Montreal transit agency stops workplace prayers as new law comes into effect

By: The Canadian Press Posted:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

MONTREAL - Montreal's public transit agency is telling employees they can no longer pray on workplace property, as parts of Quebec's new secularism law come into effect on Sept. 1.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

MONTREAL – Montreal’s public transit agency is telling employees they can no longer pray on workplace property, as parts of Quebec’s new secularism law come into effect on Sept. 1.

The Quebec government adopted a law in April that prohibits prayer rooms in public institutions which include colleges, universities and transit agencies.

It also banned public prayer without explicit municipal consent.

A student performs his afternoon prayer in the prayer room organized by the Muslim Students' Association, at Concordia University in Montreal, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
A student performs his afternoon prayer in the prayer room organized by the Muslim Students' Association, at Concordia University in Montreal, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

The Société de transport de Montréal says it has four rooms that employees can use for silent activities such as meditation and yoga, and that could previously be used for prayer. 

The agency says signs have been posted outside the rooms to remind people of the ban, and said supervisors who witness religious practices should address the matter with the employee.

A spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian Muslims says the new law undercuts Quebecers’ religious freedoms while sowing division in the province.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2026. 

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

The Free Press acknowledges the financial support it receives from members of the city’s faith community, which makes our coverage of religion possible.

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

‘Scared to Snitch’ could take subtler approach

Maureen Scurfield 3 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I just read the letter from “Scared to Snitch” and have some comments. The mother-in-law who gambles is an adult with a decent income. Nowhere does the letter say her gambling is causing her problems.

If that is the way she wants to spend her time, using her money, and it’s not impacting her life, what about letting it be? She’s an adult making her own decisions.

Options? Have a conversation with her, and ask, “Why those tears at the thought of others knowing?” That may be an opening to explore things more deeply. Why is she fearful?

I’m speaking from experience, having had a loved one deep into the addiction, which caused obvious and big consequences.

‘In Normandy, we remember’

‘In Normandy, we remember’

Aaron Epp 4 minute read Preview

‘In Normandy, we remember’

Aaron Epp 4 minute read Yesterday at 6:23 PM CDT

Travelling nearly 7,000 km from his home in France to Winnipeg gave Gabriel Zaranski a new perspective on warfare.

“It’s very different to speak about war in school (than) to speak with real people who (have fought) in a war,” he said. “We can feel the emotion when they speak … The testimony has more impact when it’s real soldiers.”

Zaranski is one of 14 Grade 12 students from Bayeux, a town in France’s Normandy region, in Winnipeg this week for a learning tour.

The students, who attend Lycée Arcisse de Caumont high school, met on Saturday with veterans from the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, a local military regiment, to discuss their studies and the regiment’s role in the Second World War.

Read
Yesterday at 6:23 PM CDT
SUPPLIED Bird’s eye view of the new basketball and pickleball courts at Gordon Bell High School.

Gordon Bell students relish — ‘of all things’ — new pickleball courts

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

Gordon Bell students relish — ‘of all things’ — new pickleball courts

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

Manitoba’s newest public school sports facility is bringing the pickleball craze to an inner-city campus.

Gordon Bell High School unveiled four custom-made courts for the popular paddle sport this fall as part of a multi-faceted makeover.

Grade 12 student Matea Thiessen Unger called the courts “the cherry on top,” of a multi-year construction project that consumed much of her high school career.

“It was happening for so long — it felt like it was never going to end,” the 16-year-old said.

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT
Prost! Raise a glass to Oktoberfest

Prost! Raise a glass to Oktoberfest

Ben Sigurdson 4 minute read Preview

Prost! Raise a glass to Oktoberfest

Ben Sigurdson 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

As September comes to a close, a pair of local breweries are bringing some serious gemütlichkeit.

For the uninitiated, gemütlichkeit’s a word that doesn’t translate neatly from German to English, but which roughly means friendliness and good cheer.

Both Devil May Care Brewing Co. (155 Fort St.) and Kilter Brewing Co. (450 Rue Deschambault) are hosting Oktoberfest parties this weekend featuring food, music, games and, of course, plenty of beer.

Both breweries are rolling out special releases to coincide with their respective Oktoberfests — expect malty festbiers, marzens, rauchbiers and other German-inspired brews, served up in hefty steins alongside Bavarian-inspired fare. Devil May Care’s festivities run through to Sunday and feature eats by Freebird Kitchen, while Kilter keeps the party going through to Saturday, Oct. 3, and is offering pretzels and Oktoberfest-themed hot dogs. Lederhosen is encouraged.

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Three stabbings under investigation

1 minute read Yesterday at 12:14 PM CDT

The Winnipeg Police Service is investigating three unrelated stabbings that have happened over the past two days in the Inkster Gardens, Transcona and Jefferson neighbourhoods. Three men, including a taxi driver, are recovering from their injuries.

At 4 p.m. Sept. 25, officers responded to a stabbing report in Inkster Gardens. An 18-year-old man was taken to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable.

At about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 25, a taxi driver was stabbed during a fare dispute in the 1600 block of Regent Avenue. The driver, in his 50s, drove himself to the hospital.

At 1:50 a.m. this morning, officers responded to a robbery report in the 300 block of McAdam Avenue, where a man had been stabbed. The victim, a man in his 30s, was taken to hospital in unstable condition and was later upgraded to stable. A suspect in that case is described as a man wearing a dark hoodie with a white Jordan symbol on the front.

The never-ending, continuing war in Ethiopia

Gwynne Dyer 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Another October coming up, and still the Nobel Peace Prize Committee refuses to give Donald Trump his prize. They even gave one to Barak Obama, who was Black and a Democrat and had only been in office for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, they ignore a man truly worthy of the prize, a man who ended eight wars last year alone. (He said so himself.)

Unfortunately the prize committee has a long record of backing the wrong person.

They gave it to Aung Sang Suu Kyi of Myanmar, who defended the Rohingya genocide: “I don’t think there is ethnic cleansing going on,” she said.

They gave it to former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who ordered the secret carpet-bombing of Cambodia: “The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.”