The 2010 Toronto G20 Summit Protests

Toronto hosted the G20 summit on June 26–27, 2010, backed by an unprecedented security operation involving roughly 19,000 police and military personnel and a security fence enclosing the summit's downtown perimeter.

Property damage, then mass arrests

Peaceful demonstrations by the large majority of protesters coincided with a smaller number of "Black Bloc" participants who broke windows and set fire to several police cruisers, mainly along Yonge and Queen streets. Over the following two days, police carried out sweeping arrests, ultimately detaining more than 1,100 people — widely and consistently cited as the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. The vast majority of arrests never resulted in charges, or resulted in charges that were later withdrawn or stayed.

Oversight findings

Many of those arrested were held at a temporary detention centre on Eastern Avenue that Ontario's police watchdogs later criticized for poor planning, including reports of overcrowding and inadequate access to food, water and legal counsel. Ontario's Independent Police Review Director received 356 public complaints about G20 policing, of which 107 were found substantiated. Ontario's Ombudsman issued a widely cited report criticizing a since-repealed provincial regulation police had used to justify sweeping search-and-detention powers near the security fence. A class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of people detained at the Eastern Avenue facility was settled in 2020, with eligible claimants able to receive between $5,000 and $24,700 depending on their individual experience in detention.

Sources

• Ombudsman Ontario — Caught in the Act
• CBC News — G20 Report Slams Police for 'Excessive' Force