On October 13, the Quebec government announced its intention to more than double the tuition fees charged to Canadian university students outside Quebec and to impose a recovery of tuition fees paid by international students. Proudly Quebecois, McGill University makes many important contributions to society. While being anchored in Quebec, it assumes a world-class role in higher education and fundamental research. As such, the measures proposed by the government risk seriously harming the University’s ability to promote French, strengthen the economy and promote Quebec, both in Canada and elsewhere in the world.
Even before the new government policy is adopted, the repercussions are already being felt. The rating agency Moody’s issued a warning regarding the significant impact of this decision on the University’s credit rating. Indeed, an increase in interest rates for our ongoing infrastructure projects would cost McGill and the government tens of millions of dollars.
We share the government’s desire to protect and promote the French language. Moreover, well before the announcement of these measures, the University had presented its francization plan to the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry. The Rayonnement du français program, which represented an investment of $50 million over five years for the Frenchization of members of the McGill community, was at the center of this desire.
Despite current difficulties, the University maintains its commitment to protecting and promoting French. On November 6, we presented, jointly with other English-speaking universities, a proposal aimed at helping non-French-speaking students from outside Quebec better integrate into Quebec society, both linguistically and culturally.
A recent survey shows that 64% of Quebecers prefer to Frenchify students from outside Quebec rather than doubling their tuition fees. The government has the opportunity to make English-speaking universities real partners in the promotion of French, why not seize it?
What we have always wanted is to allow the greatest talents on the planet to come and study at McGill, to choose to stay in Quebec and to contribute to our society. Although McGill has an extraordinary capacity to attract this talent, it nevertheless competes against other universities. If tuition fees for students from outside the province increase as the government proposes, Quebec universities will be by far the most expensive in the country. They will simply no longer be able to compete with their Canadian counterparts in the race for the best students. Thus, the proposed measure will harm not only our universities, but also our capacity for fundamental research and innovation, and will thus weaken Quebec.
It is important to remember that McGill is at the heart of numerous research networks, collaborating with other universities in Quebec, Canada and abroad. These networks enable the pooling of talents, ideas and knowledge that an economy needs to develop. McGill has thus contributed, in partnership with other Quebec universities, to nourishing rich ecosystems of innovation, for example in the fields of artificial intelligence by creating Mila with the University of Montreal, medical research with the University of Sherbrooke, or batteries with the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières.
At a time when Quebec is facing new challenges, the government must allow McGill University to continue to promote innovation in the fields of the future and to encourage the attraction of the best talents, whatever their origin.
We must give Quebec the means to achieve its ambitions. From our point of view, this also requires greater confidence in the culture of Quebec, and in its richness and vitality. Quebec universities, both French and English, are a vector of our culture. They allow thousands of students from all backgrounds to discover it, to immerse themselves in it, then to share it throughout their lives, wherever they are.
Limiting access to higher education by demanding tuition fees that are too high rather than welcoming, francizing and integrating students from outside Quebec into our workforce is nonsense. This would only slow down the growth of our economy and prevent our culture from flourishing, both inside and outside our borders.
We therefore recommend that the Quebec government postpone any decision while it studies the issue of tuition fees in depth, in order to ensure that they are competitive with those of other Canadian universities. The future of Quebec depends on it. Quebec’s economy and prosperity depend on the unique contribution of each university.