Opposition to Quebec's Increases to Post-Secondary Tuition Fees for Non-Quebec and International Students
Last October, Quebec Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry and Minister of the French Language Jean-François Roberge announced the Legault government's intention to significantly increase tuition fees paid by non-Quebec and international students enrolled at Quebec universities. In their initial statement, the original plan was to raise annual tuition fees from $8,992 to $17,000 for non-Quebec students and to $20,000 for international students.
The Quebec government's October 13 press release announcing the new measures said:
"Starting in fall 2024, a minimum fee will be set for all non-Quebec students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate professional programs. Canadian students who are not residents of Quebec will have to pay a fee equivalent to what their training costs the Quebec government, while the fee established for international students will be higher.
"In addition, the Ministry of Higher Education will recover a lump sum for each non-Quebec student. Universities will retain the right to charge an additional discretionary amount, depending on their international recruitment strategy and priorities."
The "additional discretionary amount" a Quebec English-language university such as McGill charges non-Quebec students annually already adds up to close to $12,000 per year (2023-24 academic year) for a Bachelor of Arts and Science program and is as high as $21,000 per year for first-year students in Dental Medicine and Doctor of Medicine programs.
Premier Legault's logic in justifying the annual tuition fee increase was to say that Quebec students who study at Canadian universities outside of Quebec already pay higher tuition fees and that "that is not fair" if the government of Quebec doesn't apply the same anti-social measures to non-Quebec students.
Because of the uproar this created amongst student unions and university administrations that count on the enrollment of non-Quebec students to make ends meet, the Legault government issued a statement last December announcing that annual tuition fees for non-Quebec students would be set at $12,000. The annual base rate tuition fees for international students will increase to $20,000, with the government collecting $3,000 in fees that would, in its own words, be "reinvested in Quebec universities" to restore a so-called "balance in the financing of francophone and anglophone institutions." This is another ploy by the Legault government to divide and rule by once again pitting one university against another on a backward basis.
In an open letter dated October 25 and published in La Presse, rectors of the three most important French-speaking universities in Quebec -- Université de Montréal, Université Laval and Université de Sherbrooke -- as well as the directors of the two most important engineering and business French-speaking schools in Quebec -- Polytechnique Montréal and HEC Montréal -- questioned the validity of these measures which will affect non-Quebec students and international students. They first remind everyone that "Neither of these measures was the subject of prior consultation with Quebec universities." They go on to say, "The announcement of these measures was also tainted by some unfortunate comments. Students from outside Quebec have been portrayed as budgetary variables, threats to the growth of the French language, freeloaders and cash cows. Instead, they should be seen as players who, like Quebec students, contribute to the excellence, quality, diversity and relevance of our institutions. Universities around the world recognize the exceptional contribution of people from outside their borders."[1]
Bishop's University, located near Sherbrooke, has been partially exempted from the tuition hike for non-Quebec students. The Quebec government will allow up to 825 students to pay the old rate, while others will pay the new tuition fees. One of the reasons, in the words of Bishop's University's principal and vice-chancellor Sébastien Lebel-Grenier, is that "francophone municipal leaders in the Eastern townships... petitioned the provincial government to give them that exemption."
The Students' Society of McGill University, the Concordia Student Union and the Bishop's University Students' Representative Council organized demonstrations last fall that led to a two-day strike where over 11,000 students walked out of classes on January 31 and February 2. Last October, an online petition posted on the Quebec National Assembly's website demanded that the Quebec government rescind the proposed tuition fee increase for non-Quebec and international students. Within a month, the petition had garnered over 33,000 signatures.[2]
French Language Requirements for Non-Quebec and International Students
Quebec's three English-language universities -- McGill, Concordia and Bishop's -- will be hit hard by these measures, since they receive a significant number of non-Quebec and international students (approximately 32,000).
As part of the Legault government's new measures to readjust annual tuition fees to $12,000 instead of $17,000, Quebec's three English-language universities -- McGill, Concordia and Bishop's -- will have to ensure that 80 per cent of their out-of-province and international students learn French. Those students will need to demonstrate a Level 5 oral proficiency -- essentially the ability to hold a conversation -- by the end of their undergraduate studies. The French-language requirement comes into effect for new students as of the 2025-26 academic year.
To justify such a measure, Premier Legault argued that out-of-province students who come and study at McGill and Concordia universities are a threat to the French language in Montreal. On October 16, he said that "when I look at the number of anglophone students in Quebec, it threatens the survival of French." He gave the nonsensical argument that if you go and walk in the neighbourhood around McGill or Concordia, all you hear is people speaking in English, with his underlying message being that non-Quebec students are contributing to the decline of French in Montreal.
Government Attacks on International Students at Post-Secondary Institutions in Quebec and Canada
In December 2022, there were 58,675 international students attending Quebec universities, an increase of 10,000 over the previous year, when they accounted for 14 per cent of the total student body. A further 19,460 international students attend public and private colleges. Around 24 per cent of Concordia University students are international; at McGill University, the figure is over 30 per cent.
Quebec's French-speaking universities also have a very significant international student enrolment. For example, 6,000 out of the 42,000 students registered at Université de Montréal are international students. Two-thirds of those enrolled at the Université de Montréal are from France and Belgium, and because of government-to-government agreements in place, pay the same tuition fees as Quebec students.
At the Université de Montréal, international students not covered by these agreements are required to pay close to $30,000 a year. While some other Quebec universities charge slightly less, others, like McGill University, charge much more -- up to almost $70,000 per year in some undergraduate programs. The issue of finding extra revenues is crucial for many of these international students.
Because of the restrictions imposed by the federal government, international students can only work up to 20 hours per week. This is often insufficient for a student to make ends meet, so many are forced to work under the table without any workers' compensation in the case of a work-related accident.
Canada's exploitation of international students is criminal. Many of these students' parents have greatly indebted themselves so that they can get an education in Canada in the hopes of being able to make a living and help sustain their families back home. However, Canada uses them as a cash cow, with no regulation of the rents landlords can charge for housing or guarantee that institutions' credentials will be recognized, etc. Although these problems have been recognized for years, the Canadian government prefers to ignore them, or even worse, encourage the setup of private institutions and unscrupulous recruiting agencies.[3][4]
Agents hired by post-secondary institutions to recruit international students are no better than the coyotes who work for the drug cartels and the types who take tens of thousands of dollars from people of poor backgrounds who are forced to sell their meagre plots of land to pay the price of promises to get them across the U.S. border.
Canada says it is concerned about the plight of women all over the world, their education and well-being, but deeds show otherwise. For Canada, people are things to be used and discarded. The case of non-Quebec and international students merely reveals that governments will do anything to extract money from people at home and abroad. Educational institutions are being destroyed because of privatization and their takeover by private interests which pay no attention to the needs of the polity as a whole, only their schemes to make money as rapidly as required to qualify for government handouts. Having money for investments in health care, education and pensions is a matter of changing the direction of the economy.
Notes
1. "Il faut mieux soutenir les universités d'ici," Open letter, La Presse, October 25, 2023.
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 3 - April 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5400310.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca