Judge overturns Quebec’s tuition hikes on out-of-province students 

A Quebec Superior Court judge has overturned the province’s attempt to raise tuition and impose French language requirements on Canadian university students from outside of Quebec. 

Judge Éric Dufour granted McGill and Concordia universities a partial victory by invalidating changes that the Higher Education Ministry made to its budgetary rules in October 2023.  

Under the new rules, tuition for out-of-province students was increased by 33 per cent, from $9,000 to $12,000, and required 80 per cent of these students to reach an intermediate level of French by graduation. International students were also impacted, with their minimum tuition set to $20,000. 

In his decision, Judge Dufour said the ministry failed to provide data supporting its assertion that out-of-province students were not integrating into Quebec society. The current fee structure will be maintained, however, with the ministry given a nine-month window to make amendments.  

The French language requirement was invalidated immediately “given the near-certain impossibility of achievement,” according to the ruling. 

Increases to international student tuition will remain unchanged. Judge Dufour deemed it reasonable for the province to want to balance funding between French and English universities as the latter attract more international students who pay higher tuition. 

Higher Education Minister Pascale Dery’s office did not respond to comment at the time of writing. The ministry has 30 days to appeal the decision. 

McGill, Concordia universities react to ruling  

The regulations had followed months of negotiations between the English-speaking institutions and the province to find an agreement. By August of 2024, Concordia reported that the university’s out of province enrolment had dropped by 28 per cent. 

“Although I find little satisfaction in today’s decision – we were left no option but to challenge the government’s policies on legal grounds – I am reassured by the court’s findings,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Graham Carr in a memo to Concordia’s community members. 

The president wrote that the university would continue to analyze the impact of the ruling on English-speaking institutions and the Quebec university network. He also reiterated Concordia’s “ongoing commitment to supporting our students’ efforts to achieve French-language proficiency.” 

A similar message was sent to the McGill community by President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini. McGill kept enrolment relatively stable – a drop of only 8 per cent in 2024 – by admitting more Quebec students and introducing a new scholarship to offset out-of-province tuition hikes. 

“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 validity of the French language,” wrote Dr. Saini. 

Etienne Paré, president of the Quebec Student Union, said he is not surprised by the decision and that the mandates had sent the wrong message about studying in Quebec. 

“The judge mostly said what we have been saying for a year-and-a-half, that the tuition hike made no sense,” he said. “The government is not sending the right message to people – if you want them to integrate more, if you want them to learn French, if you want them to become a part of Quebec society, this isn’t the way to do so.” 

Mr. Paré said his union continues to oppose the tuition minimum for international students. “It’s not normal that we use international students to compensate for us because the government doesn’t invest in our universities.”