Quebec introduces legislation banning public religious expressions
Bill further requires students in higher education and recipients of childcare services to have their faces uncovered when receiving services
MONTREAL, Canada (MNTV) – Quebec has introduced a bill that significantly expands restrictions on religious expression in public spaces, higher education institutions, and partially funded private institutions, tightening and broadening the framework established under the province’s 2019 secularism law, Bill 21.
Bill No. 9, introduced Thursday, aims to reinforce Bill 21 — which barred public-sector employees such as teachers, police officers and judges from wearing religious symbols — by extending similar rules to childcare centers, subsidized private schools, and private health-care institutions operating under government agreements.
The bill further requires students in higher education and recipients of childcare services to have their faces uncovered when receiving services.
Debate has largely focused on the impact on Muslims, particularly women who wear the hijab or burqa, though Christians, Jews and members of other religious groups could also be affected. Employees in newly targeted sectors who wear kippahs or visible crucifixes would also face restrictions.
Bill 9 additionally bans the use of public parks and roads for “collective religious practice” without municipal authorization — a measure expected to disproportionately affect Islamic outdoor prayers but one that could apply to other groups under the bill’s stated principle of religious neutrality.
The legislation prohibits institutions from exclusively serving religiously prescribed diets and proposes phasing out public funding for religious private schools that select staff or students based on faith or teach religious material as part of their core curriculum.
A major shift is the bill’s new threshold for religious accommodation: replacing Canada’s “undue hardship” standard with the lower bar of “more than minimal hardship,” potentially making it easier for workplaces to deny accommodation requests.
The motion to introduce Bill 9 passed unanimously with 92 votes and will now proceed to committee review before further debate and a final vote.
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