Quebec Government to Ban Religious Symbols at Daycares

The Quebec government has announced it will ban the wearing of religious symbols in daycare centres.

Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge said the new legislation would apply to all staff working at early childhood centres and subsidized daycare facilities, with an exemption for those already employed at such centres.

He added that there is a “broad consensus” among Quebecers that secularism should be strengthened.

“Quebecers want us to strengthen secularism. It is part of our identity. We will make no compromise on our values,” Roberge said in an Oct. 23 X post.

The move comes a few weeks after Quebec Premier François Legault said in a speech before the National Assembly that the province was under threat from “radical Islamists” seeking to undermine Quebec’s values. The premier had said Islamists are attempting to impose their own values on Quebecers, and cited women’s equality as an example.

“We must be very clear on this, we are not going to let anyone attack the freedom dearly acquired by Quebec women for decades,” Legault said, adding that his government would do everything possible to counter “attacks against our common values.”

The Coalition Avenir Québec government’s latest action is one of several it has taken over the years to maintain secularism in the province. In August, the provincial government announced it was planning to introduce legislation in the fall banning prayer in public places.

In response, the Canadian Muslim Forum said in a statement it was concerned with the proposal, and that the provincial government should be “focused on solving real problems, not policing the fundamental rights of its citizens.”

In December 2024, Legault had said he was examining ways to end prayer in public places in order to send a “very clear message” that Quebec would fight against disrespect shown toward its secular values.

The premier’s comments came in the context of groups of Muslims gathering to pray in public places in Montreal, including a group coming together in a city park to celebrate Eid al-Adha, and another gathering to pray outside the Notre-Dame Basilica.

That same month, Quebec’s Education Minister Bernard Drainville said the government would introduce a new bill to reinforce secularism in Quebec schools. This announcement came after a series of reports that found Islamic practices were appearing in some public schools—including some Muslim students praying in classrooms and hallways, and disrupting a school play focused on preventing pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Back in 2019, the Quebec government also introduced Bill 21, which banned teachers, judges, and police officers from wearing religious symbols while working. The province invoked the notwithstanding clause to pass the law and shield it from constitutional challenges, as the clause prevents judicial overrule of the legislation in question for five years, and may be renewed.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to that legislation, and the federal government recently filed a factum with the court that outlines its position on “constitutional issues raised” by the repeated usage of the notwithstanding clause by the provinces.

The federal Bloc Québécois has called for the federal government to revoke the factum, arguing that Ottawa is proposing to take constitutional powers away from Quebec and the other provinces. On Sept. 24, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said in the House of Commons that Ottawa’s factum suggested the province may use the clause to bring back slavery or take away women’s rights, and said this was an “insult” to Quebecers.

Prime Minister Mark Carney responded that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians, including Quebecers, and it is the job of the federal government to defend it.