Anti-Santa posters removed after police speak with Ontario homeowner

Macy's Santa Claus reacts as he rides on Santa's Sleigh during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

A previous version of this article used a headline where it stated police asked the homeowner to remove anti-Santa posters. Brantford Police did not ask for them to be removed, they spoke with the resident who then removed the signs. — As families gathered for a Santa Claus parade in a city west of Toronto, one resident’s signs hit like a snowball to the face, prompting a police visit in hopes they’ll dial down the Grinch energy.

The annual parade has been marching throughout downtown Brantford, Ont., for nearly 50 years, with police saying this year’s festivities attracted around 30,000 people.

Though Christmas songs rang out and festive floats paraded down Dalhousie Street, one homeowner’s signs drew the ire of concerned parents. A handful of social media posts revealed someone had plastered colourful posters to their window, expressing anti-Santa sentiments and parents’ perceived role as being the jolly old soul from the North Pole.

The signs contained the following phrases, etched in thick black marker: “Santa is fake,” “Your parents are Santa,” “Santa isn’t real” and “Your family buys your presents.”

Brantford Police could not say how many complaints they received, as there were phone calls, online complaints and in-person conversations between “upset residents” and special constables along the parade route. An officer, however, did speak with the person responsible and police said the signs were taken down.

“While it isn’t illegal to be a ‘Grinch,’ we do encourage everyone to embrace the spirit of the season and help foster a positive, welcoming community, especially during events like the Santa Claus Parade,” Robin Matthews-Osmond, corporate communications manager for the Brantford Police Service, told CTV News Toronto in an email.

Why it’s not illegal to say ‘Santa is fake’

Many online called out this Scrooge’s “bah humbug” approach to Santa Claus, but technically this person was within their right to express these sentiments.

“It’s not illegal to be a Grinch at Christmas,” James Turk, director of the Center for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, said in an interview with CTV News Toronto, noting there are very few restrictions on speech within Canada.

Canadians can express their opinions and engage in debate, but Turk says violence cannot enter the conversation. Examples of this include punching someone in the face because of a disagreed opinion, or threatening to kill another for speaking their mind, but the conversation gets more ambiguous around hate speech.

“Probably 95 per cent of what people call hate speech is hateful, but it’s not illegal,” Turk said. “Our courts have been very clear, even in hate speech, for something to be hate speech, it’s to portray an individual or group as less than human, as despicable, as beyond redemption, as not deserving to live, as being animals. It’s that extreme before it becomes the illegal hate speech.”

In the context of the Santa Claus debate, Turk says this individual’s posters were by no means illegal, and police don’t have the ability to force them to take them down.

There was an instance, however, where a man was charged after telling children at a Santa Claus parade in Kingston that Kris Kringle did not exist. A spokesperson for Kingston Police confirmed to CTV News Toronto this happened in 2012, adding the man was later convicted of breaching probation and causing a disturbance.

Why it’s important to preserve Santa Claus’ spirit

The holiday season is a magical one—even more so for those who still believe a man in a crimson velvet suit jumps down chimneys to deliver presents to well-behaved children around the world in a single evening.

Kim Wilson, co-founder of the Children’s Media Lab at the Toronto Metropolitan University, explained in an interview with CTV News Toronto that young children, from the ages of three to seven, are naturally more inclined to animism and magical thinking—so Santa, that reality, and how society celebrates him provides a structured space for their cognitive development.

Then as they get older, Wilson says it’s important for children to outgrow their belief in Santa on their own terms because it helps them develop their logical reasoning skills.

“This is why I think it’s so sad when people do this as adults and try to bust the myth for kids and bust that magical thing, that whole part is so cognitively empowering for kids to figure things out,” Wilson said.

“Developing critical thinking skills is so critical, and figuring out about Santa helps develop critical thinking skills because you’re questioning narratives, you’re weighing the evidence, and then you’re starting to trust your own reasoning.”

Outside of the developmental benefits Santa’s spirit provides, Wilson pointed to the community his warmth brings in that everyone—besides just parents—participate in his belief.

“It reinforces community bonds and creates this sense of community, and we’re all in this together, which is really, I think, so important when we spend so much time on screens,” Wilson said.

When parents are confronted with the Grinch-like behaviour of others, especially if their child is still young, Wilson advises continuing with that magical thinking or it would otherwise be confusing for their son or daughter.

“I would...strongly encourage parents to continue to kind of stay in that period where you support their imagination, technical thinking and all of that,” Wilson said.