Overview:
This is the second article in a series examining recent government bills or laws that experts say deserved more scrutiny.
Canada’s controversial new hate crime law comes into force next week.
The Combatting Hate Act, previously known as Bill C-9, defines hate in the Criminal Code and removes a religious defence for hate speech.
It also makes it an offence to make people fearful to enter places of worship or centres primarily used by religious or cultural groups, such as schools or seniors’ residences.
Bill C-9 has been a lightning rod for controversy. Critics say Parliament did not adequately address their concerns before passing it into law last month.
“We’re disappointed that the government went ahead and adopted Bill C-9 despite the broad opposition from civil society,” said Anais Bussieres McNicoll, director of the fundamental freedom program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The association is concerned the law infringes on peaceful protest.
But supporters say Bill C-9 brings needed clarity to Canada’s hate laws, while others doubt it will have any meaningful impact on hate crimes.
“It seems to me that most of the provisions are redundant,” said Richard Moon, a retired law professor at the University of Windsor and expert on hate crimes in Canada.
Rise in hate crimes
Police-reported hate crimes have risen each year between 2018 and 2024, the last year for which official data is available.
In 2024, police reported nearly 5,000 hate crimes. Nearly half targeted people based on their race and ethnicity, while about a third targeted people based on their religion.
Most religiously motivated hate crimes targeted Jews, with 920 incidents, followed by Muslims, at 229 incidents.
The government introduced Bill C-9 in September 2025, citing concerns about hateful incidents toward Jews, Muslims and LGBTQ people.
The bill introduced a formal definition of hate to the Criminal Code and added an offence of promoting hatred by displaying Nazi symbols or symbols associated with listed terrorist groups. It also made it an offence to intimidate someone from entering a house of worship or cultural centre.
It was later amended to remove a religious hate speech defence.
Despite the controversy over its provisions, the government shortened debate on it, prompting some to question whether it was properly scrutinized.
“It’s an open question whether the House [of Commons] was given sufficient time to really dig into these things,” said Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo.
At the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, McNicoll says the organization is now watching to see how the new offences of obstruction and intimidation will be enforced.
The law says it is an offence to intimate someone from entering places of worship or other buildings by doing anything “with the intent to provoke a state of fear.”
This language is “vague and worrisome,” said McNicoll.
These new offences are also unnecessary, she says.
“Criminal law is already used to combat hatred, so the police can and should intervene when individuals, including protesters, go too far and become violent or incite violence,” McNicoll said.
The association is particularly concerned that police may use these new offences to target historically marginalized groups, such as racial minorities.
“All options are on the table” for how the association will respond, she said, noting it would consider a legal challenge if appropriate.
Religious texts
Religious groups are also closely watching the law’s enforcement.
Before Bill C-9, the Criminal Code had four defences for hate speech. One said speech could not be considered hate speech if it was said in good faith and based on a religious belief, opinion or religious text. That defence was removed, despite objections from various religious groups.
The Criminal Code now says religious statements about matters of public interest are not hate speech if they “do not willfully promote hatred against an identifiable group,” such as racial or religious groups.
“We’re quite disappointed,” said Imam Sikander Hashmi, executive director of the Canadian Council of Imams.
Hashmi is concerned the changes will have a silencing effect on imams, or that imams may face legal challenges for preaching.
“Many of the verses [in the Qur’an] are highly contextual,” he said.
Deina Warren, director of legal affairs for the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities, says many concerns from religious groups have been “left outstanding.”
Some Christian groups are worried that quoting specific Bible passages may be considered hate speech, she says.
However, the Department of Justice has repeatedly said the new law does not prohibit reading religious texts.
The new law also does not “criminalize opinions, disagreement or criticism” or preaching and reading from religious texts, a June 19 press release from the department says.
“Our understanding from those statements is that anything that did not meet the threshold [of hate speech] before [Bill C-9 passed] should continue to not meet that threshold, and so religious organizations should be able to continue expressing their good faith religious beliefs,” said Warren.
Richard Moon, the retired University of Windsor law professor, says that it is very difficult to be charged with hate speech in Canada. The former religious defence for hate speech has rarely been used, he says, and any concern that removing it will have a chilling effect on religious speech is “unfounded.”
“Our courts have defined hate speech as extreme speech,” he said. Saying that a religion prohibits a specific action would not meet that threshold, he says.
Yet Warren says that there has not been a good rationale given for why the defence needed to be removed.
Hashmi says that he appreciates the government’s statements that it does not intend to criminalize preaching or reading religious texts. But future governments may not have the same view.
“This law is going to be on the books for a long time, probably,” he said. “The interpretation [of it] may change over time.”
‘Not a Band-Aid’
Some organizations are less concerned by the new law.
Rochelle Direnfeld, senior criminal counsel at the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, says Bill C-9 clarifies existing criminal law.
The new offences about obstruction and intimidation are not duplicates of the previous laws, she says.
Direnfeld is particularly pleased to see the creation of a standalone hate offence that can apply to any criminal offence that is found to be motivated by hatred.
Previously, the Criminal Code only had specific offences for hate speech or hate propaganda. If any criminal offences were motivated by hate, prejudice or bias, it was considered as a factor at sentencing, but that motivation was not included on a person’s criminal record.
The new law creates longer sentences for someone convicted of a hate-motivated crime.
Governments need to do more to oppose hatred, she said, but laws alone cannot address “the root cause” of antisemitism and hatred, she said.
“The Criminal Code is not a Band-Aid for social problems.”
I find it worth noting that political parties on the right often stoke religious fears by singling out certain forms of sexual deviancy such as homosexuality and gender transition for public approbation. Religious texts such as the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament actually have very little to say about these things. Not by any stretch of the imagination can it be said that condemnation of these lifestyles is a central theme of these religious texts. In fact, there is no evidence at all that Jesus condemned them. I conclude that public condemnation of homosexuality and trans lifestyles is purely a political phenomenon, having nothing to do with the core of religious belief.