Quebec government to ban religious symbols in daycares

QUÉBEC — The Quebec government says it will ban religious symbols for daycare workers in its latest bid to tighten secularism rules across the province.

Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge said Thursday the government is acting in the best interests of children. “I think it’s important to provide a neutral environment for students,” he told reporters in Quebec City.

“We know that Quebecers are behind us on this,” he said.

In a social media statement, the minister said there is “broad consensus” in Quebec in favour of strengthening secularism.

The announcement makes good on a key recommendation from a nearly 300-page report published this summer by a committee tasked with advising the province on how to enhance secularism. That report set out 50 recommendations to combat what its authors saw as a growing presence of religion in some Quebec institutions.

Quebec’s 2019 secularism law, Bill 21, banned public sector workers in positions of authority, like teachers and judges, from wearing religious symbols on the job. Roberge said Thursday the government now wants to go further by extending the ban to government-subsidized daycare workers, a rule he said would be consistent with the spirit of Bill 21.

He said the new legislation will include a grandfather clause for people already employed in daycares.

Bill 21 is the subject of a landmark case before the Supreme Court of Canada, which will focus in part on the Quebec government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to shield the legislation from constitutional challenges.

Roberge would not say whether Quebec plans to invoke the notwithstanding clause again in this latest bill.

Separately, the government has already tabled legislation to extend the religious symbols ban to all public school staff. And in August, Roberge announced he would introduce a bill to ban prayer in public places.

Last month, Roberge voted in favour of a proposal to ban face coverings in public spaces at all times, which was passed by Coalition Avenir Québec members at a party convention in Gatineau, Que.

But he would not confirm on Thursday whether the government is planning to adopt that measure. “The discussion is ongoing,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2025.

Patrice Bergeron and Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press