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Fact File: Anti-Muslim posts spread false claims about Quebec church fires

Online posts spreading this month falsely claimed Muslims intentionally lit church fires in Quebec or are responsible for more than 100 arsons across Canada, though fact-checkers found no evidence supporting these Islamophobic assertions.
Videos used in these claims show older, unrelated incidents, including a 2019 fire in Mercier and a 2025 lightning strike in St-Ours; Mercier spokesperson Coralie Izabayo confirmed no Muslim involvement in the 2019 case.
Data from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute found religion was not a motivating factor in the spike of arson attacks, while CBC News investigation identified 33 churches burned between 2021 and 2023, with 24 deliberately set.
Several social media accounts spreading these claims have histories of anti-Muslim content, including one previously suspended for making similar false allegations; these posts often misidentify local churches as the Notre-Dame Basilica.
Police have not tied the ongoing spike in church burnings to any specific group, with Alberta RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff noting in 2024 that motivations are "as varied as the people themselves.

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Fact File: Anti-Muslim posts spread false claims about Quebec church fires

Online posts this month claimed that Muslims intentionally lit separate church fires in Quebec, or that they are responsible for more than 100 church arsons across Canada. None of the specific fires cited in the posts were found to involve…

10 hours ago·Toronto, Canada

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