Concordia, McGill drop fight against Quebec in out-of-province tuition hike case

Concordia and McGill said they will no longer pursue their legal battle against the Quebec government on tuition hike to out-of-province students despite a Quebec Superior Court ruling against the increase.

In an email to CityNews, Concordia University said its decision to not bring the matter to the courts again was due to its financial situation. The legal costs from previous litigation were reported to be several hundreds of thousands of dollars even as the university has faced deficits.

“We hope we can work productively with the government moving forward,” said Vannina Maestracci, Concordia University spokesperson.

McGill University also said it wanted to work with the government rather than pursuing more litigation.

“While McGill does not believe that the Québec government’s response respects the Superior Court’s April 2025 ruling, the University has concluded, after careful consideration, that further litigation would undermine its objectives of strengthening local engagement and advancing partnerships that contribute to the vitality of the Québec society,” said Katherine Cuplinskas, a spokesperson for McGill.

In April 2025, the Quebec Superior Court overturned a university tuition hike for out-of-province students which the Quebec government introduced to reduce the number of English-speaking students in the province.

However, Quebec government kept its over 30 per cent hike in fall 2025 despite the court ruling.

The tuition hike had resulted in sharp declines in enrollment of students from outside the province.

Both McGill and Concordia have been offering scholarships to offset the increases.

“We continue to offer a range of financial awards to out-of-province students, including the Canada Scholars Award for new students applying from high school in the rest of Canada,” Maestracci said.

McGill said it will also continue to offer scholarships and student aid to its students.