A video showing a historic church engulfed in flames, with its steeple collapsing, has gone viral on social media. The video is shared with a caption that claims it documents a recent act of arson carried out by a Muslim immigrant in Canada.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Another church is set on fire in Canada by a Muslim immigrant. There are now around 100 churches burned or vandalised in Canada, silenced by the Liberal government. They enter asking for tolerance and end up eradicating our culture and religion.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is from July 2025. It shows a lightning strike that sparked a devastating fire at the church.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by a YouTube channel on July 20, 2025, with a caption that reads, “A fire engulfed a historic church in Quebec, Canada, after lightning struck the structure on Thursday (17). The Église de l'Immaculée-Conception church was built between 1880 and 1882 and is listed as a historical landmark.”
Using this information, we searched with relevant keywords and found that the incident was also shared by CBC on July 18, 2025.
The report suggests that a lightning-induced fire destroyed a historic church in Saint-Ours, Que. The fire completely engulfed the roof and spire of the Église de l'Immaculée-Conception, leaving its bell on the ground to be rained on by debris. The report also has photos of the incident, which are the same as the viral video.
The incident was also reported by CTV News.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
