Teachers who created hostile environment at Montreal school have licences revoked

Eleven teachers — a mix of men and women — were suspended from the school in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges district.

At a news conference in Quebec City on Tuesday, Michelle Setlakwe, a Liberal member of the legislature whose riding includes Bedford school, said she was relieved by the outcome.

“I find it appalling what was done to young girls. I find it appalling that we didn’t provide all the necessary services to students who were vulnerable…. Their (licences) were permanently revoked? Perfect.”

As a result of the events at Bedford, the government investigated 17 other schools over alleged breaches of the province’s secularism law, known as Bill 21, but no violations were ultimately found. The 17 schools are all in the French system, with 11 in and around Montreal, three in Quebec City, one in Gatineau and two in the Saguenay region north of the capital.

Simultaneously, two independent administrators appointed by the province produced an action plan aimed at preventing similar situations to the one at Bedford school. It included 24 recommendations specific to Bedford and 10 broader recommendations for the education system.

The plan says schools should be required to evaluate their teachers every two years, with support from an expert as needed. It also says the government should consider enshrining in law the obligation to speak French anywhere that students are present in schools, including classrooms, hallways and common areas. The Bedford report found that staff often spoke in languages other than French.

Another recommendation says the government should modify Quebec’s law on public education to ban all religious activities in schools, during and after school hours.

In 2025, Quebec adopted legislation extending the province’s ban on religious symbols to include all staff who interact with students inside schools. Before the expansion of the law only teachers were affected. In 2026, the Quebec government introduced another secularism law, restricting prayer in certain public spaces and expanding the ban on religious symbols to include daycare workers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2026.

Charlotte Glorieux, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Teachers who created hostile environment at Montreal school have licences revoked

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