McGill and Concordia are suing Quebec over tuition hikes — here’s what that means for students
McGill and Concordia universities have filed separate lawsuits against the Quebec government, urging the courts to cancel tuition hikes.
McGill University announced the lawsuit on Friday morning, following a unanimous vote at a board meeting on February 15.
“We are undertaking this legal action because we believe that these measures are illegal and if upheld, will threaten McGill’s mission, its place as one of the world’s top universities and its vital role in Quebec,” said Deep Saini, president and vice chancellor of McGill, in a news release.
McGill launches legal challenge against government measureshttps://t.co/mahI6VfUg1
L’Université McGill conteste les mesures gouvernementales devant les tribunauxhttps://t.co/JH7EEz77ah pic.twitter.com/2ygCZNYD6d
— McGill University (@mcgillu) February 23, 2024
The universities are challenging two measures announced by the provincial government last December.
The first is Quebec’s mandated tuition increase for out-of-province Canadian students in undergraduate and master’s programs.
The second is the government’s changes to “the funding model” for international students in undergraduate and master’s programs.
McGill says that the announcement of these tuition policies in October 2023 caused applications from students outside of Quebec to drop by more than 20% compared to the previous year. Applications from international undergrads dropped by over 5%.
“In addition to the financial impacts these measures will have on McGill, we are hearing from our recruiters that these measures are making students think twice about coming to Quebec,” added Saini.
“I find this particularly distressing, considering how warm and hospitable I have found Quebecers to be, and how much employers want and need these highly talented young people.”
The province’s higher education minister, Pascale Déry, has said that the tuition hikes would help increase funding and balance the French and English-speaking student bodies.
If you’re an out-of-province or international student thinking of applying to either of these schools, here’s what you should know.
What this McGill and Concordia tuition hike lawsuit means for students
While these academic institutions have their bottom line in mind, the lawsuit will also hopefully benefit prospective student’s ability to afford an education at these schools.
Under Quebec’s current tuition measures (which are set to be implemented this fall), fees would be raised by 30% from around $9,000 to a minimum of $12,000 per year for out-of-province students.
International students at McGill or Concordia will have to pay a minimum tuition fee of $20,000. The provincial government will collect about $3,000 in fees.
On top of that, Quebec is also demanding that 80% of out-of-province and international students learn French. They’ll be required to demonstrate a level 5 oral proficiency (or the ability to hold a conversation) by the end of undergrad.
The lawsuit is mainly asking the court to suspend the application of the two measures involving tuition hikes, arguing that the policies:
- Constitute discrimination under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
- Were an unreasonable exercise of the powers of the minister of higher education since they were incompatible with the mission assigned to her by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology Act.
- Were adopted following inadequate consultation and an unfair process.
- Constitute a disguised and illegal tax, which is being imposed without the authorization of the National Assembly.
- Create unconstitutional barriers to interprovincial trade, thereby limiting student mobility, choice of university and access to education.
McGill and Concordia have also submitted proposed improvements to the new tuition model.
Concordia outlined the improvements in an announcement released last December.
In terms of tuition, the institutions suggested a three-tier solution for Canadian undergraduate students who aren’t Quebec residents.
“Depending on the discipline, to maintain the competitiveness of Quebec universities with those of universities in other provinces: $9,000, $14,000 and $20,000,” reads the release.
“Arts, education and science programs would be in the lower tier, for example, engineering programs would be in the middle tier, while medicine, pharmacy and law programs would be in the highest tier.”
The schools also suggested slightly lowering the French language mandate to have 40% of non-French speaking students achieve level 6 proficiency by the time they graduate.
“We hope that the government will seriously consider our enhanced proposal, and work with universities to develop a policy that benefits all of them, and is good for our society and economy,” stated Graham Carr, president of Concordia University.
Would you still attend these universities with these policies in place? Let us know in the comments.