We are approaching Christmas, where Christians celebrate the birth of Christ.  

Increasingly, Canadians don’t understand the true meaning of Christmas and are pushing Christianity out of the public sphere.  

Especially in Quebec.  

Quebec’s Secularism Minister recently commented: “We can wish someone merry Christmas. We can sing Christmas songs. This is nothing but tradition. But we shouldn’t make any references to the birth of baby Jesus. When we wish someone merry Christmas, we can think of Santa Claus and his elves, but nothing Catholic.”  

That’s the attitude that has led to Quebec’s secularism laws. The latest one, Bill 9 (not to be confused with the federal Bill C-9) seeks to prohibit religious practice in various public spaces.  

Background 

In 2019, Quebec passed Bill 21: An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State. That law required public employees and employees of private institutions that receive public funding to be religiously neutral. Certain government employees were also prohibited from wearing any religious symbols while on the job. Similarly, it required public employees to uncover their face while providing certain government services, thus prohibiting the burqa or niqab.  

In 2025, the Quebec government passed Bill 94, reinforcing laicity in education and “protect[ing] kids from indoctrination, from religious influence.” Teachers must follow rules of secularism, and kids attending school and all school staff must have their faces uncovered. But the Quebec government isn’t done “secularizing” the province yet. At the end of November, it introduced Bill 9, An Act Respecting the Reinforcement of Laicity in Quebec. This bill follows previously stated plans to ban public prayer, among other public displays of religion.  

Bill 9 

Bill 9 broadens the ban on religious symbols and face coverings to include anyone working in daycare, colleges, universities, and even private schools. It would also ban face coverings for children and students in all of these settings. Bill 9 would strip private religious schools of accreditation and funding if they continue to teach religion during regular school hours and transmit their religious beliefs, select students based on faith, or permit employees to wear religious symbols. Bill 9 would not entirely ban prayer or certain other religious practices at private religious schools, but no publicly funded school may allow religious practices, “such as overt prayers or other similar practices” during school hours. Existing prayer rooms in colleges and universities will be closed. 

Bill 9 would also ban “all religious practice” in parliamentary institutions, government institutions, and judicial institutions. Religious practice is defined as “any action… that may reasonably constitute, in fact or in appearance, the manifestation of a religious conviction or belief.” Visible prayer? Catholics making the sign of the cross? Muslims bowing toward Mecca? Quebec doesn’t want to see such practices in public institutions. Some exemptions are provided for hospitals, provided the religious practice does not “compromise the provision or quality of care.” Exemptions are also provided for correctional facilities. These exemptions allow for patients and inmates to still participate in religious practice.  

Municipalities may allow religious practices in their facilities provided they do not finance those practices or permit them to become the predominant use of a facility.  

Bill 9 would ban communal prayer on public roads or in public parks without prior municipal authorization. Where authorized by the municipality, the religious practice must not compromise human safety, must be short, accessible to all (i.e., cannot exclude anyone based on religion or other characteristics), and may not unduly impede access to the public domain. Violators will be subject to a fine. 

No public institution may provide exclusively religiously based meals. For example, a Jewish hospital may not serve only kosher food, although kosher food may be part of what they offer to patients.  

Quebec’s secularism laws have faced a lot of backlash from politicians and others throughout Canada. As with past secularism laws, the Quebec government has included the notwithstanding clause in Bill 9, to ensure that the law cannot be struck down as a violation of the Charter.  

Quebec’s Approach 

For the Quebec government, religion is not the foundation for public life, laws, or institutions, but something to be avoided in public. The government seems to understand implicitly that religion is influential, but it wants to relegate belief systems at odds with its own to the private sphere. People can practice religion, but it must stay in the church or in the temple or in the mosque – anywhere but the public square.  

For Quebec, public displays of religiosity seem to be akin to public indecency. It spoils or corrupts the public sphere, in the government’s view. In particular, the Quebec government wishes to protect children from public manifestations of religion because it might be a bad influence on them. The government believes it cannot, and must not, allow public funding to be used to promote religion in any way.  

The Quebec government seems to have misunderstood religion in two ways. First, it seems to think that religion can simply be bracketed and left to one side, not impacting the rest of someone’s life. Think of a Christian school which is not permitted to teach religion during school hours or to ensure that the student body is Christian. Christian schools worthy of the name don’t separate Christianity from every subject besides Bible or theology class. Rather, the Christian faith of the teachers influences every topic throughout the school day.  

Second, Quebec is simply enforcing its own religion: secularism. The government seems to have a religious commitment to removing other religions from the public square.  

The Minister’s comments about Christmas reveal such a commitment. Those comments came in response to a question about whether Christmas can be celebrated in daycares and schools, since religious practices and transmission of religious beliefs are prohibited. Christmas can still be celebrated, of course, as long as Christ is left out of it.  

Looking Ahead 

As Quebec, and indeed Canada, becomes increasingly secular, Bill 9 is another reminder to Christians to live our faith publicly. Christians retreating into the private sphere helps to normalize secularism and make our faith increasingly misunderstood by our neighbours. In addition, the public square seems to creep into what were previously private areas. In Quebec, that means increasingly expanding into areas like daycare and independent education. As public faith becomes less common in Canada, religion becomes more privatized.  

Christians must not only be religiously faithful but also seek to influence our society for Christ. Pray that Quebeckers, and all Canadians, will continue to see Christian faith in practice as Christians pursue their callings in the public square.