People rally after a teacher was removed from her position because she wears a hijab, in Chelsea, Que., in December, 2021.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Aisha Khan is an occupational therapist based in Quebec.
I’m a Quebecker. I’m an occupational therapist. But above all, I am a wife and a mother of two.
I was born in Quebec. It is where I built my life and where I am raising my family. It is also where I studied and chose a profession that reflects my deepest values. As an occupational therapist, I dedicate my work to helping those who need it most. My profession allows me to help individuals regain their independence after hardship, to help them rebuild physically and cognitively. I use my skills to make a real, tangible impact in people’s lives.
A busy schedule has never kept me from helping others outside of my work. That’s why, a few years ago, I started volunteering at my children’s school. I helped with bake sales, organized movie nights, and prepared and distributed food to staff on special occasions. At first, I did this simply to be present for my children. They loved seeing their mother at school. They loved it when their friends ran up to me excitedly to say hello, and when their teachers shared their appreciation.
Very quickly, I saw the difference I could make for other children, not just my own. I saw the difference that a little support could have on the hardworking staff who dedicate so much of themselves on a daily basis. Volunteering became part of who I am. It’s how I give back and how I help build the future generation of our country.
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Now, I’m being told because I’m a Muslim who wears a headscarf, I’m no longer welcome. I’m being told that the way I dress is a problem. That the rules have changed for women like me. That my volunteer work is no longer acceptable unless I change how I look.
Under Quebec’s Bill 94, adopted by the Coalition Avenir Quebec government in October, 2025, mothers who wear a headscarf are prevented from volunteering in our children’s schools. Unless we remove it, we are excluded from being valuable members of our community by helping in classrooms and at school events. Under this law, my headscarf – which has never interfered with my work, my integrity, or my commitment – is suddenly being treated as something children need protection from.
As a health-care professional, my faith has never interfered with my practice. I’ve always been judged on my competence and my ethics, never my appearance. But today, the Quebec government sees it differently. I’ve tried to understand how removing dedicated, well-intentioned volunteers makes our public education system stronger. I still cannot understand it. Because there’s nothing to understand.
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When I learned that I could no longer volunteer at my children’s school, I felt deeply hurt. I felt rejected for who I am. I felt my dignity and my integrity being questioned. To have your willingness to help turned into something unwelcome – by the very government that is supposed to represent and protect you – is profoundly painful. The impact on our children is even greater. Laws like this plant the seeds of prejudice and discrimination, teaching them that, in fact, we are not all treated as equals.
I worry about what comes next.
If I can be barred from volunteering at my own children’s school, what guarantees do I have that tomorrow my profession won’t be questioned too? When I see women whose dreams of becoming teachers, lawyers, or educators have been shut down by legislation, I have to ask: Where does this end?
Let me be clear: Secularism is an important value for us in Quebec, and I support it. We do not send our children to public school to receive religious instruction. But preventing mothers from volunteering at their children’s schools – that is not secularism; it is outright exclusion. Creating this fear that children might be threatened by a mother simply practising her religion is both illogical and harmful – and it sows division instead of fostering cohesion.