Toronto’s “bubble zone” bylaw must be repealed

On May 22, 2025, Toronto City Council passed the controversial “bubble zone” bylaw, which creates a 50-metre exclusion zone around “vulnerable institutions”—specifically places of worship, schools, and child-care centres, with potential expansion to libraries and hospitals.

The “bubble zone” bylaw is deeply flawed and is a dangerous policy that undermines the fundamental democratic rights of all workers, community members, and organizations committed to social justice.

As a union, we are especially alarmed by the bylaw’s impact on workers’ rights to picket and organize. Many union members work in the very institutions under the exclusion zone. This law could make it illegal to hold informational pickets, distribute leaflets, or demonstrate in support of fair wages and safe working conditions, which are constitutionally protected actions.

Under the guise of public safety, the bylaw does little to protect communities. Instead, it criminalizes protest, dissent, and labour solidarity within those zones. With vague language prohibiting undefined “acts of disapproval,” the law threatens to shut down protests and silence critical voices, particularly those in solidarity with Palestine and marginalized or working-class communities.

We join a growing coalition of civil liberties groups, community organizations, and fellow unions in calling for the immediate repeal of this bylaw. We demand that any city policy affecting protest and public assembly be subject to transparent and robust public consultation and fully comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Canadian Freelance Union

For more information, contact: organizer@canadianfreelanceunion.ca