The school staff workers belonging to the Islamic community in Montreal, Canada have refused to comply with the law of the land and abide by the rules. They were reluctant to accept the ban on the religious symbols in the school premises during the work hours. Unable to thwart the religious association such as wearing hijab during the work hours, many staff members affiliated to the community have resigned from the job. Many others who were reluctant to adhere to the new rules, were either suspended or fired from the job.
Accordingly, Montreal’s largest school board has got the resignation of more than 100 staff members as they refused to remove religious symbols during the work hours and comply with the new rules of the Canadian province. The law known as Bill 94 passed in March 2025, was initially applicable to just teachers and principles in the school. They were not allowed to wear religious symbols in the school premises. However, as per the latest revision, the law is applicable to every staff member of the schools including lunch room monitors, teaching assistants, support staff and everyone else who interacts with the students in the school.
The bill bans wearing religious symbols such as cross, hijabs during the school hours. As an impact of the new rules, dozens of staff have already resigned who are unwilling to abide by the law of the land. Many have been suspended or fired who failed to comply with the rules as per Bill 94. Centre de services scolaire de Montréal(CSSDM) reiterated that it had to let go of many staff who rejected the new rules. A spokesperson of the CSSDM said that the centre has warned the staff members that if they fail to acknowledge the new rules and if they didn’t remove the religious symbols during work hours then they are at the risk of losing their job. Despite such serious warnings, more than 150 people were reluctant to comply with the law, the spokesperson of CSSDM added.
On the other hand, the sudden resignation and removal of the staff has led to shortage of staff in the schools. However, the CSSDM asserted that there is no shortage and there are sufficient resources to render educational and other services to the students. Meanwhile, in February 2026, Bernard Drainville who tabled Bill 94 as the Education Minister said that the employees could have removed their religious symbols during the work hours, but they decided to not to do so. “They decided not to respect the law and therefore, it’s their decision and unfortunately, they have to bear the consequences of their own personal choice”, Bernard Drainville further added.
The school staff decided to uphold religious significance and affiliation above the law of the land. Hence, they have to bear the proportionate consequences. The spokesperson of the Education Ministry said that like any law, it must be respected. However, the actions of the school staff members reflect how they prioritise religious practices and affiliations over and above the law of the country, even at the cost of their job. The decision of the school staff to resign from the job to espouse religious practices is in fact against the principle of equality and uniformity adopted by the countries especially in the educational setup.
