While some officials and businesses raised concerns about the economic impact of the blockades, the demonstrations drew both domestic and international support, including from members of the Conservative Party of Canada and Republican politicians in the United States.

[42] On November 16, 2021, Canadian Border Services Agency officers refused truck driver Brigitte Belton entry to Canada at the Detroit–Windsor tunnel due to her failure to wear a face mask.

[59][60] On February 3, the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU) called on GoFundMe officials to testify before it, to respond to concerns about the origin of the funds raised and to ensure they would not be used to "promote extremism".

[84] Once the Emergencies Act had been invoked, all crowdfunding platforms or payment providers hosting fundraising related to the convoy were required to register with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.

[151] “Evidence provided to the commission showed the noise levels outside their homes reached 100 decibels at times — about as loud as a lawn mower”, enough to cause a local resident to later testify at the Emergencies Act Inquiry that she had experienced an "assault on my hearing”.

Transport minister Omar Alghabra used the debate to encourage Ontario Premier Doug Ford to use regulatory powers to discourage the occupation, such as suspending commercial licences or insurance of the truckers.

[180] The logistic centre at the Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park (RCGP) baseball stadium included trailers of food, tents, toilets, and distribution points for gasoline and propane.

[254] In the lead-up to the planned arrival in Ottawa, it was reported on January 25 that far-right and white supremacist groups were hoping for violence on Parliament Hill akin to the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

[262] One of the lead organizers of the convoy, James Bauder, has previously stated support for QAnon, endorsed conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 US presidential election, and called for the arrest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for alleged treason.

[300] At a January 31 press conference, Ottawa Police Service (OPS) Chief Peter Sloly described the demonstration as "unique in nature, massive in scale, polarizing in context and dangerous in literally every other aspect of the event itself".

[303] Patrick McDonell, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons and Director General of Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) warned members of parliament about possible doxing attempts to discover the addresses of their residences in the Capital Region.

[2] Intelligence reports by the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC), which is part of CSIS, said that some convoy supporters "advocated civil war", had "called for violence against prime minister Justin Trudeau", and said the protest should be "used as Canada's 'January 6'".

"[300] On February 18, Day 22, hundreds[316] of OPS, York, Toronto, Gatineau, Durham Region, London, Hamilton forces, the Sureté du Québec, the OPP, and the RCMP, worked on a coordinated police action in and around Parliament Hill.

By late February 18 morning, CTV News and other mainstream media reporting in the red zone, showed police steadily, very slowly sandwiching groups of dozens of the remaining protesters on all sides on separate streets.

Canadian banks were also temporarily given the authority to freeze accounts suspected of being used to support the protests without the need to obtain court orders, were granted legal immunity if they chose to do so, and were allowed to more freely share information with law enforcement and government agencies.

[372] Protestors gathered in Edmonton for three consecutive Saturdays, and an Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Justice granted an interim injunction on February 11, 2022, prohibiting protest participants from causing incessant sound with horns and megaphones within city limits.

[380] The Freedom Convoy also inspired several Facebook and Telegram groups organizing similar protests in 34 countries including Argentina, Austria, Cyprus, New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

[391] In response, The Pentagon approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to D.C.[392] In early March, a demonstration was held by convoy protesters in D.C. near the Washington Monument, but only a small number of people attended.

[406] As early as February 10, before the protest ended, the SECU committee devoted two sessions to the Crowdfunding Platforms and Extremism Financing investigation,[407] and interviewed 17 witnesses in the Occupation of Ottawa and the Federal Government's Response to Convoy Blockades segment.

[441] The economic loss caused by the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit, due to initial delays, was estimated at US$50 million per day when border crossing was still open but at a standstill, according to a February 9 Guardian article.

[458] From an access-to-information request, emails between the National Capital Commission and Ottawa Police Services revealed that law enforcement overall was hampered by poor communication, disagreement on approaches and tactics, and confusion over jurisdiction.

[487] On January 31, Trudeau called the protests an "insult to truth",[486] saying that "we are not intimidated by those who hurl abuse at small business workers and steal food from the homeless" and "We won't give in to those who fly racist flags.

[489][490] On CTV's January 30 Question Period, Alghabra said that some voices in the crowd of protestors are "really disturbing and unacceptable" and "must be condemned"; this included those carrying signs with swastikas and Confederate flags, and those who called for the overthrow of the government.

[495][496] Erin O'Toole, Leader of the Official Opposition and the Conservative Party as the convoys started, initially declined to support the protest, saying instead that the best way to maintain supply chains is for truckers to get vaccinated.

[514] Before O'Toole was removed from the Conservative leadership, Bergen had implored him to support the protestors, saying that "there were good people on both sides", which has been described by writers as an echo of the phrase made by Donald Trump in regard to the Unite the Right rally in 2017.

[571] Rich Lowry of Politico argued that "The embrace of the Canadian trucker protesters by the American right is a sign that the Tea Party spirit circa the early Obama years was never fully extinguished.

"[573] General Wayne Eyre, Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff, said he was "sickened to see protesters dance on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and desecrate the National War Memorial", after video of such events surfaced online January 29.

[581] Barry Prentice, transportation economy professor at University of Manitoba, stated that the truckers should be treated differently than flight crews or passenger-train employees, and that the positive aspects of vaccine mandates should be evaluated against the disruptions they would cause to the freight industry.

[589][590][591] Actor Kangana Ranaut posted on Instagram, "Canadian PM Trudeau was encouraging Indian protestors... now in the midst of protests in his country he is hiding at a secret location... law of Karma strikes again.

"[592] Amish Devgan tweeted "Karma Strikes harder, Trudeau supported Tractors protests in Delhi last year on Jan 26th, and now [he] & his family ran away to secret location due to security threat.