The Canadian government met the "high" threshold in invoking never-used emergency powers to end last February's trucker protests, an inquiry has found.

Justice Paul Rouleau, who led the probe into the use of 1988 Emergencies Act, called the decision a "drastic move" but not a "dictatorial one".

The act bestows the government with added powers in times of crisis.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used it on 14 February 2022 - three weeks into the protests.

"Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency," Mr Rouleau wrote in his Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) report, tabled on Friday in the House of Commons.

Mr Rouleau said he did not come to the conclusion easily, but the federal government's actions were "appropriate" and "effective".

Though the report says the use of emergency powers was necessary, it also suggests that Prime Minister Trudeau inflamed the situation with comments that called the movement a "fringe minority" which hardened protesters' resolve.