Quebec education cuts: Coalition grows; petition nears 150,000 signatures
Posted July 7, 2025 11:56 am.
Last Updated July 7, 2025 12:20 pm.
The outcry against education budget cuts continues unabated, as the coalition grows and the petition on the National Assembly website approaches 150,000 signatures.
New groups have joined the “Together, United for Schools” coalition, the Quebec Union Central (CSQ) announced Monday. These include the Quebec English School Boards Association, the Quebec Society for Intellectual Disabilities, and the Quebec Coalition of Parents of Children with Special Needs, among others.
Employers therefore find themselves in the same coalition as unions representing teachers, support staff and education professionals, in addition to parents of children.
“The goal is to do something that has never been done before: bring all these people together and send a message: we cannot tolerate cuts to education,” said CSQ president Éric Gingras in an interview Monday.
At the end of the school year, Quebec announced that the system would have to reduce its spending by approximately $570 million. Quebec denies that these are real cuts, saying it is simply slowing the rate of growth of the education budget, which will increase by five per cent instead of seven per cent in previous years.
“The first to be affected are those who don’t have this kind of (employment) floor. And these are, for example, special education technicians — we are going to take away hours — staff who take care of students with disabilities, whether they are our psychoeducator colleagues, or our psychologist colleagues. They are the first to be affected, because we come to cut hours. And, after that, everyone is affected. We are touching the services of those who need them most. Then after that, it’s the others, because they lose time, they lose energy, they lose the ability to intervene, because there are more students to intervene with. So, in the end, everyone is affected,” said Gingras.
At the end of the school year, Quebec announced that the network will have to reduce its expenses by $570 million. Quebec denies that these are real cuts, saying it is simply slowing the pace of growth of the education budget, which will increase by five per cent instead of seven per cent in previous years.
In addition, the petition asking not to proceed with budget cuts in education, posted on the National Assembly’s website on June 23, had collected 149,000 signatures by Monday noon.
Interested parties have until September 15 to sign it. It is sponsored by PQ MNA Pascal Bérubé, his party’s critic for education issues, and himself a teacher by training.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
