First, a Quick Geography Lesson
Canada is the United States’ neighbor to the north, and like the U.S., it has a constitution that protects rights like free speech and freedom of religion. Canada’s version is called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canada’s national parliament is located in Ottawa, and it works a bit like the U.S. Congress, except the ruling party doesn’t always have a majority, which means it has to make deals with smaller parties to get laws passed. That deal-making is a big part of this story.
What Is Bill C-9?
Canada’s parliament is currently considering Bill C-9, officially known as the “Combatting Hate Act.” Hudson Institute It proposes to update Canada’s criminal law in several ways.
The bill would create four new criminal offenses: an intimidation offense that makes it illegal to frighten people away from religious or cultural buildings; an obstruction offense for physically blocking someone from entering such places; a hate crime offense that more explicitly punishes crimes motivated by hatred; and an offense for publicly displaying certain hate or terrorist symbols. Department of Justice Canada
In plain terms: if you spray-paint a swastika on a synagogue, wave a Hamas flag to threaten people, or stand outside a mosque to scare worshippers away, this law would make it easier to prosecute you and would carry stiffer penalties.
Antisemitic incidents have surged in Canada since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, with Jewish schools and synagogues shot at and firebombed. Statistics Canada recorded 920 police-reported incidents targeting Jewish people, who were 25 times more likely to experience a hate crime than other Canadians. The Living Church Many Jewish advocacy groups pushed the government to update its laws in response.
So What’s the Controversy?
Here’s where things get complicated.
Canada already has a law that says you cannot be convicted of promoting hatred if you were sincerely expressing a religious belief based on a religious text. Think of it as a “good faith” shield: a pastor quoting the Bible, or an imam teaching from the Quran, could not be criminally charged just because someone found those teachings offensive.
The current provision in Canada’s Criminal Code states that no person shall be convicted of promoting hatred “if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.” Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Bill C-9 didn’t originally touch that protection. But then politics got involved.
The Political Deal
Canada’s Liberal government needed the support of another party, the Bloc Québécois, to pass the bill in Parliament. CBC News The Bloc is a party based in the province of Quebec that generally favors strict secularism, meaning it wants religion kept out of public life.
The Bloc Québécois leader told reporters that his party struck a deal with the Liberals to add an amendment removing the religious exemption in exchange for their votes. CBC News
Liberal members on the justice committee voted to approve the Bloc’s amendment, which would remove the religious speech defense from Canada’s hate speech law. The Catholic Register
What Critics Are Saying
Religious groups from Catholics to evangelicals to Muslims have raised alarms.
Conservative MP Roman Baber, who is Jewish, made an impassioned speech before the committee arguing that removing the religious defense was more likely to criminalize faith than combat hate, warning: “When we start going down the road of criminalizing more and more speech, we kill free speech.” The Living Church
Toronto Cardinal Frank Leo warned that stripping the exemption creates “uncertainty for clergy, educators and all people of faith who seek to pass on the teachings of the Church with charity and integrity.” The Catholic Register
The Canadian Constitution Foundation argued that Bill C-9 would remove safeguards against politically motivated charges, create a risk of overcharging to force plea bargains, and risk limiting constitutionally protected protest activity. Hudson Institute
Canada’s Labour Congress added that the bill’s broad and vague language could make certain legal activities, like strikes, a criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Canada’s Unions
What Supporters Are Saying
Justice Minister Sean Fraser pushed back, saying the amendment would “in no way, shape or form prevent a religious leader from reading their religious texts” and insisted the government was not seeking to criminalize faith. CBC News He argued the religious exemption was redundant and that the government was not aware of any case where it had been used to acquit someone of hate speech.
Canada’s Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime backed the bill, saying a specific hate-motivated offense would strengthen Canada’s ability to identify, track, and prosecute hate crimes consistently. Canada.ca
Where Does It Stand Right Now?
In a 186-144 vote on March 10, 2026, the House of Commons closed debate on Bill C-9, opening the door to remove the good faith religious speech protections. All Liberal and Bloc MPs voted yes, while Conservatives were joined by the NDP and Green Party MP Elizabeth May in voting no. Easton Spectator
If the committee concludes its work, Bill C-9 could advance to the Senate as early as March 13, with Parliament set to recess from March 16-20. rcdos The Senate would still need to approve the bill before it becomes law.
The Bottom Line
Bill C-9 started as a response to a real and documented rise in hate crimes, particularly against Jewish Canadians. Most people agree that blocking someone from entering a place of worship or waving a terrorist flag to intimidate a community is wrong and should be illegal. The disagreement is over whether stripping away the religious expression protection goes too far, and whether the law’s broad language could one day be used to prosecute a minister, priest, or imam simply for teaching what their faith says about contested social issues. That question is now in the hands of the Canadian Senate.
