A secularism law some women say makes them feel like 'outsiders' heads to Canada's top court

Since 2019, a secularism law in Quebec has barred some public sector workers, like judges, police officers and teachers, from wearing religious attire at work. Now, the country's highest court is preparing to consider its future.

Lisa Robicheau describes her life as "stuck between a rock and a hard place".

The 41-year-old single mother of two, who wears a hijab, works in Montreal's English-language school system as a contract support worker for students with disabilities - a job she loves and where she is exempt from the current law.

But Robicheau can't help feeling anxious about her future and whether she will be able to continue working in a public school while being visibly Muslim in Quebec. The uncertainty has led her to enroll back in university, hoping to find a different job—or even leave the province.

"I've spent the majority of my life here, but it never feels like home," she told the BBC. "I am constantly being treated like an outsider."

Robicheau is one of several Muslim women living in Quebec who say their life and work have become increasingly difficult since the law—which bans religious symbols for public employees in positions of "authority" —was implemented seven years ago.

Proponents of the law—known as Bill 21—have long argued that it upholds secularism and neutrality in Quebec public life, a concept in known as laïcité in the majority French-speaking province, and is not intended to discriminate against any one religion.

"I think it's good for what we call the' 'vivre ensemble'," said Quebec Premier François Legault after the law passed, using a French term for coexistence.