University students protest Quebec’s planned tuition hikes

Thousands of students from McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s universities are taking to Montreal’s streets Monday to protest Quebec’s decision to double tuition fees for out-of-province students starting next fall.

On Oct. 13, the CAQ government announced that as of September 2024, tuition for new out-of-province undergrad and Master’s students will go up to around $17,000 a year – nearly double what it costs now.

“It is already difficult for us to be able to afford the university, afford the education I guess for new students it’s much more difficult,” said Eshaal Aabid, a Concordia University student from Saudi Arabia. “Especially considering that many people are excited to come to Montreal and I guess that excitement just diminishes when you’re told you have to pay twice as much as any other students.”

The action is being dubbed the “blue fall protest,” organized by McGill student, Alex O’Neill and Concordia student, Noah Sparrow.

“The fact that there are both French and English students involved, I’m hoping that the message that is sent is that this is not a language issue as the Legault government likes to frame it is, this is an access to education issue,” said Sparrow. “Education should not be politicized and we are trying to fight for them to maintain the diverse student culture and body that Montreal is internationally renowned for.”

The students marched from Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal, passing by Concordia University and then ending up at McGill University’s Roddick Gates.

The students’ council at Bishop’s is planning on busing hundreds of students from their campus to the protest — about 160 kilometres from Montreal in the Eastern Townships. They say Quebec’s tuition hikes put their university particularly at risk, with some 30 per cent of their students coming from out of province.

Tuition next year will go from $8,992 to $17,000 for those who come from different provinces. International students will pay a minimum of $20,000 in tuition.

“For me paying 20,000 because of the exchange rate, paying this kind of money is like buying three houses back in our countries,” said Juan Sevastin, Concordia University student from Columbia.

“We already pay more than Quebec student so to increase it even more I think it’s just gonna create a gap where only the students that can afford the highest tuition can come and that’s not really what Bishop’s is about,” said Sarah Watson, a Bishop’s University student from Ottawa, ON.

The CAQ government has argued that out-of-province students are a threat to French because they don’t learn the language and leave the province after their studies – but has not provided data to back those statements. The extra tuition is expected to be used to improve the French university system.

“They’re trying to promote the French and Quebec culture, which I actually agree with but pushing people away from the province is going to exactly the opposite,” said Manu Bissonnette, Bishop’s University student from Trois-Rivières, Que.

The move has been criticized by English and French universities, the business community, the mayor of Montreal, Quebec opposition parties and federals MPs.

“My intention is to be able to make sure that students who follow in my footsteps, in all of our footsteps have the opportunities that I had in coming to Quebec learning about the culture being able to integrate into Montreal society, I would be a different person if I didn’t have that opportunity,” said a Sarah Boyer, a McGill University Master’s student, originally from Alberta, but living in Montreal for the last 10 years.

“All my friends university are from out-of-province and Anglophone Canadians and I just feel if this matter had passed four years ago, I would’ve met none of my friends university,” said Bissonnette. “So it’s a sad day for Quebec and I really hope that the government can make us proud again.”

QCGN backs student protest

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) issued a press released Monday offering its full support to the university students’ protest.

They call the tuition policy “outrageous” and believe it “will erect barriers to students from elsewhere in Canada and abroad, especially damage key institutions that are part of our English-speaking community in particular – McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s – and injure Montreal’s worldwide reputation as one of the best places to study and conduct research in the world.”

QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge said in the statement: “Kneecapping English universities in Quebec, which include some of the best in the world, will only work against attracting the talent, energy, brains and perspectives Quebec needs to build and grow in an increasingly globalized economy.”