Despite objections from local politicians and fines levied against churches for hosting the American Christian musician, thousands attended Sean Feucht’s “Let Us Worship: Revive in ’25” Canadian tour event in Toronto.
Feucht’s cross-country tour has been met with growing resistance, including cancelled outdoor events in Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, Gatineau, Quebec City, and Vaughan.
Cities have cited vague “public safety” concerns and objections to Feucht’s conservative political views, particularly his vocal opposition to abortion, gender ideology, and what he describes as growing anti-Christian hostility in North America.
Despite the pushback, Feucht’s tour pressed on with a large-scale concert Sunday night in Toronto’s Mel Lastman Square. His next stops include Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton, where he is scheduled to perform at the Alberta legislature grounds’ south bandshell on August 22.
Feucht told CBC that Montreal police had warned his team about local hostility. “We’re grateful that they would warn us about how the anti-Christian bigotry is strong in this city,” he said.
A viral moment from that same encounter shows a local journalist standing near a CBC reporter shouting: “You don’t need a permit to worship God in Canada. It’s religious freedom.”
“This CBC journalist thinks that you need a permit to worship God in a church,” tweeted André Pitre of Lux Media, sharing video of the exchange.
Independent Senator Dr. Kristopher Wells, a Trudeau appointee and LGBTQ+ activist, defended the wave of cancellations and dismissed Feucht’s claims of religious discrimination. “No one is stopping Sean Feucht from hosting his shows in Canada,” Wells wrote.
“Despite his criminal record, he has no Charter right to have his shows hosted at public facilities, which must be safe and discrimination-free spaces that uphold community standards. Don’t believe the martyrdom.”
Feucht, a former Republican congressional candidate and supporter of Donald Trump, said such rhetoric only proves his point.
“They can cancel our permits across Canada, but they cannot steal our joy,” he wrote on X after an impromptu worship event was held in rural Nova Scotia. That gathering came after Parks Canada revoked his Halifax permit, citing “heightened public safety concerns.”
Similar language was used in Charlottetown, where city officials scrapped the concert, citing “evolving public safety and security concerns” and expressed solidarity with the “2SLGBTQ+ community” during Pride Week.
Feucht has since shifted many of his events to private properties, including churches and Christian campgrounds. A spokesperson for Alberta Infrastructure confirmed that organizers submitted an incomplete event permit for the Edmonton performance, but as of now, the concert remains scheduled.
The backlash has triggered criticism from federal Conservatives, who view the cancellations as a threat to religious freedom and free expression.
“You don’t have to agree with Sean Feucht to be concerned,” wrote Conservative MP Michael Barrett. “When the CBC and government censor worship or suppress dissenting beliefs, they violate the freedoms of religion and expression guaranteed in Section 2 of the Charter. That’s deeply illiberal.”
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole echoed those concerns, calling the politically motivated cancellations a danger to democratic values.
“These public pressure-led decisions appear to conflict with the Charter,” O’Toole said. “Free speech and religious freedom in a democracy mean you will hear things you do not agree with. Cancelling such voices is wrong and drives polarization.”
Feucht, who launched the “Let Us Worship” movement in 2020 during the pandemic as a response to church closures and public health mandates, said the 2025 backlash has only helped amplify his message.
“This is my third year in a row bringing ‘Let Us Worship’ to Canada,” he posted. “Never before has every major news outlet in the nation been talking about this. What the activists tried to stop has now gone viral. It backfired.”