It was ironic to say the least to hear a spokesperson for McGill University complain about the introduction into the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ) of a “two-speed system” which would harm its attractiveness.
This is because the Legault government plans to offer a faster permanent immigration route to foreign students who come to study in French in Quebec rather than to those who choose to do so in English.
Consequently, those who planned to enroll at McGill with the thought of immigrating to Quebec could consider other options, said he feared his first associate executive vice-principal, Fabrice Labeau, who testified last Wednesday as part of the consultations on the planning of immigration for the period 2024-2027.
As luck would have it, an update of the indicators relating to the language of instruction published two days earlier by the Office québécois de la langue française indicated that 40% of university students in Montreal now attend an English-speaking establishment, in largely due to the growing presence of foreign students, who contribute both to the enrichment of these establishments and to the anglicization of the metropolis.
The attraction that English-speaking universities have on foreign students is obviously not new. Over the past few decades, francophones have managed to make up for almost all the gaps, but the haughty domination of McGill remains the most striking vestige of the pre-Quiet Revolution.
It is enough to see the difference between the tuition fees charged to foreign students since they were deregulated by the Couillard government in 2018, to see that there is already a two-tier university system in Quebec, depending on the means available to its parties.
At the University of Montreal (UdeM), the cost is $28,252 for a full year of 30 credits, all disciplines combined. At McGill, this ranges from $28,587 (social work) to $68,874 (commerce). In medicine, the cost is $44,317 at UdeM and $63,481 at McGill.
McGill has always benefited from generous donations from wealthy patrons that are incommensurate with those received by French-speaking universities, as well as from a totally disproportionate share of research funds granted by federal organizations.
Despite the adjustments made to the university funding formula to take into account the contribution of foreign students, researcher Frédéric Lacroix calculated that in 2020-2021, English-speaking universities were able to count on funding totaling $16,095 per equivalent of a full-time student compared to $12,507 for French-speaking establishments. The result is that the gap between the resources that two networks can rely on continues to widen, adding to the natural attractiveness of English.
Hoping to benefit from at least part of the windfall from foreign students, French-speaking universities have increased the number of programs offered in English, which further reinforces the vicious circle of anglicization. Last week, Prime Minister Legault criticized Cégep Garneau for holding an “English Week”, but the “English Years” do not seem to bother him.
The need for a rebalancing in the financing of French-speaking and English-speaking universities was widely mentioned in the opinions which were sent to the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, who committed to reviewing the current formula. The problem has been known for decades without any government daring to tackle it.
His predecessor under the brief government of Pauline Marois, Pierre Duchesne, had considered adjusting the financing of universities to the proportion of first generation students they welcomed, that is to say those whose parents did not attend. had not studied. Unsurprisingly, the formula would have mainly favored the regional components of the University of Quebec, where they represented more than 70% of the clientele, and would have been the least profitable at McGill, where the rate of 20% was the lowest in Canada .
We will never know if the Parti Québécois would really have had the courage to fight this battle if it had had the time, but there is no doubt that McGill University is ready to go to the barricades to defend its crown.
Its principal and vice-chancellor, Deep Saini, was very clear in a text published in The duty last June under the title “The sterile debate on the financing of English-speaking universities”. Of course, Mr. Saini fully subscribes to the objective of promoting French, but not at the expense of his university. Yes, she is richer and more sought after than the others, but she deserved it. It would be the last straw if we punished her for her excellence, wouldn’t it?