Latest news with #non-Quebecers
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Despite court ruling, Quebec plans to maintain 33% tuition hike for out-of-province students
'It's not up to the Quebec government to guarantee financial accessibility to studies for non-Quebecers,' the Education Ministry says. Published Jun 10, 2025 • Last updated 18 hours ago • 3 minute read Concordia and McGill universities. Montreal Gazette Amid legal pushback, Quebec says it remains committed to its contentious tuition reform targeting Concordia and McGill universities, vowing to maintain a steep fee increase for out-of-province students. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In April, Quebec Superior Court Justice Éric Dufour ruled that parts of the overhaul were 'unreasonable' and ordered key sections struck down. The Coalition Avenir Québec government did not appeal the ruling by Monday's deadline. Dufour told the province to immediately scrap French proficiency requirements for non-Quebec applicants and gave the government nine months to come up with a new fee structure for out-of-province Canadian students. The government's plan had called for a 33-per-cent tuition hike for these students. In his ruling, Dufour criticized Déry's arguments, echoing the universities' contention that the plan was put forward without sufficient evidence. 'We observe an absence of data on which the minister claims to base her decision,' Dufour wrote. 'At the very least, what she had on hand in no way substantiates the reasonableness of the outcome.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. On Tuesday, Simon Savignac, a spokesperson for Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry, indicated that the government stands by its original plan. 'The ruling not only supports the measure to correct the financial imbalance between English- and French-language universities, it also recognizes the government's responsibility to take the necessary steps to protect the French language in Quebec,' he told The Gazette. 'With regard to the tuition fees charged to Canadian students outside Quebec, we firmly believe that it is not up to the Quebec government to guarantee financial accessibility to studies for non-Quebecers.' He said the government is 'staying the course' on the tuition hike. The government's interpretation of the ruling is that the judge did not rule that the 33-per-cent hike was unreasonable, but rather 'the path we've taken and the reasons invoked for the increase.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Savignac said it's too early to say how the government will proceed. Regarding French proficiency, he said Déry 'will be pursuing discussions with English-speaking universities over the coming weeks regarding the terms and conditions surrounding knowledge of French for students from outside Quebec.' In their lawsuits, Concordia and McGill said Quebec's reforms violated equality and language rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. McGill also asserted that the measures contravened anti-discrimination provisions of Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, particularly regarding harm to its reputation and academic freedom. However, the judge did not rule on charter issues, saying the matter could be resolved on administrative law grounds. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Like the Quebec government, Concordia and McGill did not appeal the ruling. When his government announced the changes in 2023, Premier François Legault said they were part of a plan to 'reduce the number of anglophone students' in Quebec. He said English-speaking students from other provinces 'threaten the survival of French.' Jeffery Vacante, a Western University history professor who has written extensively about Quebec's tuition shakeup, said the government is attempting to frame the issue as 'one of accessibility to non-Quebec students.' Instead, he said, it should be framed as the Quebec government 'attacking Quebec institutions (McGill and Concordia) because these institutions are being portrayed as not real Quebec institutions because they are supposedly threatening the French language in Montreal.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He said what Déry 'is in a sense suggesting is that in order to keep out-of-province students out of Quebec, the government must weaken its own institutions to make them less appealing to those out-of-province students.' Vacante said the government is depending on Quebecers supporting the policy because the general population 'might agree that it is not necessary to 'subsidize' out-of-province students. In other words, people might think this sounds reasonable. 'But this public is largely unaware of the fact that Quebec students do not pay much more in tuition when they study at universities in Ontario or elsewhere.' The tuition hike, which made headlines across Canada and around the world, led to a drop in applications from the rest of the country, with the universities compelled to offer scholarships to lure out-of-province students. Concordia and McGill have partially blamed the tuition changes for deep budget cuts. McGill laid off 60 workers in March as it grappled with a large deficit that it partly blamed on CAQ government policies. Last month, Concordia said it may also lay off employees as it works to slash tens of millions of dollars from its budget. This report will be updated. NHL Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Columnists NHL
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Quebec government vows to maintain out-of-province tuition hike
MONTREAL - The Quebec government is promising to maintain a university tuition hike for out-of-province students despite a court ruling that found the existing policy is not justified. 'We are sticking to our decision,' Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry said Tuesday on social media. 'We firmly believe that it is not up to the Quebec government to guarantee financial accessibility to education for non-Quebecers.'
Global News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Global News
Quebec government will not appeal court ruling scrapping out-of-province tuition hike
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook The Quebec government says it won't appeal a court decision overturning a university tuition hike for out-of-province students. But the province is not backing down, with the office of the higher education minister saying the government isn't obliged to guarantee access to Quebec universities for non-Quebecers. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The statement by Pascale Déry's office did not give details on the government's next move. Quebec decided in 2023 to hike out-of-province tuition by 33 per cent to reduce the number of English-speaking students in the province, but a Superior Court judge in April found the increase was unreasonable and not justified by data. The ruling gave the government nine months to revise its tuition plan, and also overturned new French-language proficiency requirements for out-of-province students at English-language universities. The government says it will hold discussions with the universities about those requirements in the coming weeks.
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Quebec government will not appeal court ruling scrapping out-of-province tuition hike
MONTREAL - The Quebec government says it won't appeal a court decision overturning a university tuition hike for out-of-province students. But the province is not backing down, with the office of the higher education minister saying the government isn't obliged to guarantee access to Quebec universities for non-Quebecers.
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Quebec government will not appeal court ruling scrapping out-of-province tuition hike
MONTREAL - The Quebec government says it won't appeal a court decision overturning a university tuition hike for out-of-province students. But the province is not backing down, with the office of the higher education minister saying the government isn't obliged to guarantee access to Quebec universities for non-Quebecers. The statement by Pascale Déry's office did not give details on the government's next move. Quebec decided in 2023 to hike out-of-province tuition by 33 per cent to reduce the number of English-speaking students in the province, but a Superior Court judge in April found the increase was unreasonable and not justified by data. The ruling gave the government nine months to revise its tuition plan, and also overturned new French-language proficiency requirements for out-of-province students at English-language universities. The government says it will hold discussions with the universities about those requirements in the coming weeks. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
