PARIS — The Canadian province of Quebec is the latest place to make it a crime to wear a face-covering garment in public, a move that critics derided as discriminatory against Muslim women.

Quebec’s law, enacted on Wednesday, is the first of its kind in North America, but similar measures — sometimes referred to as burqa bans — have existed in Europe for years.

Very few Muslim women in Europe or North America wear full-face veils, but laws that forbid the coverings have come into force in at least five West European countries. Many more lawmakers — including in Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway — have considered them.

Supporters of the laws say they are necessary to protect public safety, defend Western values or encourage migrants to assimilate into their new societies. But rights groups say they discriminate against Muslim women, some of whom view garments like niqabs and burqas as a religious obligation.