Demonstrators on Tuesday morning occupied the office of Stantec, the engineering firm hired by the province to remove bike lanes in the city.
Fridays for Future Toronto — a youth-led organization calling for climate justice — and community activists gathered in a group of over 100 people to demand the cancellation of the contract between the province and Stantec.
Police detained and ticketed two people after four demonstrators — alongside two support people — entered the building to speak with Stantec employees, Fridays for Future Toronto confirmed with TorontoToday.
Toronto police also confirmed two protesters were arrested for trespassing on private property.
One of the ticketed demonstrators is Alex Lam, a Fridays for Future Toronto outreach coordinator.
Lam said they and another protester were briefly handcuffed for "failing to leaving premises when directed."
"We were going to sit in there until Stantec agreed to cancel the contract to rip out bike lanes, or until we were removed," Lam said.
Toronto police spokesperson Laura Brabant said the protesters were removed from the property, issued provincial offence notices and then released.
Dave Shellnutt, the founder of The Biking Lawyer LLP and a Cycle Toronto board member, was one of the support people that accompanied the demonstrators.
"I entered in as a lawyer and as a police liaison because we know that Toronto police can be quite dangerous," Shellnutt told TorontoToday.
"All these folks did, very politely, was ask Stantec to sit and talk with them about their contract with Doug Ford to rip out our safe infrastructure," he said. "Stantec employees refused, and instead walked out immediately and got Toronto police to come in and arrest these people."
Lam, who is 17 years old and attends Bloor Collegiate Institute, said the group was prepared for police intervention.
They went in to the building expecting there was a high likelihood they would be detained, they said.
"Knowing what the process would be, I wasn't too scared," Lam admitted.
Originally meeting at Queen's Park, over a hundred cyclists were seen riding their bicycles south on Spadina Avenue to the firm's office at 401 Wellington St. W.
Demonstrators were heard chanting, "Bike lanes save lives" and "Safe streets save lives."
"It was very energetic," Lam said of the protest. "Everyone there was really passionate about the lives that are being put at risk by the removal on the roads and the climate catastrophe that the removal is worsening."
Shellnutt said that Stantec's acceptance of the provincial contract goes against the engineering firm's self-described position as an environmentally conscious company dedicated to building communities and safe streets.
"If your company is greenwashing itself publicly, then there's got to be some accountability for that," he said.
Cyclists lead by @Fridays4future went to @Stantec's office to ask why they're helping Ford destroy safe infrastructure. Instead of speaking w concerned citizens, Stantec employees called in Toronto Police who dragged out & arrested two people for trespass to property. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/jcSrP30dfv
— The Biking Lawyer (Dave Shellnutt) (@TheBikingLawyer) March 18, 2025
Throughout the morning, the demonstrators stationed themselves outside the Stantec building with signs and more chants, while police cruisers could be seen in the background.
At one point, an officer temporarily interrupted the protest to tell the gathering of demonstrators that they can't go inside the office building.
"We will not sit idly by while you remove our safe infrastructure, Premier Ford," Shellnutt said. "It's not just me, it's my kids, it's the future of the city, everything is at stake. It's a serious issue and all options are on the table right now."
Lam said Fridays for Future Toronto is going to keep on fighting and "exposing" Stantec.
