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mcgill, concordia in the dark over quebec plan to cut international students
quebec's higher education minister says english universities won't be specifically "targeted" by a coming bill.
aug 20 2024
5 minute read
until a few days before major tuition changes were announced by the quebec government last year, mcgill and concordia were oblivious.
john mahoney
/
montreal gazette
still reeling from last year’s overhaul of quebec university funding, mcgill and concordia say they don’t know yet whether they’ll be affected by a new plan to limit the number of international students allowed to study in montreal.
premier françois legault announced on tuesday that his government will introduce legislation in the fall to cut down on students from other countries.
in response to a reporter’s question, legault would not say whether mcgill and concordia would be affected, noting details will be made public in the coming weeks. on wednesday, higher education minister pascale déry said the two english institutions would not be “targeted.”
among quebec universities, mcgill and concordia have the highest number of international students.
as of fall 2023, mcgill had 10,700 students from other countries, while concordia had 9,200. université de montréal is the french university with the highest international enrolment — 7,300.
“we heard the announcement but have no further details than what was said at the press conference,” concordia spokesperson vannina maestracci said. “concordia was not directly consulted on the possibility of tabling a bill.”
she said concordia has experienced a decline in international student registrations in the last few years and expects a big drop this fall.
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as of this week, undergraduate registrations for international students at concordia are down 10 per cent compared with the same time last year, maestracci said. between 2022 and 2023, international enrolment fell by one per cent.
in a statement to the gazette, mcgill said it trusts that “institutions which have consistently engaged in ethical and sustainable recruitment practices will not be the focus of the proposed legislation.”
the university said international students provide “tremendous value, thanks to their contributions to research and quebec’s economic and social development. we remain firmly committed to attracting, supporting and retaining the best and brightest talent.”
mcgill said the quebec government should “recognize the crucial importance of these contributions, as well as the complexity of the processes involved in attracting, selecting and hosting international students.”
quebec intends to cut the number of international students as part of a plan to reduce the number of non-permanent residents in the province, who it says are contributing to the housing crisis, straining public services and threatening the french language.
the number of international students residing in quebec has almost doubled in the last six years.
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when he announced the plan, legault in part blamed private colleges that are “abusing the system.” some colleges charge tens of thousands in tuition to foreign students hoping to attain permanent residency.
legault said mcgill and concordia are not among those abusing the system.
on wednesday, déry said the two universities are not being singled out.
“we’re not targeting english institutions,” she told reporters in quebec city. “everyone is targeted or everyone is concerned by this potential measure, by the bill that we’re going to table this fall.”
“everybody is concerned. we’re working very, very closely with everybody, with the cegeps, the private cegeps, public cegeps, the universities, anglophones, francophones.
“everyone knows exactly what our intentions are and we are going to continue to have those discussions.”
déry said she could not be more specific about the potential impact because she does not have all the data.
“i’m not targeting any specific institution,” déry said. “there was an increase in international students in the last year but we can see also there is a small decrease of international students in our english institutions compared to the francophone institutions.
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“so these are all preliminary numbers that i have. i really need to have all the official numbers to be able to see exactly what the tendency is.”
déry said the plan should not come as a surprise to institutions because she made a point of telling them in advance that a bill was in the works. she said she also had an aug. 12 meeting with mcgill president deep saini to inform him.
“the network is fully aware of our intentions,” déry said. “we communicated with the bci (bureau de coopération interuniversitaire) as well as the fédération des cégeps.”
déry said the government realized recently that it does not have the tools in hand to limit the number of international students and that explains why a bill is in the works.
quebec will proceed carefully, she said.
“i am very aware of the important contribution international students bring to our institutions, whether they are in the regions or elsewhere. they are important for the economy of quebec. we will be careful.”
she refused to specify a number that quebec would like to see cut. she said groups will be able to express their views during hearings after the legislation is tabled.
the bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (bci), which brings together 20 quebec universities, discussed the issue with déry this summer and was informed that a bill would be tabled in the fall, it said wednesday, adding the bci, whose members include mcgill and concordia, will participate in consultations on the bill.
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last fall, the caq government announced a plan to reduce the number of non-french-speaking students from other provinces who attend concordia and mcgill.
the two universities have warned the changes could lead to tens of millions of dollars in cuts.
quebec imposed a 33-per-cent tuition hike on out-of-province students who study at mcgill and concordia, making the universities less competitive. mcgill says the new rate is about double what it costs to study in arts and science programs at the university of toronto and the university of british columbia.
in addition, changes to international student funding rules will result in a loss of $5,000 per foreign student for concordia and mcgill.
as of fall 2025, mcgill and concordia will also be required to have 80 per cent of their undergraduate students from outside quebec reach an intermediate level of french by graduation. failure to meet the target will result in financial penalties.
the changes are part of the caq government’s effort to increase funding for french universities and reduce the number of non-french speakers in montreal post-secondary institutions.
the government has complained too much english is being spoken on montreal streets, with non-french-speaking students partly to blame.
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