Quebec daycare educator to lose job under Bill 94 for refusing to remove hijab

Some school staff are losing their jobs due to Quebec's ban on overt religious symbols.

A former daycare educator will lose her job because she does not want to remove her hijab, contravening Bill 94, which was designed to strengthen school secularism by extending the ban on religious symbols to all school staff.

“Either we comply with Bill 94 on secularism, or we resign,” said Hakima Tamir, who was hired as a daycare educator in August 2025.

Bill 94 has a grandfather clause for existing employees, but it only applies from the date the bill was tabled about a year ago. Tamir was hired after that, so the clause does not apply to her.

“We were forced to leave our jobs. It was not our choice,” she said.

The CSN union says there are 12 people within the Mille-Îles school service centre who are out of a job. Specifically, four school educators resigned and eight educators had to be terminated after confirming they would not comply with the ban.

The school service centre said, as an employer, it is obligated to comply with the provisions of Bill 94. It added that the 12 departures did not cause any service disruptions and that recruitment efforts are continuing.

Frédéric Brun with the union said that depending on the job, each worker was responsible for about 20 to 50 children.

Brun added that he worries there could be major problems for schools, like a breakdown in service.

Quebec Education Minister Sonia LeBel said the date of the grandfather clause should not be a surprise for anyone.

“They were aware of this. Several even advised employees when they were hired that they were past the deadline and that if the bill was passed, it would apply to them,” she said.

Former education minister Bernard Drainville, who tabled the bill, said the workers had another option.

“They could have very well decided to take off their religious symbols during working hours. They decided not to do that. They decided not to respect the law. And therefore, it’s their decision and unfortunately, they have to bear the consequences of their own personal choice,” he said.

However, opposition parties worry about what this will mean for students.

Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Sol Zanetti said the women did not deserve to be fired.

“They deserve to continue to do their work and the government doesn’t think either about the children,” Zanetti said.

Liberal MNA Madwa‑Nika Cadet said there are children who have needs and the province needs the necessary staff to provide it.

Tamir said she will now look for another job that will allow her to wear her hijab.