• In 2001, the CEO of Indigo Books and Music Inc. ordered the removal Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, from Chapters and Indigo outlets across Canada. She stated, "We believe it's hate literature and we don't carry hate literature in the store."
• Young adult literature in the last few decades has started to openly address issues of sex, birth control, sexually-transmitted infections, pregnancies, drugs, violence, homosexuality, alcohol, and suicides. Judy Blume was the most censored author in the US. Her books, including Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, deal with teen anxieties during puberty.

Covert, or hidden, censorship is more subtle. It occurs when one book is chosen over another, although neither book is explicitly "banned". Bias in the selection of educational materials may be a form of censorship, because many groups consider themselves to be under-represented. For example, teachers of 17^th-century literature have typically chosen to teach Shakespeare. In doing so, they are "censoring" many other 17^th-century writers: women authors, non-British authors, gay authors, non-white, non-Christian authors. This choice may be a reflection of Shakespeare’s calibre as an author. However, it also reflects the fact that, historically, people tended to value adult, white, male, Christian, British, heterosexual authors who write in English.

Covert censorship also includes self-censorship by teachers, who may shy away from using books that may be controversial.

A recent book-banning issue arose in BC in the case of Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No.36. In January 1997, James Chamberlain, an elementary school teacher in Surrey, submitted three books for Board approval for use in his Kindergarten-Grade 1 class. The books were: One Dad Two Dads Brown Dads Blue Dads by Johnny Valentine, Asha's Mums by Rosamund Elwin and Michel Paulse, and Belinda's Bouquet by Lesléa Newman and Michael Willhoite. Children in the books had families with same-sex parents. (All three books are available at the Vancouver Public Library). 

The Board decided to ban the books for use in all Surrey classrooms, on the grounds that they were not appropriate.  The books remained in school libraries, but could not be used in classrooms.

In 1997, a coalition of people and interest groups filed a petition against the Board in the BC Supreme Court.

The Board was successful in an appeal to the BC Court of Appeal.

In 2002, the petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Arvay argued that public school boards have a duty to counter potential sexual harassment of children with homosexual parents by introducing gay-positive messages into the classroom. Mr. Dives countered that the Board had the right to determine that Grade 1 is too young to introduce students to the idea of gay parenting.

On December 21, 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Board had not considered the proper factors in imposing the ban on the books. The Court held that "parental views, however important, cannot override the imperative placed upon the British Columbia public schools to mirror diversity of the community and teach tolerance and understanding of difference." The Board should have considered not only the interests of the parents who opposed the books, but also the interests of parents in same-sex families and their children. The Court decided that the School Board should re-consider its decision in light of those principles.

On June 12, 2003, after six years of controversy and over $1 million in legal costs, the Board voted again to ban the three books. In making their decision, the Board went through a long list of criteria to evaluate the books, and excluded the books for poor grammar, inappropriate content, scope and depth.

On June 26, 2021 the Surrey School Board announced that it had accepted two other books featuring same-sex parents as recommended resources for Surrey classrooms.

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