Court challenges arise over prayers in the classroom.

In 1986 a student in Manitoba is suspended from school for a week for refusing to stand during the Lord's Prayer, which is mandatory in that province. By 1988, three provincial governments — Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia — face court challenges for their compulsory prayers, in part prompted by the Manitoba student who refused to participate in the religious exercises in 1986.

In Ontario the Court of Appeal rules that the practice of saying the Lord's Prayer infringes on the right to freedom of religion as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and is therefore unconstitutional. One religion must not be given a position of dominance, and opening or closing exercises at school must reflect the multicultural realities and traditions of Ontario society.
Regulation 262 Section 28 of the Ontario Education Act, enacted in 1855, states: "A public school shall be opened or closed each school day with religious exercises consisting of the reading of the Scriptures or other suitable readings and the repeating of the 'Lord's Prayer' or other suitable prayers."
In 1988, the Ontario the Court of Appeal ruled that this regulation pressured religious minorities to conform to the practices of the Christian majority, which was an infringement of section 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which states: Everyone has freedom of conscience and religion.