Roberge: Expansion of Bill 101 would transfer 27,000 students to the French-Language System
Posted May 13, 2026 9:59 am.
Applying Bill 101 to vocational training and adult education would result in 27,000 students transferring from the English-language system to the French-language system.
That is the figure cited by Quebec’s French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge on Tuesday during the budget debate.
“Those 27,000 people, currently in the English-language system, would transfer. (…) I think this would be a tremendous step forward in making workplaces French-speaking in particular,” he stated.
These 27,000 individuals are not “eligible students,” the minister clarified, meaning they “would not be entitled to attend an English-language elementary or secondary school.”
“But in general adult education and vocational training, since there are no rules, they go to the English-language system,” he continued.
“These people, well, are in the public system, so they’re being supported by our taxes. I think that, as a nationalist government, we have a duty to do something about it,” added Minister Roberge.
The commitment to extend Bill 101 to vocational training and adult education was made by Christine Fréchette during the leadership race.
The bill to fulfill this promise has yet to be introduced.
The parliamentary session ends on June 12.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
