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The federal government has listed Samidoun as a terrorist entity in the aftermath of rallygoers chanting “death to Canada” at a one-year celebration of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack against Israel.

Samidoun, also known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, was designated as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code in a Tuesday morning press release.

“Violent extremism, acts of terrorism or terrorist financing have no place in Canadian society or abroad,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement. “The listing of Samidoun as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code sends a strong message that Canada will not tolerate this type of activity, and will do everything in its power to counter the ongoing threat to Canada’s national security and all people in Canada.”

This means it is now a criminal offence for anyone in Canada or Canadians abroad to “knowingly deal with property owned or controlled by a terrorist group, and that it is also an offence to directly or indirectly provide property knowing that it will be used by or benefit a terrorist group,” the release explained.

Prior to the decision, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a press conference under the theme of “Ban the Terrorists” where he said he would ban the group, calling it “a front for an already banned terrorist group.”

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad praised the decision after previously calling on the government to ban the group. “The federal government has finally recognized Samidoun for what it is,” he said in a statement.

The decision coincided with an announcement from the U.S Department of Treasury also designating Samidoun as a terrorist group. 

“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups,” said a Department of Treasury spokesperson. “The United States, together with Canada and our like-minded partners, will continue to disrupt those who seek to finance the PFLP, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations.”

After burning the Canadian flag and chanting “death to Canada,” Samidoun did not back down from the shocking statement.

“We acknowledge that the community was shocked by the phrase, and the burning of the Canadian flag that came after the march was concluded. Yet, we at Samidoun stand by this phrase as the call to action that it is,” read a post on Instagram from the group, as reported by the National Post.

Last Monday, on the Oct. 7 anniversary, the group led an event billed as a commemoration of the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the official name used by Hamas for its terror attack against Israel, which left 1,200 dead and saw hundreds taken hostage, some of whom are still being held by the group.

“We are Hezbollah and we are Hamas,” a female speaker told a cheering crowd in Vancouver, before starting a chant calling for “death to Canada, death to the United States and death to Israel.”

This, the group said, was a “call to dismantle the bourgeois, colonial, capitalist Canadian state that is responsible for the genocide of Indigenous people here, and fully complicit in the Zionist genocide of Palestinians.”

Canada, it said, plays a “key role in the global imperialist block of power,” adding “We see it as our duty to escalate the resistance here as we salute the heroism, brilliance, sacrifice and deep commitment and faith of the Palestinian resistance and the entire axis of resistance, whose struggle is liberating humanity.”

Headquartered in Vancouver, Samidoun was quickly banned by Germany in 2023 after it celebrated the Oct. 7 attacks there. The Netherlands also banned the group this October.

Israel has considered the group a terror organization since 2021.