With today’s ridiculously low prices, the truth is that a Canadian student comes to study in the arms of Quebecers. This windfall costs the Quebec Treasury $100 million each year to train Canadian students.
That the Quebec government wants to revise the fee schedule for Canadian and foreign students at all universities, both French and English, is therefore simply normal.
For example, why is McGill University outraged at the idea of charging Canadian students $17,000 to study on its campus? At $17,000 for a baccalaureate course at McGill, Canadian students will still benefit greatly from a high-quality education at reduced costs compared to a foreign student who has to pay between $19,505 and $55,621 per year. according to the program of study to study at McGill.
- Listen to Elsie Lefebvre’s column via Radio QUB :
Paying what it costs is normal
That Quebec has chosen to keep tuition rates low for its population to compensate for a historic lag in graduation rates is one thing. It is a collective choice that we finance with our taxes. If Quebec chooses to open its doors to Canadians or foreigners and if they pay what it costs us to train them, that is the basis.
A question of public finances
It is strange, then, to hear the leaders of English-speaking universities outraged by the fact that the Quebec government now wants to charge the fair cost of university studies in Quebec for people who have not contributed their taxes to finance a university network of quality and affordable Has Quebec become so rich that it has the means to fund students from other provinces at a discount? To ask the question is to answer it.
Above all, beyond the cost to the public treasury of Quebec, it is also Montreal that suffers in terms of its language. Remember that 82% of Canadian students choose to study in English. This tide of English-speaking students congregating at the gates of McGill and Concordia has real and documented impacts on the French-speaking side of the metropolis. The Anglophone lobby is powerful, we hope the CAQ can resist it.
