The new fees imposed by Quebec on students from outside the province shock English-speaking university circles, which expect to lose students and a lot of money.
What there is to know
- Starting in the fall of 2024, students from other provinces will have to pay annual tuition fees of approximately $17,000, almost double the current rate. Foreign students will have to pay a minimum of $20,000.
- The measure applies to students from 1er cycle and 2e professional cycle. Students from countries for which there are agreements, including France and Belgium, will not be affected. Neither do French speakers outside Quebec who study in a program benefiting from an exemption.
- Quebec plans to raise more than $110 million to reinvest in the network of French-speaking universities.
“It is certain that there will be a very negative effect from a financial point of view for the three English-speaking universities,” said the rector and vice-chancellor of Concordia University, Graham Carr, in an interview with The Press.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Concordia University President and Vice-Chancellor Graham Carr
You can’t charge anything and think that students will come!
Graham Carr, president and vice-chancellor of Concordia University
At McGill University, principal and vice-chancellor Deep Saini said he was “very disappointed” by the announcement. “Our team is now working to analyze the consequences of these decisions,” he said in a written statement.
The principal and vice-chancellor of Bishop’s University, Sébastien Lebel-Grenier, said he was worried Thursday, fearing “a catastrophic budgetary impact for our university, a destructive impact.”
The new “floor rate” imposed on Canadian students not residing in Quebec will practically have the effect of doubling their tuition fees, announced Friday the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, thus confirming the information published by The Press the day before.
The bill will increase from $8,992 to approximately $17,000 per year starting next fall, the minister said.
The measure applies to students from 1er cycle and 2e professional cycle.
A “shock,” reacted the vice-president of external affairs of the McGill University Student Association, Liam Gaither.
“If the government wants to introduce increases in tuition fees, we must have the consent of the student population, because we remember 2012 and how it went,” he stressed to The Pressevoking the “general mobilization” of the maple spring.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Vice-President of External Affairs of the McGill University Student Association, Liam Gaither
Without consent, it’s like an act of war against the students!
Liam Gaither, vice-president of external affairs of the McGill University Student Association
Foreign students will also be imposed a floor rate of around $20,000, out of which Quebec will receive a flat rate per student – a government drain to which universities were no longer subject since the deregulation of the previous Liberal government. This will be an amount of approximately $3,000, the minister’s office was informed.
People already studying in Quebec will not be affected by these measures and will have access to current rates until they obtain their diploma.
The three English-speaking universities manage to earn much higher revenues from students from outside the province than the French-speaking establishments. Minister Déry is therefore aiming for “a better balance” by redistributing sums in the French-speaking network.
At $17,000 per year, the tuition fees imposed on students from other provinces correspond to what their training costs the Quebec state, and will “recover” approximately 110 million per year, estimates the minister. To this will be added the lump sum received for each foreign student, the expected total of which has not been revealed.
Two birds with one stone
These measures could also “rebalance the linguistic balance in Montreal which has been broken in recent years,” argued the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge.
“Do we want to have 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 people who come from outside, whether foreign students or Canadian students from outside Quebec, who do not speak French, who come to settle in downtown Montreal? This is a question, I think, that we must ask ourselves. »
A “slightly disgusting” remark, judges McGill student Liam Gaither, who spoke in a personal capacity on this point. “That there are not enough French people in the streets of Montreal, I think that is really not a remark that government ministers should make,” commented this native of Quebec.
The millions redirected to the French-speaking university network could be used in particular to welcome more French-speaking foreign students, indicated the Minister of Higher Education.
Students from the rest of Canada will bring in much less than expected because the $17,000 tuition fees will encourage them to go to other provinces, however, thinks the rector of Concordia University.
There will only be pinottes in the future, because the students won’t come!
Graham Carr, president and vice-chancellor of Concordia University
The new policy “will cede even more talent to Toronto that we were trying to attract to Montreal,” fears Mr. Carr, who hopes to see chambers of commerce and businesses support English-speaking universities.
“As a proud Quebecer born in Quebec, it pains me that we have reached a moment where Quebec has decided to put a target on the heads and hearts of the three English-speaking universities. It’s not fair, because we give a lot of positive things to Montreal and Quebec. »
The new rates constitute floors, universities will have the right to impose even higher tuition fees on the students concerned. Foreign students already pay fees higher than the announced floor of $20,000. At Concordia, annual fees are around $22,000 to $28,000, depending on the program. At McGill, tuition fees for students entering in fall 2023 range between $25,000 and $65,000.
With the collaboration of Tommy Chouinard, The Press