CCLA Files Submission on Quebec’s Bill 13

On February 3rd, 2026, CCLA sent its submission to Quebec’s Land Use Planning Commission about Bill 13 – An Act to promote the safety and sense of security of the public and to amend various provisions.

Chapter I of Bill 13 would create a sex offender registry that is specifically designed to be directly accessible to the public, rather than to support the work of law enforcement. This approach severely jeopardizes certain guaranteed rights. It risks resulting in a registry that will serve as a mechanism for public exposure and social exclusion, without any proven benefit to public safety.

Chapter II of Bill 13 provides for new restrictions on peaceful demonstrations and public expression that directly infringe on the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly constitutionally guaranteed to the people of Quebec.

Rather than protecting public safety or the right to privacy in the event of concrete threats, these new restrictions are primarily rooted in the pursuit of a “sense of security.” However, the right to express oneself freely and to demonstrate peacefully in public is one of the cornerstones of a free and democratic society. It cannot be eroded in favor of such a vague and subjective goal.

Furthermore, some of the restrictions on demonstrations are so vague and imprecise that they would open the door to arbitrary and abusive enforcement of the law by law enforcement agencies. This risk is neither trivial nor purely hypothetical. Given that Quebec courts have recognized the existence of racial profiling within the Quebec police force, there is reason to fear that certain new provisions will be applied in a way that disproportionately penalizes racialized and otherwise marginalized communities.

Read CCLA’s brief on Bill 13 here (French only).