‘Devastating’: B.C. students reconsidering attending university in Quebec as tuition will double
Posted October 25, 2023 11:46 am.
Last Updated October 25, 2023 7:02 pm.
17-year-old Ireland Bassendowski from Dawson Creek, B.C. is changing her plans on attending university in Quebec.
“I had a dream come true,” the grade 12 student said. “Got accepted into it and it just got crushed and it’s been really, really difficult lately.”
This comes after the Legault government announced Oct. 13 that as of Sept. 2024 tuition for new out-of-province undergrad or Master’s students will go up to around $17,000 annually at English universities – nearly double what it costs now.
The move has made it unaffordable for Ireland’s family.
“I’ve really wanted to go to Bishop’s since I was 14 years old and I’ve wanted to live in Quebec and go to school and start a career in Quebec since I was quite young,” Ireland said. “It was quite disappointing when I heard that I wouldn’t be able to go to Bishop’s anymore.”
The Bassendowskis have a home in Knowlton, Quebec, about 100 kilometres southeast of Montreal, not far from Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Que. Ireland wanted to study there in secondary-level education to become a math teacher.
“I literally have a picture of Ireland when she came out of her bedroom with her acceptance letter, she put on her Bishop’s hoodie and her Bishop’s hat and she’s holding her iPad with the acceptance e-mail, like poster child for a university and having her heart set on a university, and then it’s just gone,” said her mother, Dianne.
“It was just so exciting and really an amazing feeling,” Ireland described of being accepted at her dream school. “It just wasn’t able to stick around for very long and this past week and weekend has just been really devastating and overwhelming.”
For Ireland and Dianne, they want to advocate for the countless others experiencing the same thing.
“It’s not just about speaking on behalf of our family or this future math teacher of Quebec,” said Dianne. “It’s speaking out on behalf of all the students because our students, they’re our future in Canada.”
17-year-old Daniel Jennings from Vancouver Island, B.C. had his sights set on applying to a McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management, but he is now forced to reconsider and see if it’s even financially possible.
“It’s a large addition to the con list and out of nowhere, you pay twice the tuition that’s going straight to the government for something that doesn’t actually benefit you,” he said.
“And when you’ve had friends that have gone to the same institution can tell you great things about it, and all of a sudden you’re paying twice what they did for the same program, it seems unfair.”
For Jennings, it also raises questions about the culture of the environment and whether Quebec is even a place he would want to now move to.
“Even if it was still like economically feasible for me to be able to attend in some way, like scholarships, do I want to go somewhere where I know I’m actively being disincentivized from pursuing just because I don’t speak fluent French?”
The CAQ argues this is a way to protect the French language, particularly in Montreal – but many are criticizing the move, including from English universities, provincial opposition parties, the mayor of Montreal and the federal government.
“Consider the amount and quality of students that will be missed out on because of this decision,” said Jennings. “There is an alternative to preserving French in Quebec than disincentivizing bright, ambitious students still coming from within the country from attending English speaking universities.”
In less than a month, Jennings will be embarking on a cross-Canada university campus tour, making a stop in Montreal to see McGill.
“I’ll get to see my friends who go there and have a look around, but in the back of my mind will be the fact that it’s now twice the cost of coming in and I may not even be particularly wanted,” he said. “Schools like Queen’s and Western and U of T, it’s like perhaps these choices are a little bit more valuable to me.”
“Even if we had the extra income to pay the doubling of tuition, as a family, we can’t do that just based on principle,” said Dianne. “It’s just not right.”
Ireland hopes to see the decision be reversed, but in the meantime, she’s forced to look elsewhere.
“Bishop’s was my dream,” she said. “It’s quite unfortunate, but we’ve been looking at other universities and applying there.”
