A white supremacist group is expanding its presence in the London and St. Thomas areas of southwestern Ontario, with several meeting spots recently pinpointed by .
Nationalist-13 has conducted multiple gatherings and anti-immigration demonstrations lately. It operates from Hamilton and falls under what’s referred to as an “active club.” Active clubs are part of a neo-Nazi network that has expanded globally, transitioning from online platforms into real-life communities, including some in southwestern Ontario.
The group staged a rally outside London’s city hall in late June, during which masked members displayed banners with messages like “mass deportations now” and “no blood for Israel.”
After that demonstration, members shared a photo where their faces were digitally hidden using the Totenkopf, the grinning skull symbol 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 following picture shows the same site captured on Aug. 7, 2025. (Alessio Donnini/ )
CBC’s visual investigation team examined the image and confirmed the location as the Flying J truck stop on Highbury Avenue, just south of Highway 401.
The group is holding their own Nationalist-13 flag alongside the Red Ensign flag, which was Canada’s flag before the maple leaf design. White nationalists refer to it as Canada’s “true” flag, claiming it symbolizes the nation prior to what they perceive as its corruption by immigrants.
In another photo posted on May 30 to their Telegram account, two men stand next to a punching bag in a park at night. “Members of NS13’s Youth Division training during the weekday. Training is a daily pursuit, not a weekend activity,” reads the post.
By analyzing the background of this picture against parks in southwestern Ontario, CBC’s visual investigation team traced it back to Marshall Field Lakeside Pavilion in St. Thomas’s Pinafore Park.
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The Lakeside Pavilion in St. Thomas’s Pinafore Park is shown on the left on Aug. 6, 2025; it’s also where members of Nationalist-13’s youth division were photographed training on the right. (Alessio Donnini/ )
This work continues alongside The Fifth Estate and reveals how groups considered extremist threats by experts are actively recruiting and convening out in public view.
They portray themselves as defenders of European heritage and train for what they believe will be an imminent race war according to specialists.
“It’s deeply disturbing and troubling,” stated Sunil Gurmukh, a human rights lawyer and assistant professor at Western University who teaches about hate speech while researching hate crimes.
“The youth themselves are often more vulnerable and impressionable. That’s extremely troubling,” he added.
As they aim to recruit more individuals, many posts online invite like-minded men “of European folk” to get in touch with them.
One message from their Telegram channel commends another group of apparently unaffiliated men who obscured their faces while showcasing a banner reading “mass deportations now” at London’s White Oaks Mall last December.
According to Gurmukh and other extremism experts, social media has made it increasingly simple for similar-minded individuals to connect while allowing these groups to expand their influence.
Yet their tendency to conceal their identities indicates that their beliefs aren’t widely accepted yet, he remarked.“They’re cowards. If they truly believe what they’re spreading then they should face any consequences,” Gurmukh expressed.“To me,when you look at [the SS symbol] used to hide their faces along with signs calling for mass deportation and eradicating Jewish people,that amounts to criminal hate.”
