Second Vancouver protest planned over Hootsuite’s DHS contract as backlash against ICE grows

Protesters gather outside Hootsuite's Vancouver office on Jan. 30, 2026.

Hundreds of people are expected to gather outside Hootsuite’s Vancouver headquarters Saturday for a second protest over the company’s contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Organizers with Democracy Rising say the Feb. 21 “De-Ice Vancouver” action is being held in response to Hootsuite’s decision to continue providing social media services to DHS, amid public criticism over ICE’s tactics in Minneapolis.

A U.S. procurement database shows the contract, valued at up to $2.8 million U.S., began in August 2024 and runs for two years, with an optional three‑year extension through August 2029.

The upcoming protest follows a similar demonstration outside Hootsuite’s headquarters on Jan. 30, which drew more than 100 participants.

“In the weeks since that protest, organizers say they have identified additional Vancouver-based institutions that are directly or indirectly supporting ICE-linked operations—widening concern beyond a single corporation and raising broader questions about the city’s alignment with enforcement infrastructure tied to detention and deportation practices,” reads a Democracy Rising statement issued Tuesday.

However, the statement only lists GardaWorld, a Montreal-based company with a headquarters in South Vancouver that organizers say “staffs U.S. detention infrastructure, and companies that rely on vendors providing services to ICE.”

Kalifi Ferretti-Gallon, co-founder of Democracy Rising, argues a company doesn’t need to have a local headquarters to be held accountable.

“If your company has an office, employees, and a brand in Vancouver, you are part of this community, and this community has a right to say: not here, not with our consent,” she told CTV News. “Resistance begins locally and we are seeing growing communities of resistance across Canada begin to co-ordinate.”

Ferretti-Gallon adds that Democracy Rising is compiling a list of Canadian companies that use Hootsuite’s services, which she says amounts to “supporting an institution with an active ICE contract.”

Public pressure has already influenced at least one Vancouver‑linked ICE issue this year. In late January, Jim Pattison Developments cancelled the planned sale of a Virginia warehouse to the U.S. government for use as an ICE processing facility, following days of backlash and threatened boycotts.

• Related: Hootsuite targeted in anti-ICE protest as Pattison Developments nixes controversial deal

At the Jan.30 protest outside Hootsuite, BC Green Party Leader Emily Lowan said the reversal showed coordinated community action can be effective.

“It shows that working people can stand against the billionaire class and force their hands on moral issues like this one,” said Lowan.

She is also scheduled to speak at Friday’s “De-Ice Vancouver” action, which Democracy Rising says will include a march around Hootsuite’s headquarters, sidewalk art and music.

Vancouver city Coun. Sean Orr is also listed as an invited speaker. Orr and fellow councillor Pete Fry are behind a call for the City of Vancouver to ban ICE agents from being deployed Vancouver during the FIFA World Cup this summer.

In response to the motion, an ICE spokesperson stressed that its work in Canada is limited, collaborative and carried out by Homeland Security Investigations.

“HSI special agents conduct criminal investigations to protect the United States from dangerous transnational organizations, like terrorist groups and drug cartels,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to CTV News, adding that agents posted to Canadian consulates “do not carry firearms in Canada” and “do not conduct operational activities in Canada, such as making arrests or executing search warrants.”

The motion is set to be tabled on Feb. 25. If approved, it would direct the City of Vancouver to write to Prime Minister Mark Carney, urging the federal government to ensure ICE cannot be deployed in Vancouver during the FIFA World Cup. It also calls on the city to write to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, encouraging that host city to pass a similar motion.

• Related: Vancouver councillors want ICE agents banned from FIFA World Cup events

Democracy Rising points to the city’s FIFA‑related motion as evidence that ICE‑linked decisions are already reaching Vancouver, underscoring their call for local pressure on governments and corporations.

“As deportations rise and enforcement rhetoric intensifies, (organizers) argue that legitimizing or enabling these systems abroad risks accelerating similar approaches at home,” reads the statement.

Hootsuite has not responded to CTV News’ interview requests at the time of writing. In a Jan. 28 statement—issued four days after federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and three weeks after the ICE‑involved killing of Renée Good—Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky offered the company’s first public response to the backlash.

“What we are watching unfold right now is wrong,” she said, referring to events in Minneapolis.

Novoselsky went on to defend her Hootsuite’s involvement with DHS, arguing “our use-case with ICE does not include tracking or surveillance of individuals using our tools. Any claim otherwise is false and prohibited under our terms of service.”

Democracy Rising is not accepting Hootsuite’s rationale for its ICE and DHS-related contracts.

Ferretti-Gallon says the group wants Hootsuite to sever its DHS contract, publicly apologize to Vancouver and Hootsuite employees and “renounce ever working with ICE or similar organizations that infringe on human rights again.”

Additionally, the group is calling for the city to pass Orr and Fry’s motion on Feb. 25.

“We want to send a message to the rest of Canada, including politicians and companies, as well as the world, that Canada won’t tolerate support of far-right authoritariasm,” says Ferretti-Gallon.

She says Democracy Rising has sent a formal letter to Hootsuite leadership outlining its concerns and demands, which is available to read online, but has not received a response.

CTV News has reached out to Orr and GardaWorld. This article will be updated pending their responses.