The English-speaking universities of Quebec have made a proposal described as “enhanced” to the Legault government concerning tuition fee increases for new foreign students and from other Canadian provinces.
The provincial government announced on October 13 that Canadian students who begin their studies in fall 2024 will pay the equivalent of what their training costs the government, i.e. $17,000 per year, instead of the current $9,000.
International students would have to pay $20,000 in tuition fees.
Saturday morning, Bishop’s, Concordia, and McGill universities presented the CAQ government with a new offer which proposes increases in tuition fees for Canadian students outside Quebec based on different disciplines of study.
Concretely, the proposal suggests that students in arts, sciences, education, nursing, psychology and agriculture — which represents 79% of students outside Quebec — pay $9,000 in tuition fees.
During a press conference Saturday morning, Fabrice Labeau, first associate executive vice-principal at McGill University, indicated that the fees for these programs in other provinces amounted to approximately $6,000 per year.
In the proposal from English-speaking universities, students in engineering, computer science, and administration would have to pay $14,000. This group represents 16% of Canadian students outside Quebec at the universities concerned. For comparison, students at the universities of Toronto and British Columbia must pay $14,500 and almost $8,000, respectively.
The highest level which targets students in medicine, dentistry, law and pharmacy would amount to $20,000, well below the fees in other provinces, recognizes Mr. Labeau, who emphasizes, however, that they only represent 5 % of their Canadian customers outside Quebec.
During the government’s announcement in October, Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry clarified that this was a floor rate, with universities retaining the right to charge discretionary amounts.
But according to McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s universities, it is almost impossible to attract students from outside Quebec if the fees amount to $17,000.
They say that average tuition fees are already higher in Quebec than elsewhere in the country, at $9,000 compared to $7,500. They also point out that tuition fees are the same for all disciplines in Quebec, unlike the rest of Canada.
“The difference between the fees charged in Quebec and in other provinces is becoming such that it is almost impossible to imagine that students would still come to Quebec if they come from other provinces,” declared Mr. Labeau.
Drop in registrations
English-speaking universities say that the provincial government’s announcement on potential increases is already having an impact on admissions requests from Canadian students outside Quebec. McGill University reported that these fell by 20% compared to the same time last year and Concordia University by 16%.
Mr. Labeau indicated that the university was hearing from the parents of students who withdraw. “This uncertainty, this possibility of having to pay up to three times more than they would have to pay if they go to the University of Toronto, […] there is no doubt about the provenance of [cette baisse des inscriptions] “, he stressed.
Furthermore, the Moody’s rating agency, which notably evaluates the financial capacity of universities, published a press release this week placing McGill and Concordia universities at risk of seeing their credit rating deteriorate. “This inevitably affects the funding costs for our universities,” Deep Saini, principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University, said Saturday.
“This is a serious time for McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s and it is also serious for other Quebec universities. The increase in tuition fees for Canadian students not resident in Quebec announced by Minister Déry will have catastrophic effects for McGill and for Quebec,” declared Mr. Saini.
Improve French
McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s universities maintain that their proposal is a “compromise aimed at achieving the objectives of promoting and protecting the French language.”
To do this, they plan to deploy a francization program which aims to ensure that 40% of non-French speaking undergraduate students reach level 6 in French upon graduation, considered an intermediate level according to the Quebec Scale of Proficiency Levels in French. French.
In a proposal that English-speaking universities presented to the government on November 6, they detailed how they would like to improve French.
First, by making French as a second language courses more accessible by integrating them into programs. McGill and Concordia universities have said they would be ready to make French courses compulsory for Canadian students outside Quebec.
They also suggest improving the internship offer in French and wish to offer “activities likely to promote a better understanding of Quebec culture”.
Regarding student retention, universities do not have data on this subject. “That is part of our proposals,” said Mr. Labeau. We want a study framework to know student retention. Before embarking on policies that are based on this assumption that everyone is leaving again, we need to have data.”
He believes that improving knowledge of Quebec culture and the French language will help to retain more students from outside Quebec in the province.
“Quebec is a center of attraction, we have the strength to attract students from all over the world, including from all over Canada, because, among other things, Montreal is one of the most lively university cities in the world. We are the second largest university city after Boston, in America […] we have everything we need to keep people here,” concluded Mr. Labeau.