International students: Dubreuil recommends 15% cap at each institution

To promote integration, French Language Commissioner Benoît Dubreuil recommends imposing a cap of 15 per cent on international students at each CEGEP and universities.

Currently, the average proportion of foreign students in these institutions is 13 per cent. However, in “10 to 15” institutions, that percentage is much higher, according to Dubreuil.

He notes in his report — which he tabled in the National Assembly on Wednesday that these institutions, — including Collège Ellis and LaSalle College in Montreal — have focused their business model on international recruitment.

“These are contexts that are not entirely conducive to integration,” he said, “insofar as [students] study in Quebec for a few years, but without being in contact with Quebec students.”

“For us, this runs counter to the objectives of the Charter of the French Language, which focuses not only on the use and learning of French, but also on […] adherence to Quebec culture,” Dubreuil explained at a press conference.

He writes in his report that a higher proportion could nevertheless be accepted in certain situations, for example to maintain a minimum program offering in Baie-Comeau, Matane, or Saint-Félicien.

Graduate students, whose numbers remain “moderate and stable,” could be excluded from the calculation, he adds.

Of the 630,000 students in Quebec, 80,000 are foreign students. This is not “too many,” said the commissioner, but they need to be “reallocated for greater diversity,” in his opinion.

Dubreuil said he has noticed a substantial increase in the number of African students in Quebec in recent years. He recommends better preparing them for their arrival to prevent them from experiencing unpleasant situations.

This is because a bad experience in a classroom, where “relationships” are not well “managed,” risks “reinforcing prejudices,” which will then be transferred to the workplace, warns the commissioner.

On Wednesday, Higher Education Minister Martine Biron welcomed the report. “I find it interesting. […] I’m going to read it in its entirety and see what we can do,” she commented briefly at a press conference.

“I find the principle of 15 per cent foreign students per campus interesting,” added her colleague responsible for the French language, Jean-François Roberge. “Diversity means that it also includes the presence of Quebecers.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews