(Montreal) McGill University said on Tuesday it will offer new students from other provinces a $3,000 annual scholarship to offset the $3,000 tuition increase imposed by the Quebec government.
Posted at 5:05 p.m.
The English-speaking University of Montreal says that approximately 80% of Canadian students who apply to McGill are eligible for this scholarship, which will be offered starting from the 2024-2025 academic year. The new “Pan-Canadian Scholarship” of $3,000 is paid for a maximum of four years of study.
The university is trying to maintain its registrations despite François Legault's government planning to increase tuition fees for students from outside the province.
The Quebec government announced on October 13 that Canadian students starting their English studies in Quebec in the fall of 2024 would pay the equivalent of what the government costs for their education, which is $17,000 per year instead of $9,000. Dollar.
The CAQ government wants to slow the anglicization of Montreal and correct the imbalance in funding for English-speaking institutions compared to French-speaking universities. The new tuition fees would be reinvested in the network of French-speaking universities to welcome more French-speaking international students.
But on Dec. 14, Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry reduced the increase for students from outside the province studying English in Quebec from $17,000 to $12,000.
The minister will also require McGill and Concordia universities to ensure that, from 2025, 80% of new enrollees in an English studies program reach “level 5” orally on the Quebec scale of French proficiency by the end of their first cycle.
McGill president and vice-chancellor Deep Saini said in a news release Tuesday that the University of Montreal's success rested on its ability to attract talent from Quebec, Canada and around the world. He says this scholarship will allow McGill to remain “one of the greatest universities in the world.”
Mr. Saini says the Canada-wide scholarship will require some financial sacrifice from the university, but adds that welcoming students from across Canada is part of McGill's DNA.
The scholarship is awarded to Canadian students in the arts, agricultural and environmental sciences, music, education, architecture, nursing and most science programs.
“We are doing everything in our power to make McGill and Montreal degrees accessible to students across Canada,” said Fabrice Labeau, first associate director of academics and student life at McGill.
At Minister Déry's office on Tuesday, the spokesman said that McGill “is free to provide scholarships from its resources to its students.”
“Nevertheless, the minister would like to count on your cooperation to implement the announced measures,” wrote Valérie Chamula, chief of staff to the minister of higher education.