October 23, 2026 - (Toronto, ON) A GoFundMe fundraiser has been launched to support the ongoing bike lane removal protests in Toronto, to help demonstrators, and “to pay for legal support for those unjustly arrested for protesting the removal of safe infrastructure.”
Four people have been arrested and require criminal lawyers, and future “creative” protests also require funding. In addition, funds are also needed for bike repairs due to damage associated with bike lane protests.
The protests and demonstrations have been going on daily for over a week, stretching into the evening, and have seen an army of police officers and cruisers on site as well. The All Out Protest Rides have been able to successfully force construction crews to leave – read more here and here.
The Biking Lawyer LLP along with Families for Safe Streets and other organizers will administer the new fund and assure 100% of donations go to people standing up in the street to defend the safe cycling infrastructure.
The Biking Lawyer LLP will also be coordinating legal services and connecting folks with trusted criminal lawyers as they only practice injury law.
This ongoing battle has been heating up since Premier Doug Ford’s government passed Bill 212 (the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024) in Nov. 2024 that sought to remove the bike lanes. The bill was challenged by Cycle Toronto, joined by individual applicants Eva Stanger-Ross and Narada Kiondo, and represented by lawyers from Ecojustice and Paliare Roland LLP.
The advocacy group argued that it would put people at increased risk of harm and death, thereby violating section 7 of the Charter, which protects the right to life and security of the person, and they won in July 2025.
But the province appealed, and the Court of Appeal for Ontario overturned the lower court ruling allowing Ford’s government to remove 19km of protected bike lanes in Toronto along Bloor St., University Ave., and Yonge St.
Yet a report by the engineering firm CIMA+, commissioned by the province, estimated that removing the bike lanes could increase collisions among all road users, including cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers, by as much as 54%, and found no clear evidence that their removal would ease congestion.
Cycle Toronto is taking the fight to the Supreme Court of Canada “to provide clarity about the scope of the rights to life and security of the person protected by Section 7 of the Charter.”
“The facts are clear: bike lanes do not cause traffic congestion, ripping them out will put people’s lives at risk, and no network of side streets can replace the 19 (kilometres) of protected bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge, and University,” said Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto.
A total of $35,629 has been raised of the $40K – support the GoFundMe fundraiser here – support Cycle Toronto’s efforts here – visit the Toronto Critical Mass FB page here.
