Concordia University ‘astonished' after Quebec vows to maintain tuition hikes for out-of-province students

CTV News

11-06-2025

Concordia University said it was shocked by comments from Quebec's higher education minister, who is promising to go ahead with tuition hikes for out-of-province students despite a court ruling that struck down the measure in its current form.
'We were astonished by the comments made today by the Ministry,' a university spokesperson said in an email to CTV News. 'We had hoped that the decision by the Superior Court in April could mark a reset of our relationship with the government. The comments, made one day after the end of the appeal period, make it clear that this is not the case.'
In 2023, the provincial government announced a tuition hike of 33 per cent for non-Quebec students, a measure that had a direct impact on Quebec's largest English-language universities, McGill and Concordia. The government also imposed a new requirement that 80 per cent of out-of-province students at those universities would have to reach an intermediate level of French proficiency before graduating.
However, in a ruling handed down last April, Superior Court Justice Éric Dufour declared the tuition hike 'unreasonable and invalid.' He also noted in the decision that the tuition hikes were unreasonable 'since they are not based on objective data or rational considerations.'
Dufour also struck down the French-language requirement for out-of-province students, writing in his 82-page judgment that the threshold was 'almost certain to be impossible to achieve.'
He gave the government nine months from April to revise its tuition plan.
The Ministry of Education confirmed in an email that it will not appeal the decision.
On Monday, the last day remaining to file an appeal of the April decision, Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry said on social media that there was 'misinformation' circulating online about the judgment and that the province is 'sticking to our decision.'
'First, regarding the tuition fees charged to Canadian students outside Quebec, I want to be clear: the court did not cancel the increase, and we are sticking to our decision. We firmly believe that it is not up to the Quebec government to guarantee financial accessibility to studies for non-Quebecers,' the minister wrote on her X account.
She went on to say the ruling supports the goal of correcting the 'financial imbalance between English- and French-language universities' and recognized the government's objective of protecting the French language in Quebec.
Discussions will be happening with English-language universities 'over the coming weeks' regarding French-language proficiency requirements, according to Déry.
'The judgment is clear,' says McGill
A Concordia spokesperson said Monday the university was 'troubled' by the minister's comments that 'seem to indicate that the government simply plans to come back with a new set of arguments to justify an increase of tuition fees for out-of-province students,' which the university says goes against Justice Dufour's judgment.
The university says it hopes to meet the minister soon but that no meeting has yet been scheduled.
Meanwhile, in a brief statement on Tuesday, McGill said in an email that the Superior Court judgment 'is quite clear.'
'We will abide by it, as we hope others will. We remain committed to maintaining a constructive and respectful relationship with the Quebec Government,' the statement reads.
More to come.