Is Quebec right to assume out-of-province students will still come when tuition doubles?
Universities, private sector concerned but minister says she's confident
The news that it was going to cost a lot more for out-of-province students to attend a Quebec university next year sparked strong reaction and raised questions about the plan's impact.
Quebec announced it would be charging approximately $17,000 per year for Canadian students to attend university in Quebec, compared to the current cost of just under $9,000.
Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry and Premier François Legault have framed the policy as a way to stop Quebec taxpayers from subsidizing anglophone students who come from elsewhere in the country to study in Montreal, many of whom then leave without learning French or contributing to the province.
Legault said those students contribute to the decline of French in the province.
When negative reaction started to pour in from McGill, Concordia and Bishop's universities, Montreal's mayor, students and the Montreal chamber of commerce — all concerned that the hike would mean fewer students would come to Montreal — Déry said she was confident that English universities would remain competitive and continue to be able to attract students.
"They will still come," she told CBC Daybreak. "I'm pretty sure they will still come."
We decided to look into that:
Will Quebec's English universities remain competitive with universities in the rest of the country, as the minister says?
For most programs, no; they will be significantly more expensive.
Let's look at two examples: At Toronto Metropolitan University, right now, Ontario students pay roughly between $7,000 and $11,000 per year for a degree. Out-of-province students there pay between $8,000 and $12,500.
At the University of British Columbia, tuition for Canadian students ranges from about $5,800 to $10,000 per year.
The cost of studying at a Quebec university will be closer to $17,000 for out-of-province students as of next year.
"Over a fairly short period of time, Quebec has gone from the most affordable to the least affordable for out-of-province students in the country. That's a remarkable shift," said Erika Shaker, the director of the national office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
But Montreal isn't Toronto or Vancouver. The cost of living is lower, so that is one factor to consider. Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that a one-bedroom apartment in 2022 cost at least $500 less in Montreal than in either of those two cities. The data isn't out yet for 2023.
And there are degrees that, even with the increase, will still be cheaper in Quebec.
If an Ontario resident was deciding between McGill University and the University of Toronto (U of T), to study law, for example, they might have a harder financial decision to make.
It would cost them $33,040 per year to study at U of T — even as a domestic undergraduate from Ontario.
Compare that to McGill University, where, next year, it's expected to cost somewhere around the $17,000 mark — still far less than U of T.
Some programs, like medicine, are also still relatively expensive in Quebec, even for Quebecers, costing between $10,000 and $20,000 per year in tuition and fees at McGill University. Concordia does not have a medical school. At this point, it's not clear how much the price of those programs will increase with the new government rules.
So, will they still come?
It may be too early to know for sure, but students and parents who spoke to CBC since the announcement of the tuition hikes said the price would be, at the very least, a major sticking point.
Dianne Bassendowski, a B.C. resident who owns a home in Knowlton, Que., said her daughter had just received her acceptance letter to Bishop's University and was excited to go there next year.
They were ready to pay the out-of-province student rate, which they felt was fair.
"Having it doubled is just unbelievable," Bassendowski said. "We just want to pay the same tuition that people in Quebec would pay if they came to B.C."
Now, Bishop's isn't in the cards for her daughter, she said. They are looking at other, less expensive universities in the rest of Canada.
But Bassendowski's case might be an exception, according to at least one expert.
Olivier Bégin-Caouette, an assistant professor in the department of administration and foundations of education at Université de Montréal, said he thinks a Quebec university education will still be good value, considering the reputation of those institutions and the high cost of studying in, for example, a university in the United States.
"Will some students reconsider? Maybe, from other provinces and other countries," he said.
"I'm pretty sure a lot of students will put all those factors in and say, it's still worth it."
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