Chamber
commons
Stage
3rd Reading
Introduced
Sep 19, 2025
Progress
This bill adds new hate crime and hate symbol offences to Canada's Criminal Code and protects access to religious and cultural places.
Key Changes
- Creates a new offence for publicly displaying hate symbols (e.g., Nazi swastika, terrorist group symbols) with intent to promote hatred
- Creates a standalone hate crime offence that increases penalties for any federal offence proven to be motivated by hatred
- Creates an offence for intimidating someone to prevent them from accessing a place of worship, cultural centre, school, seniors' residence, or cemetery
- Creates an offence for physically blocking or interfering with lawful access to those same protected places
- Removes the requirement that the Attorney General must consent before hate propaganda charges can be laid
- Adds a legal definition of 'hatred' to the Criminal Code, specifying it means detestation or vilification — stronger than mere dislike or offence
Gotchas
- The hate crime offence escalates penalties based on the severity of the underlying offence — up to life imprisonment if the base offence already carries 14 years or more — which could significantly increase sentences in some cases
- Defences are built in for the hate symbol offence: displaying a symbol for journalism, education, religion, art, or to flag it for removal is explicitly protected, which limits the offence's scope
- A clarification clause states that speech or conduct does not count as promoting hatred just because it 'discredits, humiliates, hurts or offends' — setting a high bar for what qualifies
- The obstruction offence for blocking access to protected places includes an explicit exception for people who are simply present nearby to gather or share information, which protects certain forms of protest or leafleting
- Removing the Attorney General's consent requirement for hate propaganda prosecutions lowers the threshold for charges to be laid, which could lead to more prosecutions but also more potential for misuse
- The new intimidation offence (s. 423.3) is added to the list of offences that can trigger reverse onus bail conditions, meaning an accused may have to show why they should be released rather than the Crown showing why they should be detained
Who's Affected
- Religious communities and places of worship
- Racial, ethnic, and cultural minority groups
- LGBTQ+ individuals and communities
- People with disabilities
- Protesters or demonstrators near religious or cultural sites
- Crown prosecutors and the justice system
- Anyone convicted of a federal offence where hatred is proven as a motive
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The hate crime offence escalates penalties based on the severity of the underlying offence — up to life imprisonment if the base offence already carries 14 years or more — which could significantly increase sentences in some cases
- Defences are built in for the hate symbol offence: displaying a symbol for journalism, education, religion, art, or to flag it for removal is explicitly protected, which limits the offence's scope
- A clarification clause states that speech or conduct does not count as promoting hatred just because it 'discredits, humiliates, hurts or offends' — setting a high bar for what qualifies
- The obstruction offence for blocking access to protected places includes an explicit exception for people who are simply present nearby to gather or share information, which protects certain forms of protest or leafleting
- Removing the Attorney General's consent requirement for hate propaganda prosecutions lowers the threshold for charges to be laid, which could lead to more prosecutions but also more potential for misuse
- The new intimidation offence (s. 423.3) is added to the list of offences that can trigger reverse onus bail conditions, meaning an accused may have to show why they should be released rather than the Crown showing why they should be detained
Summary
Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, makes several changes to Canada's Criminal Code to address hate-motivated crimes. It creates a new offence for publicly displaying hate symbols — like the Nazi swastika or symbols linked to terrorist groups — if done to promote hatred. It also creates a general 'hate crime' offence, meaning that if someone commits any federal crime and it was motivated by hatred based on factors like race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability, they can face a higher penalty than for the same crime without that motivation. The bill also creates two new offences related to religious and cultural spaces: one for intimidating someone to stop them from entering a place of worship, cultural centre, school, seniors' residence, or cemetery; and another for physically blocking or interfering with someone's lawful access to those same places. These changes are meant to protect communities — particularly religious and minority groups — from targeted harassment and violence. Additionally, the bill removes the requirement that the Attorney General must personally approve charges for hate propaganda offences, which had been seen as a barrier to prosecution. The bill takes effect 30 days after it receives royal assent.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses
Recorded Votes
| Date | Description | Yeas | Nays | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 2026 | 3rd reading and adoption of Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places) | 186 | 137 | Agreed To |
| Mar 25, 2026 | Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places) (recommittal to a committee) | 125 | 188 | Negatived |
| Mar 23, 2026 | Concurrence at report stage of Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places) | 188 | 144 | Agreed To |
| Mar 10, 2026 | Government Business No. 6 (Proceedings on Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places)) | 186 | 140 | Agreed To |