Update on Government of Quebec’s changes to tuition fees

Dear Concordians,

I’m writing to express my shock and disappointment at today’s announcement by the Government of Quebec, stating its intention to significantly increase the tuition fees paid by out-of-province and international students studying at Quebec’s traditionally English-speaking universities. The government went on to say they will then claw back these fees in order to redirect funding to francophone institutions. The decision is ill-considered, misguided and based on erroneous data. I can confirm that the government neither consulted nor engaged with us at any point to assess the feasibility or possible impact of the proposed changes.

As a university, our goal is always to promote the widest possible access to education, and we consider students, during and after their studies, to be great assets for Quebec. Perhaps the most troubling message the government sends with this decision is that long-standing excellence in teaching, research and training highly qualified personnel — regardless of the language or languages in which that happens — poses a threat to our collective future as Quebecers.

Thanks to both its French and English institutions, Montreal is one of the world’s top destinations for university studies. The measures announced today, coupled with the recent changes to the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ), will at best discourage thousands of out-of-province and international students from choosing Quebec. At worst, they’ll prevent the very best talent from Canada and around the globe from coming here simply because they can’t afford it. In either case, the measures are counterproductive at a time when there are well-documented labour shortages in numerous essential and innovative economic sectors.

For many of us at Concordia, the Government of Quebec’s antagonism toward its universities is particularly disheartening. Concordia is a university of and for Quebec. We are deeply committed to protecting and promoting French, whether it’s through our expansion of the Réussir en français program, our adding “valorisation du français” to a member of our leadership team’s mandate, or our commitment to experiential learning opportunities for all students, a significant number of which take place in Quebec and in French. The government has a willing ally in Concordia; it’s a shame that it would trade a promising partnership for political points.

Concordia will carry on in good faith, offering solutions that strengthen our French-language initiatives while also reiterating our position to the government. However, at the same time, our community needs to prepare to pivot as the dire financial consequences of the changes become clear.

With your help, Concordia will continue to excel despite these latest challenges. I’m confident in this fact, because flexibility, resilience and a dedication to our students have always been part of who we are.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We have started analyzing the impact of these decisions. I will come back to you with an update on our current and future budget situation in the coming days.

Graham Carr  
President and Vice-Chancellor