Dozens of School Employees Fired in Quebec as Bill 94 Takes Effect
Photo Credit: ScottMontreal via The Walrus
Quebec’s Bill 94, an updated ban on religious symbols in schools, was passed in October 2025 under François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party. The bill was heavily criticized by many human rights organizations, who claim it undermines religious freedoms, and as of Feb. 28, has led to dozens of firings, suspensions, and resignations from school employees.
Bill 94 builds upon Bill 21, which was enacted in 2019 to prohibit public sector employees from wearing religious symbols at work. Bill 94 expands the ban to an increased range of school staff, including caretakers, secretaries, coaches, and volunteers.
Hundreds of school workers are at risk of losing their jobs because of the bill, according to the Montreal Association of School Principals. "We are talking about hundreds of people [...] at a time when we have absolutely no one to replace them," Kathleen Legault, president of the Association montréalaise des directions d'établissement scolaire, told Radio-Canada in an interview.
Harini Svialingam, the Director of the Equality Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), stated that the CCLA condemns Bill 94, a law that compromises the fundamental freedoms of students and school staff across the province.
“Every student in Quebec deserves a learning environment that is safe, inclusive, and respectful of individual rights,” the statement reads. “Bill 94 works against that goal by imposing sweeping restrictions that violate the Quebec and Canadian Charters, eroding the very principles of equality and freedom that should define our public institutions.”
Mariem Gharnougui, an educator at a school-run daycare in the Laurentians, lost her job in February after refusing to remove her hijab. She was hired the previous year and worked with young students with disabilities.
“Suddenly, I am being forced to abandon these children I've grown attached to and who have become used to me,” Gharnougui said in a CBC interview. She added that she felt torn "between her identity, her values and her career.”
Additionally, Bernard Drainville, a Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) leadership candidate who tabled the legislation while he was the education minister, told reporters on Feb. 26 that the teachers who were let go were bearing “the consequences of their own personal choice,” according to CBC. He added, “They decided not to respect the law, and therefore, it's their decision.”