SAGUENAY, QC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is providing lawyers to the Church of Two Shores (Église des Deux-Rives), a Christian congregation facing eviction from a public rental space by the City of Saguenay, Quebec, after using that location without incident since 2024.
City officials terminated the church’s lease on a modest basement rental space, citing Quebec’s secularism law (Act Respecting the Laicity of the State or Loi sur la Laïcité de l’État) as grounds to prohibit religious activities in municipal facilities.
In March 2025, the City notified the church that it must cease religious activities on the premises or face eviction—invoking the secularism law as justification. However, the law does not specifically prohibit religious groups from renting or using public spaces.
Rather, the act affirms both the religious neutrality of the state and the freedom of religion. While the act invokes the Notwithstanding Clause, shielding specific provisions (such as a dress code for certain persons in positions of authority) from judicial scrutiny, it does not nullify all religious freedoms.
Zach Laustsen is one of the pastors at the church and has attended the current location with his wife and two daughters since it opened in 2024. He was shocked when the church received the eviction notice. “It was destabilizing, to say the least,” he said.
“When we signed the lease early on, we were unambiguous about who we were and what we were gathering for. To have our lease terminated with no reasonable notice was unexpected, hurtful, and frustrating. It caused a lot of last-minute scrambling for myself and the other pastor to find an alternative meeting space suitable for a group our size,” Mr. Laustsen explained.
The outcome of this case may set a significant precedent for religious freedom in Quebec.
Constitutional lawyer Olivier Séguin stated, “This case aims to determine the extent to which the Act Respecting the Laicity of the State requires absolute separation between the state and religion or establishes a flexible form of secularism that respects religion.”
“Overriding constitutional protections using the Notwithstanding Clause is a serious matter. The City of Saguenay is making a serious mistake by conflating the secularism law with a blanket ban on religious expression.”
A timetable for the proceedings has not yet been set.
A brief video summary of this matter by constitutional lawyer Olivier Séguin is available here.
