At the height of Toronto's rush hour commute, a group of about 100 to 125 people staged a roaming protest starting with the occupation of Bay and King Sts.

The demonstrators sat in the intersection for several minutes before marching north to occupy the intersection of Yonge and Dundas Sts. around 6 p.m.

“Whose streets? Our streets!” the protesters chanted at Bay and King Sts.

The group stopped in front of the Eaton Centre, blocking traffic.

They marched to the intersection of Yonge and Dundas Sts. where protestors sat on the ground, forming a “99%” symbol to viewers in nearby buildings.

When asked how long the protesters would be allowed to occupy the streets, Staff Sergeant Andy Norrie said, “It’s one of those things that evolves as the event carries on.”

Earlier about 200 Occupy Toronto protesters joined a rally at Ryerson University, tripling their size as they marched through downtown streets.

The march came a few hours after a gathering in Toronto’s financial district this morning drew just a handful of demonstrators.

At noon, close to 200 protesters came from St. James Park, where they have been camped out since Saturday.

When they arrived at Ryerson, the group joined hundreds of students waving union flags. It was all part of the university’s social justice week. The rally included guest speaker Brigette DePape, who was fired as a parliamentary page for holding a sign that read “Stop Harper” in the Senate.

By 1:30 p.m., the group swelled three times the size and started heading south on Yonge St.

Protesters invited passersby on the street to join them, and some did. A group of drummers led the procession as they marched and sang. At the back of the protest, a truck’s sound system blared music, along with the group’s message of unity, democracy and anti-oppression.

They stopped at main intersections, halting traffic and repeating their messages.

This morning, about 20 protesters broke into a raucous edition of Neil Young’s “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” outside the Toronto Stock Exchange at around 8:45 a.m. as police officers on bicycles and private security guards looked on.

They then marched south on York St., east on Wellington St., north on Bay St., and then finally, west on King St. back to where they started.

Many demonstrators smiled at passersby and said, “Good morning.” Some people on their way to work greeted them back. Others just stared straight ahead.

“I don’t know what they hope to accomplish here,” said Jacob, who works in mergers and acquisitions and did not want to give his last name. “I don’t understand. What’s going to change?”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“Is that still going on?” asked a cashier at the Starbucks at King and Yonge Sts. of the downtown rally. “Everybody just wants to go back to work. Capitalism wins.”

With files from Laura Stone and Tim Alamenciak