Quebec student groups demand paid internships amid rising living costs

Facing soaring food prices and an escalating housing crisis, Quebec student associations are urgently calling on the provincial government to fund internships required for post-secondary training, warning that students' financial survival is on the line.

The Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ) and the Union étudiante du Québec (UEQ) launched a campaign Monday in Chicoutimi, Que., north of Quebec City, that roughly translates as, "Let's shift the burden of insecurity."

The student groups are reiterating a request that has been made many times over the years.

In Quebec, 80 per cent of internships are unpaid. Some training courses also require more internships than others, such as university training in teaching, which requires four internships.

The student groups say students therefore find themselves in a situation where they are doing an internship while studying at the same time, without being able to work.

FEC president Antoine Dervieux said there was hope this year after a motion was unanimously approved in the National Assembly last year denouncing the situation, but nothing has changed.

"We were promised that there would be changes with the budget. Then, when the budget came, we were told that they had made choices, and that the choices they had made were not the remuneration of internships," he said.

"It left interns disappointed. It left interns still exhausted. So, the only change we saw was the inequality gap that continues to widen."

Student groups also argue that the current student financial aid system is inadequate. They say the amounts awarded do not reflect reality, and the calculation is difficult to follow.

Several factors come into play for students, including their parents' income, their program of study; whether both parents support them, and how many children in the household are in school.

The associations are calling for an overhaul of this system, according to Marilou Lévesque, the external affairs co-ordinator at Cégep de Chicoutimi.

"There are good intentions, of course. Except that these are amounts that have not been changed for decades, and these are amounts that were already unrealistic," said Lévesque.

"I have already done the calculations. My parents are supposed to be able to give me $60,000. I don't know where they would find it."

Quebec Minister of Higher Education spokesperson Catherine Grondin said the ministry is sensitive.

However, Catherine Grondin said paying for internships in the public sector is a costly measure and that it isn't easily paid for at the moment.

Instead, the government has chosen to invest significantly in new collective agreements for professionals in the public sector to make their conditions much more attractive, she said.

Since 2020, we have announced enhancements to student financial aid (AFE) amounting to nearly $400 million per year, she said.

Grondin said Quebec students can benefit from the lowest tuition fees in the country.

"We have also made great efforts to raise awareness of the AFE program, which resulted in a 12 percent increase in applications compared to last year," she said. "We have always supported students in need, and we will continue to do so."