Bill C-9 was introduced in the House of Commons on September 19, 2025.
The bill defines hatred and creates four new offences in the
Criminal Code. It also removes the requirement that the Attorney General consent to laying charges for hate propaganda offences.
On December 9, the Justice Committee voted to amend Bill C-9 so that it removes the religious belief defence from the hate speech provisions in
Criminal Code s. 319(2).
The House of Commons passed Bill C-9, as amended by the Justice Committee, on March 25, 2026.
Bill C-9 is now in the Senate
where it is going through the same
stages as it did in the House of Commons.
The EFC submitted a
brief and
appeared before the Senate Human Rights Committee on
May 28, 2026 (see video below).
In its
report, the Senate committee did not recommend any amendments to add clarity or protection for religious expression. The committee did not pass a motion to maintain the religious belief defence. On June 3, the Senate voted against adopting the changes recommended by the committee.
The Senate passed Bill C-9 with one amendment on June 4. The Senate voted to add a specific symbol, the noose, to the new offence of wilful promotion of hatred through the display of certain symbols in Bill C-9. A motion to add clarity and protection for religious expression in the clarification clause was debated and defeated.
The bill returns to the House of Commons for a vote on the Senate's amendment. A bill must pass in both houses of parliament with the same wording.
Related resources
- Video of EFC presentation to the Senate Human Rights Committee (May 28, 2026)
- EFC submission to the Senate Human Rights Committee (May 26, 2026)
- Updated version of two-page summary (Apr. 15, 2026, original from Jan. 13 archived below)
- EFC blog, "Bill C-9 in the Senate" (April 7, 2026)
- EFC blog, "Justice Committee finishes with Bill C-9 - What's next?" (Mar. 13, 2026)
- EFC blog, "Motion to close debate on Bill C-9," (Mar. 6, 2026)
- Petition form: download, collect 25+ signatures, mail to your MP (PDF, Jan. 23, 2026)
- Older version of EFC's two-page summary with tips for contacting your MP on hate crimes and religious expression (Jan. 13, 2026), also available in Chinese (中文) and en français.
- EFC President's letter to the Prime Minister (Dec. 9, 2025)
- EFC blog on the hate crimes bill controversy (Dec. 9, 2025)
- EFC submission to the House of Common's Justice Committee (PDF, 9 pages, Nov. 21, 2025)
- EFC blog on civil disagreement on the good faith religious belief defence (Nov. 17, 2025)
- EFC talking points and summary on the religious belief defence (Nov. 14, 2025)
- EFC backgrounder on the good faith religious belief defence (PDF, 4 pages, Nov. 4, 2025)
- EFC's three-page summary of Bill C-9 (PDF, Oct. 6, 2025)