Rallies were planned for Sunday to highlight the plight of Omar Khadr, a former child soldier who is the only Westerner still detained by the United States in Guantanamo Bay.
Demonstrators in Toronto were expected to march outside the U.S. Consulate. In Ottawa, the wife of Maher Arar was expected to be at a rally that will also include Amnesty International protesters.
Sunday's rallies were to be a launching pad for a week-long rally that demonstrators hope will force Ottawa to bring the Canadian citizen home. A street theatre performance is planned in Montreal on Monday. On Thursday, the law society at the University of British Columbia will host a lunchtime speech on the issue.
Khadr has been in U.S. custody since 2002, when he was captured in Afghanistan and charged with murdering an American soldier during a firefight.
He was 15 years old at the time and has now spent more than a quarter of his life in prison.
Khadr, who was born in Toronto, is facing a U.S. military trial that his supporters say will not provide due process. He is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. medic.
Aside from Canda, all Western countries who had citizens incarcerated at the prison in Cuba have had them repatriated. The Conservative government has repeatedly said it wants to let the U.S. legal process play itself out.
Critics from around the world have said the American process is extremely unfair and have condemned Canada's inaction on the case.
