A secularism law some women say makes them feel like 'outsiders' heads to Canada's top court

Since 2019, a secularism law in Quebec has barred some public sector workers, like judges, police officers and teachers, from wearing religious attire at work. Now, the country's highest court is preparing to consider its future.

Lisa Robicheau describes her life as "stuck between a rock and a hard place".

The 41-year-old single mother of two, who wears a hijab, works in Montreal's English-language school system as a contract support worker for students with disabilities - a job she loves and where she is exempt from the current law.

But Robicheau can't help feeling anxious about her future and whether she will be able to continue working in a public school while being visibly Muslim in Quebec. The uncertainty has led her to enroll back in university, hoping to find a different job—or even leave the province.

"I've spent the majority of my life here, but it never feels like home," she told the BBC. "I am constantly being treated like an outsider."

Robicheau is one of several Muslim women living in Quebec who say their life and work have become increasingly difficult since the law—which bans religious symbols for public employees in positions of "authority" —was implemented seven years ago.

Proponents of the law—known as Bill 21—have long argued that it upholds secularism and neutrality in Quebec public life, a concept in known as laïcité in the majority French-speaking province, and is not intended to discriminate against any one religion.

"I think it's good for what we call the' 'vivre ensemble'," said Quebec Premier François Legault after the law passed, using a French term for coexistence.

On Monday, the Supreme Court will begin a four-day hearing in Ottawa on a constitutional challenge to Bill 21.

Thirteen challengers brought the case to court, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the World Sikh Organization of Canada and the English Montreal School Board.

Because Muslim women make up a larger share of Quebec's population than other religious minorities, they have been particularly affected, said Nadia Hasan, a researcher and associate professor at York University in Toronto.

Hasan has spoken to more than 400 Muslim women in Quebec about Bill 21. She found that 73% felt the secularism law affected their ability to look for a job, and a similar number said they have considered leaving the province.

More than half said they experienced racist remarks or prejudice at work.

Some said the law pushed them to apply for jobs within the Muslim community, like Muslim-owned businesses or private schools, which Hasan says has led to concerns about "social segregation".

Other visible minority groups, like Jews and Sikhs in Quebec, have also spoken about the impact on their communities.

Amrit Kaur, a Sikh teacher who grew up in Quebec and who wears a turban, is one of the appellants in the case. In 2021, Kaur wrote online that the law had "shattered" her future as an educator in her home province, pushing her to flee "religious persecution … like a refugee". She now lives in British Columbia.

Religion is a historically sensitive topic in Quebec.

The province is dotted with old Catholic churches—a relic of a time when public institutions like schools and hospitals were under full control of the clergy. That era ended with the Quiet Revolution in 1960, when Quebecers purged the church from those institutions in favour of secularism.

Tensions over religion shifted as Quebec in recent decades welcomed more newcomers, and the province began discussing whether it should pass similar laws to France, which banned public school students from wearing religious attire in 2004.

In 2008, a provincial commission on accommodating religious minorities recommended a form of "open secularism" where religious symbols could not be worn by people in public positions of authority. That became the backbone of Bill 21.

These debates unfolded alongside broader concerns about preserving Quebec's French identity, said Elizabeth Elbourne, a historian at McGill University. At the heart of the discussion, she said, is whether Quebec sees itself "as a multicultural society" or one that is more "assimilationist".

The Quebec government, still under the helm of Premier Legault, is now seeking to expand its secularism laws to include all staff at public schools, not just teachers and principals, and to daycare centres. It also wants to ban prayer in public spaces.

The law includes an exemption to those who were working before it was proposed, like Robicheau.

But dozens of other Montreal school staff hired more recently have been fired or suspended, according to union leaders. Those who are currently exempt could risk losing their jobs if they seek to change roles or pursue promotions.

All these measures have been controversial, but polls indicate a majority of Quebecers support them.

One recent survey conducted by Canadian French-language newspaper La Presse suggests that 61% in Quebec favour a ban on public prayer, and 56% favour a ban on religious attire in daycares.

Among the supporters is David Rand, president of a Montreal-based atheist group, who said he believes the bulk of opposition to Bill 21 is coming from outside Quebec.

He believes "religious convictions are no more sacred or untouchable than political convictions", and that public displays of both should be cast aside by those working for the state.

Rand predicted a Supreme Court ruling that would force Quebec to scrap its secularism laws would be met with "massive protest" in the province.

The law has been upheld by lower Quebec courts, who ruled that it is valid because the province invoked the "notwithstanding clause" to pass it — a built-in loophole in the Canadian constitution that allows provinces and the federal government to override certain charter rights, including freedom of religion and equality rights.

The makes the case bigger than Bill 21, and the Supreme Court must now weigh the notwithstanding clause itself, which has shielded the law in lower courts, and whether it should be limited.

However the court rules, Hasan from York University said she worries Bill 21 will continue to put a target on visible minorities, particularly Muslim women.

After years of living under the law, Robicheau said she and others have lost faith in Quebec. But she still hopes the Supreme Court will set a national precedent "that there are certain rights that are untouchable".

With additional reporting by Eloise Alanna.