“Canada had a law against pretending to practice witchcraft until 2018”
REPEALED 2018! It was an offense to "pretend to exercise or use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration." This anti-fraud provision was repealed by Bill C-51.
This wasn't about persecuting actual witches (Canada didn't believe in real witchcraft). It was an anti-fraud provision targeting charlatans who exploited people's beliefs in the supernatural for money. Fortune tellers, fake mediums, and con artists were the real targets. The law was repealed on December 13, 2018 as part of Bill C-51's "zombie law" cleanup. The government determined that general fraud provisions adequately covered these activities. Other laws repealed by Bill C-51 (December 13, 2018): - Crime comics (Section 163(1)(b)) — banned since 1949 - Challenging to a duel (Section 71) - Alarming the Queen (Section 49)
Where the story gets it wrong
The law did not criminalize the genuine practice of witchcraft or Wicca as a religion. It only prohibited fraudulently pretending to practice witchcraft for financial gain. The word "fraudulently" was added in the 1950s to narrow the scope. It was repealed by Bill C-51 on December 13, 2018.
Section 365 of the Criminal Code of Canada (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46) stated: "Every one who fraudulently (a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration, (b) undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or (c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction."
- Current status
- Repealed
- Enacted
- January 1, 1892
- Penalty
- Formerly criminal offense