Quebec's English-language universities say they will ensure almost half of their non-French speaking students graduate with intermediate French if the provincial government scraps a plan to double tuition for students from other provinces. Quebec Premier François Legault, centre, is flanked by Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry, left, and HEC chair Helene Desmarais in Montreal, on Sept. 15.
But the government said it remains firm that Quebec taxpayers should not subsidize lower fees for students from outside the province. “It’s not up to Quebec taxpayers to finance the training of thousands of Canadian students from outside Quebec,” she said, referring to the government’s claim that the current $9,000 tuition is about half of what it costs the province to educate a university student.universities have been outspoken about what they describe as the potentially devastating financial consequences of the government’s planned changes to tuition fees, announced in mid-October.
The leadership of several francophone schools have also critiqued the tuition policy, saying it’s not the way to address underfunding in the postsecondary system and citing the importance of maintaining a stance of openness to attract talent to Quebec.