Teachers who created hostile environment at Montreal school have licences revoked

MONTRÉAL – Quebec’s Education Department has revoked the teaching licences for all 11 staff members accused of creating a toxic climate at a Montreal elementary school, in a scandal that led the province to strengthen its secularism rules.

Education Minister Sonia LeBel said Tuesday no further details could be released because the teachers are appealing the government’s decision.

In 2024, a government investigation concluded that a group of teachers, many of North African descent, created a hostile environment by yelling at, humiliating, and imposing their religious views on students and staff at Bedford school. At the time, former premier François Legault claimed the teachers were trying to “introduce Islamist religious concepts into a public school.”

The investigation revealed that the teachers, who were allegedly influenced by the local mosque, subjected children to physical and psychological abuse. There were incidents of prayers in the classroom, and some teachers allegedly refused to teach — or paid little attention to — the science and sex education curriculum.

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.