Fact File: Montreal church did not burn down; old video used in false arson claim

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This article was published 04/09/2025 (412 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Video showing a church in flames appeared on social media this week along with claims the fire happened at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica and was the result of arson by “Islamists.” 

The actual video is from last year and shows a fire that destroyed a decommissioned church in Trois-Rivières, Que. While the cause of the fire isn’t clear, officials say it was likely accidental and related to roof construction.

THE CLAIM 

A video posted to the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday by an account known for sharing anti-Islam content claimed Montreal’s historic Notre-Dame Basilica burned down.

The cause of the supposed fire, the account and similar posts on Instagram claimed, was arson performed by “Islamists.”

The X post received 14,000 likes and around 370,000 views according to X’s metrics. 

THE FACTS

Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica is located in the city’s Old Montreal district near the downtown core and is surrounded by multiple tall buildings. 

While a large public plaza sits across from the entrance to the church, there is no parking lot like the one seen in the video. 

A reverse image search using a still from the video confirms the basilica isn’t the church on fire in the video. 

The fire was real, but it happened in October 2024 at the Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Allégresses Church in Trois-Rivières, Que., which ceased operating as a church years earlier. 

According to a Facebook post and press release in French from the city of Trois-Rivières, the church closed in 2018 due to water damage and was deconsecrated in 2020. 

The city said the church, built between 1913 and 1914, was under construction by a private developer when the fire took place. 

The fire destroyed the church with no hope of restoration, the city said. 

A Radio-Canada report from November 2024 in French noted while firefighters could not determine the cause of the fire, they said the cause was likely accidental and the result of roof renovation work. 

No media reports or city statements mentioned arson or Islam as having any connection to the fire. 

Video of the Trois-Rivières fire is frequently shared out of context or manipulated on social media. 

Last October, a Canadian Press fact check reported video of the fire was edited into a video of then-prime minister Justin Trudeau’s remarks about vandalism and arson against churches. The video was further edited to remove Trudeau’s condemnation of church arson and made it seem like he called them “fully understandable.”

Claims Islamic State terrorists set the church ablaze appeared on X earlier this month. 

The X account that posted video of the fire with the claim it was started by “Islamists” posted the same video days earlier, but said the fire happened in the United Kingdom region of Wales.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2025.