After mounting pressure over education cuts, Quebec announces $540M for students
Education Minister Bernard Drainville announced on social media Wednesday that the provincial government will invest $540 million for the school network and that all funds 'must be used to finance direct services to students, not for anything else.'
Quebec's education ministry had come under fire after announcing at the end of the last school year that the network would have to reduce its spending by nearly $570 million by the fall.
The ministry had asked English school boards and French-language service centres to cut $510.8 million from the 2025-2026 fiscal year, and an additional $56.9 million from the private schools – for a total of $567.7 million.
The announcement on Wednesday did not mention whether or not the requested budget cuts still stand.
In response to the request in June, Parti Québécois (PQ) MNA Pascal Bérubé launched a petition on the National Assembly website, calling on the government not to make any cuts that would directly affect student services.
As of late Wednesday morning, it had collected 157,739 signatures.
Reacting to Drainville's announcement, Bérubé said the newly announced funding is the result of his 'record-breaking petition in education.'
On Wednesday, Drainville said in a post on X that he consulted with school organizations and listened to their feedback over the past month.
'These past few weeks have provided an opportunity to review CSS [Centre de services scolaire] spending. This exercise will not continue and intensify,' the minister wrote.
On annonce une enveloppe pouvant atteindre 540 millions de dollars pour les services aux élèves.
On choisit l'éducation, on choisit nos élèves, sans sacrifier la bonne gestion.
Déclaration 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/AAeECpvCJi — Bernard Drainville (@BDrainvilleQc) July 16, 2025
The new money does come with some conditions.
Of the $540 million announced, $425 million will be allocated to a dedicated envelope, and each CSS will have to 'demonstrate that it has made efforts to reduce its administrative expenses and commit to using the money solely for student services. Accountability will be required,' according to Drainville.
He added: 'The maximum number of employees at certain CSSs is being increased to take into account their specific circumstances, particularly an increase in the number of students to be enrolled in their territory. In concrete terms, all CSSs will see their budgets increase.'
More to come.
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