(Montreal) Following McGill's lead, Concordia University announced Friday it will offer financial aid of up to $4,000 to new students from other provinces next fall.
Posted at 1:07 p.m.
In a press release issued on Friday, the University of Montreal explains that it is introducing this new scholarship program in response to the $3,000 increase in tuition fees imposed by the Quebec government for students from outside the province, which was so imposed by studies could be held in Montreal.
According to Concordia, students are automatically considered for the scholarship, which can be extended for the duration of their undergraduate studies as long as they maintain their academic status. However, the value of the scholarship depends on the student's average grade at the time of admission to Concordia; This amount can range from $1,500 for a B- to $4,000 for an A+.
The university also announced Friday a new one-time $2,000 scholarship for students leaving a university in another province to study in Montreal.
“We want to ensure that Concordia remains the preferred destination for French- and English-speaking students from other parts of Canada,” said the university's president and vice-chancellor, Graham Carr, in the press release.
Concordia's announcement follows a similar offer from McGill announced Tuesday. Montreal's other English-speaking university will begin offering a $3,000 scholarship to students from other provinces in most departments next year.
McGill fears a drop in enrollment due to Quebec's tuition increase. The university sent an email to its former students Thursday asking for donations to cover the increase.
François Legault's government announced in October that Canadian students starting their English studies in Quebec in September 2024 will pay the equivalent of what their education costs the government, $17,000 a year instead of $9,000. However, two months later, Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry reduced this increase from $17,000 to $12,000.
The new $12,000 tuition fee for Canadian students outside Quebec is set to take effect in fall 2024, with the exception of Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec's only English-speaking university outside Montreal.
Minister Déry also requires McGill and Concordia to require that, from 2025, 80% of new entrants to an English study program reach “Level 5” on the Quebec scale of French proficiency orally at the end of their first cycle.
With these measures, the Legault government aims to curb the anglicization of downtown Montreal and correct the imbalance in funding for English- and French-speaking universities. The increase in tuition fees would therefore be used to further finance the French-speaking network.