Judge rules against Quebec’s tuition hikes, French requirements for out-of-province students

A Quebec judge has handed a partial victory to the province’s two largest English universities in a dispute over an increase in tuition fees for domestic students from outside Quebec and a requirement for most of those students to have intermediate proficiency in French.

In a decision released Thursday, Quebec Superior Court Justice Éric Dufour concluded that a Quebec government policy that raised tuition at the two institutions, McGill University and Concordia University, for Canadian students from outside Quebec is unreasonable and invalid.

The policy, announced in late 2023, imposed $12,000 annual tuition fees on students from the rest of Canada, which is significantly higher than the Canadian average and up from about $9,000 previously.

The ruling granted the Quebec government nine months to revisit the matter, so the higher fees remain in place for now.

The ruling also declared invalid a policy that required McGill and Concordia to ensure that 80 per cent of their students from outside the province achieve an intermediate level of French fluency.

The judge’s ruling suggests the government did not base those policies on sufficient evidence.

A third policy that redistributes a portion of international student tuition from the English universities to other universities in Quebec was upheld by the court.

Concordia and McGill filed the case in February, 2024. At the time they described it as a last-ditch attempt to fend off rules that they said would have disproportionately negative consequences for their two universities.

Premier François Legault’s government justified the new rules as necessary to defend the French language in Montreal.

Concordia president Graham Carr said he was relieved and reassured by the judge’s decision.

Quebec tuition hike would lead to job cuts, enrolment drop, English-language universities warn

“I hope this judgment becomes an impetus for universities in Quebec, anglophone and francophone, to sit down with government and hit the reset button,” Dr. Carr said.

“The message is clear that these policies are not well founded. It’s clear that it’s doing harm to our institutions. Can we step back from that now and think collectively about what’s in the best interest of Quebec?”

McGill president Deep Saini said in a statement that the university looks forward to working with the government to comply with the ruling.

“McGill University remains firmly committed to playing an essential role in Quebec’s economy, talent pipeline, research ecosystem and to contributing to the promotion and vitality of the French language,” Dr. Saini said.

Simon Savignac, spokesman for Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry, said the government will take time to analyze the ruling before commenting publicly. There is a 30-day period to consider an appeal.

Bishop’s University, another English-language school in the province, based in Sherbrooke, was exempted from the policies because it is located in a region where the government concluded the French language is not under threat.

The rule changes created a great deal of confusion for prospective students. Both McGill and Concordia reported receiving about 20 per cent to 25 per cent fewer applications from Canadians outside Quebec last year.

Both universities created scholarships to allow new students to bridge the tuition difference of about $3,000 a year, as a way of preserving enrolment from across the country.

Dr. Carr said the two universities faced a difficult decision and took no pleasure in placing this matter before the courts.

“It was extremely frustrating in the period leading up to that time. We would share data with the government that refuted claims that they were making, or we would ask them to provide data to justify the claims they were making and the data was never there,” Dr. Carr said.

He also said Concordia has for years been fully committed to helping and encouraging students from outside the province stay in Quebec, learn the French language, integrate and find work.

The requirement that 80 per cent of students from outside Quebec achieve intermediate French fluency came with potentially significant financial penalties for any shortfall. The universities said the additional instruction required to achieve that target could have amounted to an extra term of study.

The court did rule in the government’s favour on its policy for redistributing international tuition revenue. Dr. Carr said that the new system imposed by the government means that Concordia now receives about $6,000 less in revenue for every international student.

Instead, those funds are clawed back by the government and redistributed to other universities across Quebec.

“The financial impact has been very serious for us,” Dr. Carr said.