On September 19, 2025, the government introduced Bill C-9, the Combating Hate Act, which resurrects some of the proposed Criminal Code amendments found in Bill C-63, the Online Harms Bill that failed to pass before the last election was called. Bill C-9 also brings in new hate-related changes to the criminal law.
Bill C-9 isn’t long, but it packs a punch. The FSUC’s primary concerns are that the enactment of Bill C-9 will result in the over prosecution of alleged hate-related offences and will criminalize forms of constitutionally protected speech and expression. This is because, as described below, Bill C-9 creates new hate crimes, makes it easier to lay charges for hate-related offences, and lowers the legal bar for “hatred”.
- Bill C-9 establishes several new hate crime offences, including a stand-alone hate crime that allows for up to life in prison
The new stand-alone hate crime applies to acts motivated by hatred and carries with it significant jail time. The Bill would also establish a new crime of wilfully promoting hatred by displaying certain symbols (e.g. Nazi swastikas, terrorist flags) in a public place, and would create new intimidation and obstruction crimes related to buildings used for religious worship or primarily by identifiable groups. The former offence hinges on symbols associated with a regulated list of “entities”, but the way organizations are added or removed from the list will likely be opaque and political. Bill C-9 targets activity against which the police are already empowered under other sections of the Criminal Code to act (mischief, threats, harassment, etc.) but which they often fail to utilize. It is therefore an unnecessary move towards greater constitutional infringements on freedom of expression and protest under the declared intent of safety and protection.
- Bill C-9 makes it easier to lay charges for hate crimes
The Bill removes mandatory Attorney General consent for the laying of hate crime charges. This means that the police themselves can lay a charge. This will lead to arrest, detention, pre-trial proceedings, legal costs, lost wages, and reputational damage—all without the necessary safeguard of Attorney General oversight which has been a check on police power and charge-laying for decades.
- Bill C-9 codifies and lowers the definition of hatred
Bill C-9 defines hatred to mean “the emotion that involves detestation or vilification and that is stronger than disdain or dislike” but clarifies that a communication is not hateful “solely because it discredits, humiliates, hurts or offends”. While the language is taken in part from Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence, the FSUC is concerned that, taken as a whole, it lowers the legal bar and makes it easier to infringe the right to free expression, which is foundational to a pluralistic and democratic society, and the pursuit of truth.
The FSUC does not agree with the Government of Canada’s assessment of Bill C-9 that it does not “unreasonably affect an individual’s freedom to voice their concerns in a safe and peaceful manner.”
“With the passage of this bill into law, we can expect the zealous prosecution of perceived hate crimes, often subject to a double standard in practice, and the excessive laying of charges by police,” said the FSUC’s executive director, Lisa Bildy. “The impact of this bill will be a nation-wide chill on expression and peaceful assembly, especially for those whose views are outside of a narrow orthodoxy which some are motivated to classify as ‘hate’ in order to shut down debate,” Ms. Bildy continued.
A more detailed analysis of Bill C-9, prepared by the FSUC, may be found here.
