34 heads of state and government met in Quebec City, representing all the countries of North and South America, except Cuba.

The participants did make a statement titled "The Declaration of Quebec City" which includes the quotation: "We, the democratically elected Heads of State and Government of the Americas, have met in Quebec City at our Third Summit, to renew our commitment to hemispheric integration" [7] From the beginning, the authorities indicated their intent to use very intensive security measures to restrict the ability of anti- and alter-globalization movement protesters to approach the area where the summit was to take place, in light of the well-known previous incidents in Seattle (November 30, 1999), Prague (September 26, 2000), and Montreal (November 20, 2000).

The most controversial of these preparations was the construction of a 3-metre high concrete and wire fence around a large section of La Colline Parlementaire that encircled the meeting site, the National Assembly and many government and residential buildings.

In addition to the political concerns of the anti-globalization movement, many focused their attention on the division of the city with the security barrier, and what they saw as the draconic nature of police responses.

A number of clashes with police took place on Friday afternoon, with the first perimeter breach on Boulevard René-Lévesque Est, less than 5 minutes after the protesters arrived at the site, and in the evening.

Other tactical interventions aimed at arresting various perceived movement leaders[11] and the expulsion of the independent media centre and protest clinic from their locations.

According to David Graeber in his book Direct Action: An Ethnography, "plastic bullets were being used increasingly, and from guns with laser sights so at night people could often see that the cops were intentionally aiming for heads or groins.

Altogether, the anti-globalization movement describes the actions of the police in Quebec City as an attempt to suppress dissent.

Intelligence operations prior to the event were also criticized, For example, Joan Russow, then leader of the Green Party of Canada, was arrested while attempting to photograph the prison where protesters would be held.

During the event, some prominent protesters such as Jaggi Singh were arrested by undercover police officers while they were engaging in legal activities in "green-zone" areas.

On November 13, 2003, the complaint's chairwoman Shirley Heafey found that "RCMP members used excessive and unjustified force in releasing tear gas to move the protesters when a more measured response could have been attempted first."