(Quebec) The Legault government is studying the possibility of exempting Canadians who come to study at a French-speaking university from its reform from the fees imposed on foreign students and citizens of another province.
Last week, the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, announced that Quebec will impose a “floor rate” on Canadian university students not residing in Quebec at around $17,000 per year, almost double what is currently Invoice. This measure will apply to those who attend 1er and 2e professional cycle. Foreign students will also have a minimum fee of $20,000, an amount from which the government will make a deduction of approximately $3,000 to ensure fairness between French-speaking and English-speaking establishments.
In a press briefing Tuesday in Parliament, Prime Minister François Legault reiterated that these measures were part of the government plan to reverse the decline of French in Quebec. Currently, he said, English-speaking universities represent 25% of total university places in Quebec, a percentage well above the demographic weight of Quebec’s English-speaking population.
” We took [cette] a decision which is not easy, but which was necessary. This is the price to pay to have a balance between economic objectives, but also objectives of survival of French in Quebec. I will not compromise,” the prime minister said.
“It’s nothing against English speakers, it’s for the survival of French,” he added.
English-speaking universities in shock
In the press scrum, Minister Déry acknowledged that the measure could have the effect of reducing the number of non-Quebec resident students who attend certain universities, particularly in the English-speaking network.
“A Canadian student who comes here can come and study here, but he must at least pay the fair price for a diploma. […] The two measures we are putting forward will allow us to reduce the number of Canadian students who come here,” she said.
However, according to the announcement made last week by the government, a Canadian student who comes to study in French in Quebec would also see his tuition fees double, even if he does not participate, by his presence, in the anglicization of the province.
In Minister Déry’s office, they now say they are considering a pathway that would allow a Canadian person who is not a resident of Quebec, but who chooses to study in a French-speaking Quebec university, to be exempt from the increase in fees. According to PQ MP Pascal Bérubé, the government’s announcement will not reverse the decline of French in Quebec.
“For me, it is not a policy for French, it is not a measure for French. A real policy for French, in two stages: taking into account temporary immigrants, many of whom come to study and only speak English, for example, and [imposer] CEGEP in French,” he said. The PQ, however, supports the Legault government’s reform, justifying that it corrects a form of inequity in the face of university fees imposed on Quebec students elsewhere in the country.
The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, for his part affirmed that increasing tuition fees was not the right way to correct the growing imbalance between the French-speaking and English-speaking network. His party will propose an alternative over the coming days.
The leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Marc Tanguay, for his part reiterated Tuesday that the Legault government should reverse its position which “will not help the French language” and will cause significant consequences for English-speaking universities.