McGill and Concordia universities have decided to go to court to challenge the measures imposed by the government of François Legault in the matter of tuition fees for Canadian students not resident in Quebec and foreign students.
In a message sent Friday to the McGill University community, Deep Saini, president and vice-chancellor of the institution, announced that the university was contesting two government measures in court, namely the increase in tuition fees Canadian students from outside Quebec registered in an undergraduate or professional master’s program as well as the changes made to the funding model for international students registered in these programs.
The university also intends to request a suspension of the application of these measures while waiting for the courts to rule on the merits of the case.
Concordia University also took its dispute with the government to court in a separate action.
McGIll University alleges that these two measures imposed on English-speaking universities are “discriminatory” in the context of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and that they result from a “ unreasonable exercise of the power conferred on the Minister of Higher Education.” The institution emphasizes that in its opinion, these measures were adopted without proper consultation at the end of a process deemed “unfair” and that they create “unconstitutional obstacles to interprovincial trade, therefore limiting mobility of students, the choice of their university and access to education.
Last October, the Legault government announced new terms and conditions for Canadian students not resident in Quebec who will begin their studies in the fall of 2024. Quebec then intended to charge the equivalent of what the training of these students costs the government, or $17,000 per year, instead of the current $9,000. For their part, international students would have to pay $20,000 in tuition fees. In December, the Minister of Higher Education of Quebec, Pascale Déry, however revised her position regarding the pricing of Canadian students not resident in Quebec, setting their tuition fees at a minimum of $12,000, instead of $17,000. $. She also announced that Bishop’s University would be exempt from her reform.
English-speaking universities have undertaken discussions with the government to find common ground, but to no avail.
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