US EditionQuebec to Expand Province's Secularism Rules
Bill 9 bans public prayers without permits, closes prayer rooms by Sept. 2026, and restricts religious symbols in public institutions, invoking the notwithstanding clause for legal protection.
- Nov. 27, 2025: The Coalition Avenir Québec government tabled Bill 9 in the National Assembly, banning public prayers without municipal authorization and prayer rooms in public institutions while invoking the notwithstanding clause.
- Known as laïcité, Quebec's secularism roots date to the 1960s, with Bill 21's 2019 restrictions and Oct. 7, 2023 anti‑Israel demonstrations sharpening calls for new limits.
- Concordia students say the campus prayer room serves at least 500 daily, while Bill 94, given assent earlier this year, expanded bans across the education system.
- Opposition parties warn of legal battles as Muslim students say the measures trouble them, and the National Council of Canadian Muslims accused the CAQ of `doubling down on identity politics and division`.
- Giving municipalities permit powers will produce local variation in enforcement, as a September Leger poll found 68% support secularism while long‑term care homes remain exempted from prayer‑room ban.
63 Articles
63 Articles
Quebec to Strengthen Controversial Secularism Rules
Quebec is pushing ahead with controversial new restrictions on public prayer and religious dietary menus in public institutions as part of a broader effort to reinforce state secularism. The measures, introduced in a bill by the ruling Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), build on a controversial 2019 law that already barred...
Quebec proposes to ban public prayer, harden laws against religious symbols
From LifeSiteNews By Anthony Murdoch Quebec’s Secularism Minister, Jean-François Roberge, introduced Bill 9, ‘An Act respecting the reinforcement of laicity in Quebec,’ in the province’s National Assembly on Thursday, November 27. The government of Quebec has tabled a new bill which, if passed, would ban public prayer and funding for religious schools, and more severely oppose public displays of religious symbols. Quebec’s government now has i…
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