A strike is underway in Ontario district today, Friday, by education support staff, leading to the closure of most schools across the Greater Toronto Area. Up to 55,000 education workers, who belong to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), will meet at MPP offices, and other government offices and sites throughout the province today, with many protests scheduled to start at 8 a.m. One of the largest strike sites is at Queen's Park in Toronto, where protesters began arriving around 7 a.m. for a full day of protest, with hundreds of demonstrators raising CUPE flags and banners saying "No cuts in education" and "Cuts hurt children."

In the same context, a protester who identified himself as Ammar told CP24 at Queen's Park: "We must defend our rights and be able to negotiate our freedom... We are only demanding a standard of living." An anonymous protester said, "I support everyone here. I think it's great that we're all standing here together, and I think we should continue until we get what we deserve." In this regard, Toronto police warned the public to expect traffic delays in the Queen's Park area today, hoping the protests will be peaceful and without disruption.