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A new policy forbids military chaplains from not only praying, but from referring to God or the divine in spiritual reflections. They are being required to be publicly secular. The eminent Canadian philosopher Charles Tayor calls our time the Secular Age, a time when life can be lived without reference to God or the transcendent. Belief in God is only one option. For military chaplains, conforming to the secular age in their public pronouncements is now compelled. The policy

The EFC is deeply concerned over a new national policy that forbids military chaplains from not only praying, but from using words, actions or symbols tied to a specific religious or faith tradition or making any reference to God or the divine in public spiritual reflections. “This policy goes beyond banning prayer and prohibits even the acknowledgment to those gathered that some may believe in the divine and others not,” said Bruce Clemenger, Senior Ambassador and President

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities (CCCC) have been granted co-intervener status before the Supreme Court of Canada in Vabuolas v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner). The case is scheduled to be heard on October 9, 2026. The case raises an important and unresolved constitutional question: to what extent are internal religious communications and institutional deliberations protected from examination b

Bill C-9 has now passed in both the House of Commons and the Senate, and is now law. In its final stage, the House of Commons voted on June 17, 2026, to accept a change to the bill’s list of symbols that had passed in the Senate. The provisions of Bill C-9 took effect on July 18, which was 30 days after it received Royal Assent. Many Canadian Christians are wondering what has changed with the passing of Bill C-9. The good faith religious belief defence is removed If a person

The Senate made one change to Bill C-9 and passed it on June 4, 2026. The Senate did not pass any amendments to help clarify and protect religious expression. The bill has been sent back to the House of Commons for a vote on the change. Bill C-9 has passed in the Senate. What’s next? The Senate amended Bill C-9 by adding the noose to the list of symbols in the offence of promoting hatred through the use of symbols. The bill was then passed by the Senate. A bill has to pass wi

Traduit de l'anglais par François Godbout Liberté de religion : Providence Health Care est poursuivie en justice par une famille et des partisans de l’euthanasie qui contestent la politique du gouvernement de la Colombie-Britannique autorisant les établissements confessionnels à ne pas pratiquer l’euthanasie. L’AÉC s’est vu accorder le statut d’intervenant et a plaidé en faveur de la liberté de religion pour les établissements de santé religieux privés. Les audiences de l’aff

Many Christians are concerned about the impact of a proposed hate crimes bill on religious expression. Bill C-9 has passed in the House of Commons and is moving through the Senate. A Senate committee is now studying the bill and hearing from witnesses. Would you pray for us? The EFC is slated to appear before the Senate committee on Thursday afternoon. Please pray for wisdom, discernment and peace for the EFC director of public policy Julia Beazley. Pray the senators will be

Traduit de l'anglais par François Godbout Projet de loi sur les crimes haineux : Le projet de loi C-9, qui crée de nouvelles infractions liées aux crimes haineux, est en cours d’examen à la Chambre des communes au moment de la publication. Le projet de loi a été modifié en commission afin de supprimer la défense fondée sur les croyances religieuses pour l’infraction de promotion intentionnelle prévue dans le Code criminel. Il s’agit d’une protection importante pour l’expressi

Providence Health Care is being taken to court by a family and some euthanasia advocates who are challenging the B.C. government policy which allows faith-based facilities not to provide euthanasia. The government of B.C. recognized the distinctive ethos of faith-based care institutions and developed an agreement with a group of them that “preserves the respective religious missions and values of the founding owners and sponsors of their health care facilities in the provinc

Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, is now in the Senate. What’s different about the Senate and how can we engage? Just to recap, the Jewish community has been asking for changes to criminal law in the face of an alarming rise in antisemitism. Bill C-9 defines hatred and creates new criminal offences to protect access to religious and cultural sites and services. While Bill C-9 was being reviewed by the House of Commons Justice Committee, a change was passed to remove the reli

