Canada's Combatting Hate Act Takes Effect Today: A Practical Guide to the New Criminal Offences for Protesters, Faith Communities, and Everyone Else

What This Means for You

Today, July 18, 2026, new Criminal Code offences under the Combatting Hate Act (Bill C-9) come into force, and the practical question for most Canadians isn't whether hate is bad — everyone agrees it is — it's where the new legal lines actually sit. Based on our review of the Department of Justice's summary of the law and the concerns raised by civil liberties organizations during its passage, here is what changes today for faith communities, protest organizers, event planners, and anyone who posts or displays symbols publicly.

If You Attend, Lead, or Manage a Place of Worship, School, or Community Centre:

Immediate action:

Know that two new offences now protect access to your building specifically. As of today, it is a criminal offence — punishable by up to 10 years in prison — to intentionally intimidate someone to prevent them from accessing a place of worship, school, cemetery, community centre, seniors' residence, or a facility used by an identifiable group for social, cultural, sports, or educational purposes. A separate new offence, also carrying up to 10 years, covers intentionally obstructing or blocking physical access to those same places, such as blocking doors or driveways.
Document incidents in real time. If someone blocks an entrance, threatens congregants or students, or otherwise prevents lawful access, record the date, time, description, and any video available, and report it to local police citing the new intimidation or obstruction provisions. Police services are being briefed on these provisions this month, but a written incident log from you makes it easier for an officer unfamiliar with the details to act quickly.
Update your security plan to distinguish lawful protest from the new offences. A person standing on a public sidewalk near your building with a sign is very likely engaged in lawful, protected expression. Someone physically blocking your driveway, chaining a door shut, or explicitly threatening people trying to enter is now facing a specific, serious charge. Brief your staff or volunteers on that distinction so incident reports are accurate.

What to prepare:

Review your organization's existing relationship with local police and Crown prosecutors. If you don't already have a contact for hate-motivated incidents, request one; the Canada Community Security Program (which funds physical security upgrades for at-risk community organizations) remains a separate but related resource worth applying to if you haven't already.
Understand what changed around symbols. The law creates a new hate propaganda offence for publicly displaying certain symbols — including Nazi symbols such as the Hakenkreuz and SS bolts, recognized terrorist group symbols, and nooses — with intent to promote hatred. Legitimate educational, artistic, journalistic, or historical use (a museum exhibit, a documentary, a classroom lesson) is exempt, so a synagogue's Holocaust education display or a school history lesson is not affected.

Resources:

Department of Justice Canada, Combatting Hate Act summary: justice.gc.ca
Canada Community Security Program (security infrastructure funding): publicsafety.gc.ca
Local police non-emergency line for reporting hate-motivated incidents after the fact

Example scenario: A mosque in a mid-sized Canadian city has experienced a small group gathering outside on Fridays holding signs. Under the new law, that alone is very likely still protected expression on public property. But if that group begins physically standing in the doorway so worshippers cannot pass, or shouts direct threats at individuals entering, the congregation's leadership now has a specific criminal provision — the new intimidation or obstruction offence — to cite when reporting to police, rather than relying only on general mischief or assault provisions that didn't map cleanly onto this kind of conduct before.

If You Organize or Attend Protests:

Immediate action:

Understand that peaceful picketing on public property is not, by itself, the target of this law. Civil liberties groups including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have publicly warned that the new obstruction offence's language is broad enough to create uncertainty for protest organizers, so if your demonstration is anywhere near a place of worship, school, or community centre, keep entrances and driveways physically clear as a matter of practice, not just legal caution.
Avoid any conduct that could be read as preventing a specific person from entering a building because of who they are. That is squarely the conduct the intimidation offence targets, and it now carries a maximum 10-year sentence rather than being addressed only through lower-level provincial or municipal provisions.

For All Canadians:

Why this matters beyond direct participants: The law also raises penalties for existing offences when a court finds they were motivated by hatred based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or other protected grounds — for example, the maximum sentence for uttering threats rises from 5 to 10 years when a hate motivation is established. It also repeals the "good faith religious opinion" defence that previously could apply to certain hate propaganda charges. The Department of Justice says this repeal does not criminalize religious teaching, preaching, or scripture reading done in good faith, and that Charter protections for freedom of religion and expression remain in place; several religious freedom and civil liberties organizations, including the Canadian Constitution Foundation, disagree and argue the removal of that defence leaves less legal room for genuine religious teaching that touches on contested moral questions. Anyone whose public speech, teaching, or online posts touch on these topics should be aware both readings exist, since the practical effect will likely only become clear through early prosecutions and court decisions.

The News: What Happened

According to the Department of Justice, Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, received Royal Assent on June 18, 2026, with its Criminal Code amendments coming into force one month later, on July 18, 2026. The law creates new intimidation and obstruction offences protecting access to religious, educational, and community facilities, each carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment, and adds a new hate propaganda offence for publicly displaying certain hate and terrorism symbols with intent to promote hatred, according to the Department of Justice's published summary.

