A white supremacist group is expanding its presence in the London and St. Thomas regions of southwestern Ontario, with several meeting spots now uncovered by CBC News.
Nationalist-13 has organized various meetings and anti-immigration demonstrations recently. Based in Hamilton, it operates as what’s called an “active club.” Active clubs are part of a neo-Nazi network that has increased globally, shifting from online forums into real-life communities, including some in southwestern Ontario.
The group held a rally outside London’s city hall in late June, where masked members displayed banners with phrases like “mass deportations now,” and “no blood for Israel.”
After this protest, members shared a photo with their faces digitally masked using the Totenkopf, the grinning death mask associated with the Nazi SS. The image is captioned “Nationalist-13 in London, Ontario, Canada.”
In the above photo, Nationalist-13 members are seen at a truck stop in south London. The photograph below shows the same location as captured on Aug. 7, 2025. (Alessio Donnini/CBC News)
CBC’s visual investigation team analyzed the image and identified the site as the Flying J truck stop on Highbury Avenue, south of Highway 401.
The group is holding their own Nationalist-13 flag alongside the Red Ensign flag which was Canada’s original flag before the maple leaf design. White nationalists refer to it as Canada’s “true” flag, claiming it represents the nation prior to being altered by immigration.
In another photo shared on their Telegram account on May 30, two men stand next to a punching bag in a park during nighttime. “Members of NS13’s Youth Division training during the weekday. Training is a daily pursuit, not a weekend activity,” reads the post.
By matching elements from the background of this photo to parks in southwest Ontario, CBC’s visual investigation team traced its setting to Marshall Field Lakeside Pavilion within Pinafore Park in St. Thomas.
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The Lakeside Pavilion in St. Thomas’s Pinafore Park appears on the left on Aug. 6, 2025; it’s where members of Nationalist-13’s youth division are seen training in the right-side photo. (Alessio Donnini/CBC News)
This work is part of an ongoing collaboration with The Fifth Estate that highlights how groups deemed extremist by experts are recruiting and gathering openly.
They present themselves as defenders of Europe’s roots within Canada and train for what they believe could be an upcoming race war according to expert opinions.
“It’s deeply disturbing and troubling,” said Sunil Gurmukh, a human rights lawyer and assistant professor at Western University who teaches about hate speech and studies hate crimes.
“The youth themselves are often more vulnerable and impressionable. That’s extremely troubling,” he added.
As this group seeks new recruits, many posts online encourage like-minded men “of European folk” to reach out to them.
One message posted in their Telegram channel commends a group of supposedly unaffiliated men who obscured their faces while displaying a banner reading “mass deportations now” at London’s White Oaks Mall back in December.
According to Gurmukh and other extremism experts, social media has made it much easier for individuals with similar views to connect and for these kinds of groups to expand.
However, their tendency to conceal their identities indicates that their beliefs aren’t widely accepted yet.”He said they’re cowards; if they truly believe what they’re spreading then they should face any consequences.” Gurmukh pointed out that when you look at symbols like [SS symbol] used to hide their faces along with messages calling for mass deportation or eradicating Jewish people-it amounts to criminal hate.”
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Police aware of groups
On Thursday, a Windsor man was found guilty for engaging with activities linked to terrorist organizations after attemptingto jointhe far-right Atomwaffen Division-also known as National Socialist Order or National Socialist Resistance Front.Since2021, the Canadian governmenthas classifiedit as aterrorist organization. The Nationalist-13group doesnot have such classification.CBC News reached outto law enforcementin Londonand St. Thomasto address concernsregardingwhitesupremacistgroups assemblingwithintheir cities, duringa time when local governmentsare investingthousandsintanti-hate initiatives.Last year, Londongot$500000fromthe provinceforits ‘Stop Tolerhating’ campaign..London Police Service statedthatit’s “awareofconcernsrelatedto self-proclaimedwhitenationalistgroups operatingintheregion,”andthatall allegationsofcriminaloffenceswillbe investigated..St. Thomas Police Service echoedthis statement, sayingthat “participationinagrouporclub, includingsupporting publicorprivatefacilitiesfortrainingpurposesis notcriminal.”..In apriorinvestigation, thevisual investigationsunitdiscoveredgroupsconductingcombat trainingin martialarts studiosandotherparks insouthern Ontario…In St. Thomas, residentsenjoyingtheparknear Marshall Field Lakeside Pavilionexpressedshockanddisappointment uponlearningofthisgroup’spresencein areasfrequentedbychildrenandfamilies…Source link
