Bill C-9 After Royal Assent: What Changes Now?

Can Canada protect communities from intimidation and hate-motivated crime without weakening lawful protest, religious expression and free speech?

Parliament concurred in Senate amendments on June 17. Bill C-9 received royal assent on June 18 and became Statutes of Canada 2026, c. 15. Justice Canada says the law will better protect access to places of worship, schools, community centres and other specified places.

The law has passed and now has an implementation date. The political dispute is whether new offences were necessary, whether they are properly limited, and whether police and prosecutors will apply them fairly.

Supporters argue that rising hate crimes and intimidation around religious and cultural spaces require clearer offences and stronger protection for access to community institutions.

Conservatives opposed Bill C-9 not because they denied hate crimes are serious, but because they argued Canada already has Criminal Code tools and should enforce existing laws before creating broader new offences. Concerns include chilling lawful speech, religious expression and peaceful protest; repealing the religious-text defence; and making the investigation process itself punitive.

Quebec has its own secularism debate and municipal-policing realities. The Bloc supported Bill C-9 from a Quebec/secularism lens, especially around the religious-text defence, while still raising concerns about protest rights and overreach. In Quebec, watch the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, the DPCP, the SQ, the SPVM and municipal police forces.

Families need safe access to schools, places of worship and community spaces. They also need lawful debate, religious expression and peaceful protest to remain protected.

Police training, Crown guidance, operational bulletins, municipal implementation and guidance for institutions on what to report and preserve as evidence.

• What should police need to prove before protest becomes criminal obstruction?
• How should institutions document threats?
• What safeguards protect lawful expression?
• How will citizens know where the line is?

Ask your MP, MNA or municipal councillor what guidance local police will receive before July 18, 2026.

• Parliament LEGISinfo — Bill C-9
• Justice Canada backgrounder
• Bill C-9 — text
• Statistics Canada — Hate crime data
• Criminal Code, section 318
• Criminal Code, section 319
• Criminal Code, section 718.2
• Criminal Code, section 430