Police deploy pepper spray at anti-ICE protest, one arrest made

Montrealers gathered to protest Quebec security firm GardaWorld’s ties to ICE

NewsCleo Clamen — Published February 15, 2026 0 minutes

Protesters gathered outside Place Vertu at around 3:00 p.m. and started marching towards GardaWorld’s headquarters at around 4:15 p.m. 

The march began peacefully. Demonstrators danced and sang along to the traditional antifascist folk song "Bella Ciao" and the hit reggaeton song "DtMF" by Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny as they approached GardaWorld’s campus, where the firm’s security guards are trained. 

Celeste Trianon, one of the protest’s organizers, accused GardaWorld of providing security to the "Alligator Alcatraz" ICE detention centre, a facility that has been accused of various human rights violations. A U.S subsidiary of GardaWorld’s was also cleared to bid up to $190 million on ICE contracts in August 2025. 

“Our tax dollars are paid to help support a Quebec company which directly has a financial stake in the arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity [committed] against U.S. citizens and residents alike,” Trianon said. “It’s disgusting that our companies here are involved in crimes against humanity.” 

Upon arriving at GardaWorld’s campus around 5:05 p.m., protesters were almost immediately confronted  with violent police repression. 

Protesters were met with a line of officers firing pepper spray and multiple tear gas canisters into the crowd. Shortly after, officers charged into the crowd and began shoving, beating, kicking and pepper-spraying demonstrators. 

A representative of the SPVM confirmed in a phone call to The Link that officers did use chemical weapons, namely pepper spray and tear gas, against demonstrators.

Volunteer street medic Dominic Bois, who was granted a pseudonym for safety reasons, told The Link that they witnessed SPVM officers hit demonstrators with batons and kick demonstrators who were “unarmed [and] on the ground facing away from them.” 

They further said that the officers forced demonstrators back to Place Vertu—about 2 kilometres away from GardaWorld’s headquarters—by continuously firing tear gas canisters into the crowd and repeatedly charging towards them.

According to Bois, officers appeared to be targeting journalists. 

“I [saw] two journalists being pushed by the cops,” Bois said. 

They added that the officers made the two journalists leave “by pushing them,” and “impeded on their ability to record and do their job.”

The SPVM representative told The Link that one arrest was made at the protest for armed assault against an officer using a projectile. 

The Montreal Gazette reported that the individual arrested was seen throwing a chunk of ice towards an officer.

Online reports from independent organizers and attendees claim that at least six people were injured. 

“We cannot denounce abuse abroad while subsidizing corporations that profit from it. We cannot speak of compassion while investing in cages. Democracy is not about what governments say; it is about what they fund, what they permit and what they normalize.” — Dave Hamelin-Schuilenburg, protest speaker

Volunteer street medic Laura Dion, who was also granted a pseudonym for safety reasons, told The Link that one individual was treated for a minor leg injury caused by a projectile fired by officers, and that it took several minutes before the individual was able to stand up and walk out of the area.

Dion said she later witnessed multiple individuals bleeding from their foreheads. 

“[One person] had a large gash on their forehead, about an inch and a half,” Dion said, adding that it required gauze, antiseptic and butterfly stitch adhesive strips to temporarily reduce the bleeding. 

Dave Hamelin-Schuilenburg was a speaker at the demonstration and is the lead organizer of Indivisible Quebec, a grassroots group of Canadians and Americans that stands for “democracy, equality, and justice." 

Hamelin-Schuilenburg criticized the Quebec government’s $300 million investment in GardaWorld in 2022. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec also provided a $62.5 million loan to the firm in 2012. 

“We cannot denounce abuse abroad while subsidizing corporations that profit from it. We cannot speak of compassion while investing in cages,” he said. “Democracy is not about what governments say; it is about what they fund, what they permit and what they normalize.”

Tristan Maillard, an attendee at the protest, told The Link that he would like to see the Quebec government stop supporting GardaWorld. 

Maillard criticized the fact that GardaWorld and the Quebec government, through its stake in the company, are profiting off of ICE “killing people and imprisoning people.”

“People are not expendable. We’re living, breathing things,” Maillard said. “We shouldn’t be exchanged for a few green dollar bills.”

Trianon urged the Quebec government and GardaWorld to stop collaborating with ICE and encouraged the federal government to abolish the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. The agreement restricts non-citizens in the U.S. from claiming asylum in Canada.

Québec solidaire MNA Haroun Bouazzi, who represents the riding of Maurice-Richard, was present at the protest.

Bouazzi told The Link that he attended this demonstration because he was shocked that a Canadian company is helping “a militia in the U.S.” to commit human rights violations.

“Even worse, this company is receiving public money from our public institutions, which is totally unacceptable,” Bouazzi said. “The money that the government gives should be conditional to respecting human rights.”

Bouazzi added that Québec solidaire had already attempted to present a motion against funding GardaWorld, which he claims was “refused by the other parties.” 

He said the party has an ongoing public petition that they plan to present to the Quebec National Assembly.

The demonstration dispersed near Place Vertu shortly after 6:00 p.m., with lines of police on bicycles and in riot gear present in the area.