Bill C-9: Impact on Religious Expression in Canada

The Justice Committee will resume sitting in the House of Commons on January 26, 2026. Up for continued discussion will be Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act (“Bill C-9”). As CCCC shared earlier, important safeguards for good faith religious expression exist within the Criminal Code to protect sincerely held religious beliefs. Section 319(3)(b) of the Criminal Code includes the good faith religious defence (“Good Faith Religious Defence”), one of four defences that relate to the crime of willful promotion of hatred in the Criminal Code. The Good Faith Religious Defence applies when:

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.

On December 9, 2025, the Justice Committee voted to repeal the Good Faith Religious Defence from the Criminal Code. CCCC has advocated for the Justice Committee to maintain the Good Faith Religious Defence due to its narrow application and as a means to limit overbreadth or vagueness in offences.

CCCC recently wrote to the Minister of Justice, again urging the government to retain the Good Faith Religious Defence. While affirming the need for a clear definition of hatred to effectively combat discrimination and violence in our communities, we emphasized that sincerely held religious expression must not be criminalized. This protection promotes pluralism, religious diversity, and aligns with Supreme Court Jurisprudence.  CCCC called for further consultation with religious leaders and legal experts.  

In addition to concerns about the Good Faith Religious Defence, CCCC has called on the government to consider whether existing offences satisfy the intent of Bill C-9, reducing or even eliminating the need to create new offences. To avoid overreach and ambiguous laws, we recommended that Parliament rely on the definition of “hatred” defined by the Supreme Court of Canada. Finally, CCCC supported maintaining a requirement for Attorney General consent to prosecute expression offences. This serves as an important check against subjectivity and inconsistency. 

If you are concerned about the Bill and its potential impact on your organization, our friends at EFC have prepared a helpful, succinct summary on Bill C- 9 and offer recommendations for how to interact with your MP. We will continue to closely monitor developments and provide updates as new information becomes available.