No, the ‘Freedom Convoy’ in Canada didn’t set a Guinness World Record

We don’t know exactly how many truckers are participating in the "Freedom Convoy" in Canada, a protest against vaccine mandates in the country that has culminated at the capital, but some claims have been so high they defy logic. 

Another way that the convoy’s supporters are boasting about the demonstration’s scope: invoking the Guinness World Records, which considers itself "the global authority on all things record-breaking."  

"JUST IN," one Jan. 30 Facebook post says. "The Freedom Convoy in Canada could break the Guinness Book of World Records for longest truck convoy by a factor of 10!"

But another Jan. 25 Instagram post goes even farther, straying from speculation to assertion: "The convoy in Canada has made the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest convoy."  

The Jan. 25 post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

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Guinness didn’t immediately respond to PolitiFact’s questions about the convoy, but a spokesperson for the organization told AFP that the "Freedom Convoy" in Canada "is not an official Guinness World Records Title attempt." The AFP story doesn’t say why this isn’t an official record attempt. 

Guinness has strict requirements for how to achieve a Guinness title. For starters, people attempting to set a record must apply with the organization and then wait to receive guidelines before, say, organizing and executing the world’s longest truck convoy. The organization also requires a number of pieces of evidence to verify the achievement, such as video and photographic evidence, witness statements, cover letters, and statements from stewards who have been tapped to supervise the record attempt.  

The longest convoy, or the "largest parade of trucks," in Guinness’ words, was achieved in Egypt in November 2020 by the Tahya Misr Fund, which advocates for needy families and organized a parade of 480 trucks "amid harsh weather and heavy rain, breaking the Guinness World Records title for the largest parade of trucks," according to an entry on the World Records website.

The previous record was achieved 16 years earlier in the Netherlands with 416 trucks, according to the site. 

We rate claims that the "Freedom Convoy" in Canada achieved a Guinness World Record False.