In Quebec, the delicate end of the religious culture course

The “Ethics and Religious Culture” (ECR) course in Canada aimed to highlight the place of Christianity in Quebec’s religious heritage, explore the contributions of Judaism and Indigenous spiritualities, and provide information on more recent religions in Quebec, such as Islam or Buddhism. However, the course, introduced in Quebec schools in 2007, will no longer be part of the curriculum in September and will be replaced by a new version in which religions will play a more subdued role.

A controversial course

Since its inception, the ECR course has been divisive, causing heated debates for and against it. In 2012, according to a survey, less than half of Quebecers supported its continuation as a mandatory course. For proponents of strict secularism, who advocate total religious neutrality in public spaces, the course represented an intrusion of the sacred into schools. The sovereignist Parti Québécois political party in Quebec described it as teaching an “outdated vision” of religion. The government of Premier François Legault also targeted it.

The bishops of Quebec strongly disapproved of replacing the course, arguing that the “radical elimination” of religious culture would fuel prejudices and increase societal polarization. “To ignore religious fact is to ignore that it is possible to believe in God and practice critical thinking,” the bishops wrote in 2021.

Rejection of religion tied to its past influence

Martin Meunier, a professor at the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies at the University of Ottawa, saw the Quebec government’s desire to distance itself from the program’s image as the reason for the course’s end. Some strict secularists, he said, view the course, “which presented a variety of beliefs, as a precursor to Canadian multiculturalism and a stepping stone to communitarianism.”

The abolition of the ECR course also fits into a context of accelerated secularization in Quebec. In 1985, half of Quebecers participated in at least one religious activity each month, compared to now less than 15{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50}, far behind other Canadian provinces. For Meunier, the end of the ECR is another symbol of the province’s break with its past: “Until the 1960s, the Catholic Church was omnipresent in Quebec, overseeing all social structures.” Meunier said he believes that only Ireland experienced a similarly strong religious presence. And today, the rejection seems proportional to its past influence.

A highly anticipated new program

For two years, some schools have been testing a new course, “Quebec Culture and Citizenship,” which does not eclipse religions but grants them a more modest place. The curriculum includes the quest for meaning, worldview, relationships, and kindness. A section is also dedicated to sex education. The stated objective is to develop critical thinking and curb the polarization of viewpoints.

Louis-Philippe Ferron, a secondary school teacher in central Quebec, viewed the change positively. He taught the old program for over a decade and helped his colleagues get acquainted with the new one. “Religious culture is not a priority in students’ lives,” he said. Several observers found the previous course too indulgent toward religions. The current government, which has secularism in its DNA, wanted to modernize it. The new course aims to move away from identity trends and debate a common foundation. He is pleased with a course that, in his view, moves students from opinion to reflection.

The reduced emphasis on religious culture in the new courses is not universally accepted. In a book, Mireille Estivalèzes, a professor of religious history, criticized a “reductive vision of secularism” and described the government’s plan as “primarily political and demagogic.” Others mainly criticize the timeline. A teachers’ union believes that teachers have not been sufficiently trained for the new program, which has already been postponed by a year, given the sensitivity of the topics covered.

Catholics decreasing, non-religious increasing

According to the latest national census in 2021, the population of Quebec included 53.8{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50} Catholics, nearly 4.5 million people. The figure marks a sharp decline from 2011 when 74.7{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50} of Quebecers identified as Catholic. The proportion of people identifying as Christian without specifying a particular church affiliation increased from 1.4{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50} in 2011 to 5.6{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50} in 2021.

In contrast, the proportion of people identifying as having no religion increased significantly, from 12.1{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50} in 2011 to 27.3{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50} in 2021. Additionally, Muslims, the largest non-Christian religious group, increased from 3.1{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50} to 5.1{f8f2f6c3978be4280dba4728e3685952f3615a1d089d426e0671ec3cc6712d50} over ten years.