The British Columbia Humanist Association supports a secular society that affirms:
- the right of every individual to practice any religion or none, free from coercion by the government, private institutions or their community and
- that the state has a duty of religious neutrality, meaning it must neither endorse nor prohibit any belief or non-belief.
Open secularism is the best way to fully guarantee the freedom of religion and conscience of all citizens in a plural society. Secularism is the principle that the government should not privilege or disadvantage any religious or non-religious belief over any other.
We oppose government funding being given preferentially to religious organizations and tax exemptions that only benefit the religious (for example, permissive exemptions for houses of worship or the Clergy Residence Deduction). We call on the federal government to remove "the supremacy of God" from the preamble of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to create a secular national anthem.
Latest news
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· August 17, 2026
The BC Humanist Association brought secular, evidence-based priorities directly into the legislature's 2027 budget consultation. While Members of the Legislative Assembly on the Finance Committee stopped short of adopting them, the final report cited BCHA's arguments on climate policy, property taxation and private-school funding, helping build the case for future...
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· July 31, 2026
Humanist Canada and the British Columbia Humanist Association (BCHA) are welcoming a new policy from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that ensures spiritual reflections at public ceremonies uphold principles of religious neutrality.
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· July 20, 2026
The Lord's Prayer will no longer be said at the opening of Tobique Valley, New Brunswick, council meetings, following legal challenges from the BC Humanist Association (BCHA) and concerns raised by local residents.
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· June 24, 2026
The BC Humanist Association is threatening legal action over the District of Tobique Valley's decision to continue to recite the Lord's Prayer at every council meeting. The practice was challenged by local residents for violating constitutional prohibitions on government-sponsored religious practices. District staff instead asked residents to ‘sit out’ during...
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· May 12, 2026
Humanist Groups Condemn Religious Obstruction of Healthcare; Call for Protection of MAID Rights The British Columbia Humanist Association (BCHA), Humanist Canada, and Centre for Inquiry Canada (CFIC) are calling on the federal government to uphold the state’s duty of religious neutrality in response to renewed efforts by the Catholic Church...
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· May 11, 2026
As New Brunswick residents prepare for the upcoming municipal elections on May 11, a new report from the BC Humanist Association (BCHA) is putting religious neutrality at the center of the democratic debate. The study, titled Godless Serenity: Unconstitutional prayers in New Brunswick municipal council meetings, reveals that a decade...
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· April 15, 2026
To mark Religious Neutrality Day, the BC Humanist Association has released a report offering a critical analysis of the state of laicity in Quebec.
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· April 10, 2026
The BC Humanist Association (BCHA) is back in court defending something fundamental: your right to access public healthcare free from religious interference.
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· April 08, 2026
Opposition Members of the Legislative Assembly echoed concerns of the BC Humanist Association (BCHA) during debates over the government's proposed church bubble zone law.
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· March 30, 2026
The BC Humanist Association (BCHA) is welcoming the end of the religious hate speech defence, though it remains concerned about the impacts of Bill C-9 on freedom of expression, as the bill passed the House of Commons last week.
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