On Jan. 30, 2025, Jim Pattison Developments cancelled the sale of its warehouse in Virginia to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after learning that the DHS planned to use it as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. This announcement came after days of public pressure from B.C. citizens and politicians, with many calling for boycotts of Pattison-owned companies.
According to a CBC article, hundreds of people gathered outside the Vancouver headquarters of the Pattison-owned social media management platform, Hootsuite, on the 30th. Protests were mixed with celebration in light of the cancellation of the warehouse sale. However, the protest continued due to a statement from Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky, which made no comment about ending the social media management company’s contract with the U.S. DHS.Â
This is not the first time a Canadian company has been criticized for ties to ICE. In early December 2025, the British newspaper The Independent reported that an Ontario-based armoured vehicle company, Roshel, had sold 20 bulletproof vehicles to ICE for over 7 million dollars.Â
Hootsuite has made no further comments at the time of writing, and The Cascade will continue to report as updates continue.
