MONTREAL, QC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers funded by the Justice Centre filed an application for permission to appeal a decision upholding Quebec’s 2021 Covid curfew. The application was filed on behalf of Stéphanie Pépin, whose constitutional challenge to the curfew was dismissed by the Court of Quebec on January 31, 2024, and that judgment was upheld by the Quebec Superior Court on July 29, 2026.
On January 8, 2021, the Quebec government adopted Decree 2-2021 under the province’s Public Health Act in response to the Covid pandemic. The Decree prohibited people from being outside their homes between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., subject to limited exceptions. Quebec was the only province to enact such a curfew. On January 9, 2021, Ms. Pépin participated in a peaceful demonstration against the curfew and was stopped and given a ticket for violating the Decree.
This appeal raises a key question about whether the Quebec government had legal authority under the Public Health Act to impose a curfew that restricted Charter rights partly for a disciplinary purpose.
The trial court found that one purpose of the curfew was to send a “clear message” to Quebecers and encourage compliance with other public health measures.
Lawyers funded by the Justice Centre argue that the lower courts failed to determine whether the government’s statutory emergency powers authorized a restriction of Charter freedoms for an objective that the trial Court found was disciplinary rather than public health-related. “Emergency powers are not a blank cheque,” said constitutional lawyer Olivier Séguin.
“If the government invokes public health legislation to restrict Charter freedoms, it must act within the powers that legislation gives it. That is the fundamental issue we are asking the Court of Appeal to address,” he added.
The application for permission to appeal is scheduled to be heard by the Quebec Court of Appeal in Montreal on Friday, October 9, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The Justice Centre is Canada’s leading civil liberties organization defending Charter rights and freedoms in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion. Founded in 2010, the Justice Centre funds lawyers across Canada, relies entirely on voluntary donations to carry out its mission, and issues official tax receipts to donors.
