Social media users spread a video claiming it showed tens of thousands of Christians demonstrating in Canada's largest city, but the footage was lifted from another event. The clip actually shows crowds during a "Walk with Israel" march organized by Jewish groups in Toronto.
"Happening now! Over 60,000 CHRISTIANS MARCH on the streets of Toronto," claims an August 19, 2026 X post sharing the video.
The footage shows a large crowd of people walking down a wide street, as a speaker describes spotting "blue and white" for "as far as the eye can see."
The clip spread with the claim that it showed a Christian demonstration in posts across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, where it was shared by American conservative commentator David J Harris Jr, who has repeatedly spread misinformation fact-checked by AFP.
The posts follow several videos AFP has debunked, including two falsely claimed by Harris to show Christians and their houses of worship are under threat in Canada.
The francophone province of Quebec did pass a law in 2025 limiting public prayer, but for all religions.
And despite the cancellation of several 2025 concerts by an American Christian nationalist singer, gatherings supporting Christian unity take place in Canada (archived here).
A judge ruled in July 2026 that a former provincial tourism minister in Quebec violated freedom of expression laws when she blocked a Christian group's event three years earlier (archived here).
But the footage claimed to show a Toronto march of tens of thousands of Christians is misrepresented.
Reverse image searches lead to earlier social media posts with similar footage describing the scene as a pro-Israel event, specifically the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto's annual " Walk with Israel" fundraiser which most recently took place June 7, 2026 and reported 60,000 attendees (archived here, here, here and here).
The large presence in the clip of Israel's blue and white flag with the Star of David, also reveals an association with the Walk with Israel event (archived here).
The non-profit organization describes the event as a declaration of "Jewish pride" and "unwavering support for the people of Israel."
AFP reached out to the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto about the social media claims but did not receive a response.
Using geolocation, AFP determined the footage misrepresented on social media matches a location seen in Walk with Israel's promotional material (archived here).
The route advertised for the event spanned Wilson Avenue and Bathurst Street in the North York neighborhood, which historically has a high Jewish population (archived here, here and here).
A light brown building with a vertical window design seen in the social media posts visually matches a structure found at 3845 Bathurst Street on Google Street View (archived here).
A vantage point several meters down the block at the intersection of Bathurst Street and Invermay Avenue can be seen in one of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto's videos with the same light brown building in the background (archived here).
The official footage of the event does show a group of people with a sign saying, "Christians Support Israel." There were also participants carrying LGBTQ Pride banners and the Iranian lion and sun flag that was used before the 1979 Islamic Revolution (archived here).
Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.