The law also repeals the "good faith religious opinion" defence for certain hate propaganda offences and adds a statutory definition of "hatred" to the Criminal Code, the Department of Justice states, describing it as "an emotion of an intense and extreme nature that is clearly associated with vilification and detestation," explicitly excluding speech that merely humiliates, discredits, hurts, or offends.

Civil liberties organizations raised objections while the bill was before Parliament. According to the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, more than 40 civil liberties groups signed a joint statement arguing the intimidation and obstruction provisions are "vague and overbroad" and risk chilling lawful protest and peaceful assembly. The Canadian Constitution Foundation has separately argued that the version of the "hatred" definition that reached final passage omits qualifying language distinguishing intense hatred from mere offence, and that repealing the religious opinion defence removes an important safeguard for genuine religious speech. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association described the bill's passage through Parliament as rushed, saying it threatens rights protections for all Canadians.

Analysis: Why This Matters

Based on our analysis of the law's structure, the Combatting Hate Act tries to do two distinct things at once, and that combination is exactly why it has drawn support and criticism simultaneously: it creates narrow, facility-specific access protections (the intimidation and obstruction offences) alongside a broader recalibration of hate-speech law (the new symbol offence and the repealed religious defence). The first category responds to a documented pattern — organizations including B'nai Brith Canada have tracked rising incidents at religious and community sites in recent years — with a targeted criminal tool. The second category is where the disagreement concentrates, because definitions of "hatred" and the boundaries of protected religious and political speech have historically been litigated for years after a law like this takes effect, not settled by the text alone.

Historical Context:

Canada's Criminal Code has included hate propaganda offences since the 1970s, and the Supreme Court's 1990 Keegstra decision established the "intense and extreme" threshold for hatred that the Department of Justice says is preserved in this law's definition — a threshold civil liberties groups argue was diluted during the bill's drafting process.

What Happens Next:

Expect police services and Crown prosecutors' offices to issue internal guidance on applying the new provisions over the coming weeks, and expect the first charges under the intimidation or obstruction offences, if any arise, to draw significant media and legal scrutiny given the untested language. Civil liberties organizations have signalled they intend to monitor early enforcement closely and may pursue Charter challenges if the provisions are applied to clearly peaceful protest activity.

Your Action Plan

Immediate (This Week):

Faith and community organizations: brief staff and volunteers on the new intimidation and obstruction offences and how to document incidents.
Protest organizers: review event plans to ensure entrances and driveways to any nearby protected facility remain physically clear.
Everyone: understand that peaceful expression on public property is not, by itself, targeted by this law.

Short-term (This Month):

Community organizations: confirm your police contact for hate-motivated incident reporting.
If your organization hasn't applied for Canada Community Security Program funding for physical security upgrades, check current eligibility and deadlines.

Long-term (This Year):

Watch for early court decisions interpreting the new "hatred" definition and the scope of the obstruction offence, since these will clarify boundaries the text alone leaves open.
Organizations involved in public education, journalism, or historical exhibits featuring hate symbols should confirm their activities fall within the law's explicit exemptions.

Other Perspectives

The Government:

The Department of Justice frames the law as closing a gap that left religious, educational, and community facilities without a specific criminal remedy for intimidation and obstruction, while preserving Charter-protected expression and religion through explicit exemptions and a preserved "intense and extreme" hatred threshold.

Civil Liberties Organizations:

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and a coalition of more than 40 civil liberties groups, coordinated through the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, have argued the obstruction and intimidation provisions are vague enough to chill lawful protest and peaceful assembly.

Religious Freedom Advocates:

The Canadian Constitution Foundation has argued that repealing the good-faith religious opinion defence removes an important safeguard and that the final "hatred" definition lacks precision compared to earlier drafts.

Faith and Community Organizations:

Groups that have documented rising incidents at religious and community sites, including B'nai Brith Canada's incident tracking, have generally supported stronger, facility-specific legal protections as part of a broader push that also included increased federal security funding announced earlier in 2026.

Note: Including multiple perspectives doesn't imply all views are equally valid, but ensures readers can make informed judgments.

Corrections Policy

We strive for accuracy. If you find an error in this analysis, please email us at [email protected]. We will promptly investigate and correct any factual inaccuracies.

Updates:

No corrections to date (as of July 18, 2026).

Sources

Department of Justice Canada, Combatting Hate Act summary and Criminal Code reform announcements, June-July 2026
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, joint civil liberties coalition statement on Bill C-9
Canadian Civil Liberties Association, public statements on Bill C-9's passage
Canadian Constitution Foundation, analysis of Bill C-9's final provisions
Parliament of Canada, LEGISinfo record for Bill C-9 (45th Parliament, 1st Session)