MONTREAL – A group of French-language university heads in Quebec is coming to the defence of English schools who say a planned tuition hike for out-of-province students could devastate their finances.
The leaders of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, Polytechnique Montréal and HEC Montréal criticize the plan in an open letter published in La Presse today.
They denounce “any measure that would put the very existence of a university at risk.”
They also criticize what they describe as characterizations of non-Quebec students as “cash cows” and threats to the French language by proponents of the tuition hike.
Tuition for new students from other provinces would increase from about $9,000 to around $17,000 starting next fall under the Quebec government plan.
The measure is expected to mostly affect the province’s three English universities, McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s, which welcome more non-Quebec students than French universities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2023.