The Justice Committee’s changes to Bill C-9 were tabled in the House of Commons today. The next step will be one day of debate and votes on the committee’s changes on Monday, March 23. This is the second last step the bill goes through in the House of Commons. New changes to the bill can be proposed and voted on at this stage, although the time to do so will be very short. We’d like to focus on three points about the Justice Committee’s changes. 1. The committee tightened the

[Note: the motion to limit debate on Bill C-9 was passed on March 10, 2026] The government has given notice of a motion to close the debate on Bill C-9, the hate crimes bill. (See the full text of the motion, below.) On Monday, March 9, the House of Commons will debate and vote on a motion that would stop further debate on changes to Bill C-9. The motion directs the Justice Committee to vote on changes that have already been proposed without further debate. According to the m

A Christian group called Harvest Ministries International had signed a rental agreement to hold a 10-day event in a government-owned convention centre in Quebec. A few weeks before the event, the provincial minister of tourism cancelled their rental contract because she deemed the organization’s pro-life beliefs to be contrary to the “fundamental principles” of the state. The EFC is part of a coalition arguing that religious groups should have equal access to public space and

Traduit de l'anglais par François Godbout Projet de loi visant à mettre fin à l'AMM pour les personnes atteintes de maladie mentale : Les personnes souffrant uniquement de maladie mentale seront admissibles à l'aide médicale à mourir (AMM) en mars 2027. Le projet de loi C-218, qui mettra fin à cette extension, a fait l'objet d'une heure de débat en décembre et un autre débat est prévu pour la fin février. Les députés voteront début mars pour décider si le projet de loi sera s

Traduit de l'anglais par François Godbout Un projet de loi fédéral visant à lutter contre les menaces et les violences antireligieuses a été amendé afin de supprimer une protection importante pour les groupes religieux minoritaires. L'AÉC estime que cette protection ne devrait pas être supprimée et demande aux Canadiens concernés de contacter leurs députés. Le projet de loi C-9, intitulé Loi contre la haine, a été présenté en septembre. Il propose des modifications au Code cr

This article is reprinted with permission from Faith Today (Jan/Feb 2026). →en français Recent legislative proposals, federal and provincial, will negatively impact religious freedom. These are prompting increased collaboration among diverse religious communities. These interactions are possible because of a long history of building respectful relationships despite deep theological differences. Such relationship building does not involve compromising our deeply held commitmen

In recent weeks, there has been much controversy about Bill C-9, a new hate crimes bill introduced primarily at the request of Jewish communities after an alarming increase of antisemitism in Canada. Of particular concern is a possible change to the bill that would remove an existing protection for religious expression. Here is what's happening with Bill C-9, the possible removal of the good faith religious belief defence, and what you can do. What’s happening? The House of C

→en français The Right Honourable Mark Carney Prime Minister of Canada Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Dear Prime Minister, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (The EFC) is very concerned about the rise in hate crimes targeting religious groups. We are deeply troubled by the alarming increase in antisemitism in Canada. Jews are and have consistently been among the most frequent targets of hate crimes in Canada, and the number of antisemit

Traduit de l'anglais par François Godbout Statut d'organisme de bienfaisance : Le ministre des Finances nous a confirmé que le gouvernement « n'envisage pas de modifier la Loi de l'impôt sur le revenu afin de supprimer la promotion de la religion comme objectif de bienfaisance admissible, ni n'élabore activement de politique à ce sujet ». Un courriel du ministère des Finances à l’AÉC a fait écho à ce message. TheEFC.ca/CharitableStatus Nouveau projet de loi sur les crimes hai

In a parliamentary Justice Committee meeting in December on Bill C-9, MP Marc Miller directed a question to Derek Ross from the Christian Legal Fellowship. MP Miller said: "I want to dig in a little bit to the concept of ‘good faith,’ Mr. Ross. In Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Romans… there’s other passages… there is clear hatred towards, for example, homosexuals. I don’t understand how the concept of ‘good faith’ can be invoked if someone were, literally invoking a passage from, i