were allowed to continue driving routes within Canada, and the trucking industry and labor groups opposed the self-proclaimed "trucker protests", which were organized not by disaffected truckers, but by two fringe political candidates, Maverick Party secretary Teresa Lich and former Conservative Party political candidate Benjamin J. Dichter. The Freedom Convoy movement was supported by QAnon conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, anti-lockdown protesters, People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, Ontario Party leader Derek Sloan, Independent Ontario MPP Randy Hiller, the Conservative Premier of Saskatchewan Scott Moe, and Conservative MPs Candice Bergen, Pierre Pollievre, Andrew Scheer, Garnett Genuis, Martin Shields, Warren Steinley, Jeremy Patzer, and Leslyn Lewis, as well as by the US Republican politicians Steve Daines, Rand Paul, Jim Banks, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Ken Buck, Madison Cawthorn, Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, Chip Roy, Steve Scalise, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Mark Meadows, Donald Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. American far-right commentators Dan Bongino and Ben Shapiro directed support to the Canadian movement's crowdfunding websites; American media speculated that much of the planning and funding originated in the United States, and that the American-funded trucker protests were an attempt to generate momentum for a new insurrection within the United States.
Upon the convoy's arrival in Ottawa on 29 January 2022, a rally was held at Parliament Hill, and the vehicular convoys were joined by thousands of pedestrian protesters. Several copycat protests blockaded provincial capitals across Canada and border crossings with the United States, while others occurred in 34 countries such as Argentina, Austria, Cyprus, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Germany, Finland, and France. The Canadian protesters refused to leave until all COVID-19 restrictions and mandates were repealed, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford implemented a state of emergency on 11 February 2022, introducing new legal sanctions on the impediment of trade routes, highways, airports, ports, bridges, and railways. Protesters also defaced the statue of sportsman and humanitarian Terry Fox, the National War Memorial, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.