McGill, Concordia study shows Law 21 impacts students’ career choices, plans

A new study from McGill University and Concordia University shows that Quebec’s secularism law, Law 21, is impacting students’ career choices and plans to stay in QC. The researchers surveyed 629 respondents from French-language, bilingual, and English-language institutions. While only slightly over half reported wearing a religious symbol, 34% of the respondents reported experiencing increased discrimination after the law was passed. 51% of the respondents reported that they planned to look for work outside QC, and 70% – including those who do not wear religious symbols – said that they had a more negative view of QC since the law had passed. “[M]any students shared their deep distress at witnessing the impact of the Law’s passage on their classmates, family members, friends and fellow students,” said McGill Associate Professor and study co-author Elizabeth Elbourne. McGill| CBC Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.