STM bans staff from praying on its properties citing Quebec law
Posted August 28, 2026 11:58 am.
Employees of STM will soon not be allowed pray on the properties owned by the company, the Montreal-based transit agency said.
The company said starting Sept. 1 it will enforce Quebec’s secularism laws which bans religious activities at public spaces.
“As a public transit agency, the STM must comply with the obligations that apply to it,” a spokesperson for STM told CityNews by email.
Staff will soon only be allowed to use the quiet spaces, where prayer was permitted previously, for activities like meditation and yoga.
The decision comes after the province adopted Bill 9 which extends the ban of wearing religious symbols to daycare workers and public prayers. The Coalition Avenir Québec government passed the legislation invoking the notwithstanding clause to shield it being challenged in courts.
Civil rights advocates and religious groups have criticized the law as targeting minorities and infringing on their rights.
