Quebec residents are officially under a curfew of 8pm – 5am until at least February 8th.
While the government lists a few exceptions for the curfew, violators could face fines between $1,000 to $6,000.
On Saturday evening, dozens of videos of Quebec police enforcing the curfew emerged on social media.
“While I was walking my dogs, I witnessed the #Montreal #police pull over a car for the crime of being out past the 8 p.m. curfew,” tweeted Marie Oakes.
In another video, police cars can be seen patrolling neighbourhoods with their sirens blaring.
On Saturday morning, Premier Francois Legault said imposing a curfew was a difficult decision but necessary in order to limit the chances of “illegal” social gatherings.
“The main reason for the curfew is to prevent gatherings, even the smallest ones,” wrote François Legault in a social media post. “It’s the addition of all the small breaches of the rules that feeds the virus.”
Not all Quebec residents complied with the curfew. In Montreal, dozens of people took part in a protest against the government’s restrictive measures. While no protesters were arrested, police said 17 tickets were handed out.
Quebec is not the only province to consider this extreme measure. Ontario is expected to announce more restrictive measures next week, possibly including a province-wide curfew.
Last week, when Premier Ford was asked about the potential of a curfew, he said “everything is on the table.”
