Quebec to double fees at English universities for out-of-province students

MONTREAL – The Quebec government is doubling tuition for out-of-province students to give more money to Francophone universities.

Tuition for Canadians outside Quebec will jump to $17,000 from $8,992 beginning fall 2024, while the minimum tuition for international students will be $20,000.

Quebec’s English universities have far more international and out-of-province students compared to the French institutions.

Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry says the new rates are justified because the majority of out-of-province students leave Quebec after their studies but benefit from preferential tuition rates.

She says the extra money collected from the English-language schools will fund the French-language university network.

Language Minister Jean-François Roberge says the new rates will help to stop the decline of French, particularly in Montreal.

Universities will also retain the right to charge an additional discretionary amount according to their international recruitment strategy and priorities.

Quebec hopes to recover a sum that will be devoted to strengthening the Francophone network.

This will affect every undergrad and non-research Masters student, but not PhD and students doing masters in research.

“Today, we are taking a major step forward in our government’s vision for the future of the French language. Quebecers will no longer pay for the education of English-speaking Canadian students, most of whom return to their home province after graduation, a reality that costs taxpayers over $100 million a year. As promised, we will also correct the financial imbalance between the French and English networks, caused by previous governments. Thanks to this new pricing model, we are giving ourselves the means to put in place strong measures to promote the French language, enhance the reputation of the French-language university network and encourage the attraction and retention of non-Quebec francophone students in our institutions,” said Déry.

“The language of instruction is an aspect that sets us apart and attracts a large number of international students wishing to study in French. The measures announced will recover money that will be used to preserve, promote and enhance the French language in the university system. The Premier has given the Action Group a clear mandate to do everything in its power to slow, halt and reverse the decline of French in Quebec. In the coming weeks, you will see the government take further significant steps to achieve this,” added Roberge.

Students say new tuition fee rates will make it even harder

Mathias Orhero is an international student working on his PhD at McGill. Although he would be exempt from an increased tuition rate next year, if he were to have started then, he says the government needs to be more empathetic towards students.

“The cost of living is not necessarily the cheapest right…you find students having doing all sorts of odd jobs just because they need to pay tuition and be able to survive. We need to put a human face to it.”

Adding that, “we simply cannot punish international students who come here, some of them genuinely seeking to integrate to the Quebec culture, cannot punish them just because of the language that they speak.”

“It’s a richness for us in Quebec to have people coming from elsewhere, […] students come and they start learning French. And many of them, when they graduate, they enter the Quebec economy where you have to speak French,” said Dolores Chew, who teaches in an English college in Montreal.

“It’s going to have an impact on businesses, small mom and dad depanneurs, renting.”

“As much as we need to fund French universities and improve French, we also need to be human,” said Orhero.

Concordia University ‘disappointed’ by measures

In an email statement to CityNews, Concordia University says, “We are disappointed by these measures which will have a big impact on Concordia and will unfortunately discourage thousands of students, out of province and international, from coming to study in Quebec. “

They say that this “will make education in Quebec unaffordable for many students. These issues were never discussed with us, are not based on data and clearly do not understand the national and global market of universities.”

The University claims that some numbers presented to justify these measures are “inaccurate.”

“Most out of province students already pay higher tuition fees in Quebec, with the exception of a few programs (law, medicine) in Ontario and Alberta. International students also already pay higher tuition fees. The government of Quebec seem to assume that out-of-province and international students will continue to come to Quebec in the same numbers and are basing their financial redistribution on this. We expect a drop in enrolment from these students which will mean less funding in general for the entire network of universities.”

Concordia adds that they “have always thought of itself as a Québec university and we are proud of our contribution to Québec in research, particularly on key sectors for the economy and culture. In a context of labour shortage, we would have preferred solutions that strengthen our francization initiatives through the university rather than discouraging students who can be assets for Quebec. It also sends a negative message about Montreal which has worked hard to become the world renowned university city it is.”

McGill University: ‘Thriving knowledge economy requires a global exchange of talent‘

In a statement to CityNews, Deep Saini, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, McGill University, says, “I am very disappointed by the Government of Quebec’s announcement this morning. Our team is currently in the process of analyzing the consequences of this for our students, McGill and the broader higher education ecosystem.”

“A thriving knowledge economy requires a global exchange of talent. The measures announced today will have a major, long-term effect on Quebec’s economy. The skilled people we attract and retain contribute significantly to Quebec and provide our businesses with the highly qualified workforce they so urgently need.”

Adding that, “we need to open our doors and invest more heavily into equipping them to thrive in Quebec society.”

“Quebec boasts 19 excellent universities, each playing a distinct role in meeting the diverse needs of Quebecers. We remain committed to working with the government and our partners to strengthen our university system, continuing to build on each other’s unique assets.”

–With files from The Canadian Press