Uncertainty if Bill 21 ruling will be issued by Supreme Court before Quebec election

A security guard works in the lobby of the Supreme Court of Canada as the court hears appeals on the constitutionality of Quebec's controversial secularism law known as Bill 21 in Ottawa on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

Chief Justice Richard Wagner says he doesn’t know whether the Supreme Court of Canada will issue its decision on Bill 21, Quebec’s secularism law, and the preemptive use of the exemption clause by François Legault’s government to exempt itself from certain rights, before the provincial election this fall.

“Honestly, I don’t know when the ruling will be handed down. (...) It could be handed down next week, or it could be handed down in several months,” he told reporters who questioned him during an annual press conference on Tuesday.

Wagner noted that he hopes Judge Sheilah L. Martin will sign the ruling despite having announced her resignation effective May 30.

“It is customary for the chief justice to grant an additional six-month period to allow the resigning judge to handle her cases and draft her rulings,” he said. “You have a sufficient timeframe from today until nearly six months from now, during which the judgment will be rendered.”

The six-month period would extend to Nov. 30, meaning the judgment could be issued after the Quebec election on Oct. 5.

With four days of hearings and “the largest number of intervenors in the Court’s history,” the Bill 21 case has been a “landmark” one for the country’s highest court, Wagner emphasized.

Bill 21 prohibits certain government employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols and requires anyone providing or receiving a government service to have their face uncovered.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 9, 2026.