Muslim students concerned as Quebec government tables sweeping new secularism rules

MONTREAL — As the Quebec government tables broad new restrictions on religious practices, Muslim students say they feel unfairly singled out by measures that would forbid them from praying anywhere on college and university campuses.

Throughout the day at Concordia University in Montreal, hundreds of students file in and out of two nondescript doors on the seventh floor of a downtown campus building. Just inside the doors – one for men and one for women – are ablution rooms where they can wash before prayers. From there, they pass into one of two prayer rooms – a long, windowless room for men and a smaller space for women.

Muslim students have had a dedicated prayer space at Concordia for decades. For some, its existence is part of the reason they chose to attend the university. But if t