By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Quebec’s CEGEP network is heading into the new academic year facing deep budget cuts, a hiring freeze, and mounting workloads—conditions that union leaders warn will diminish services for students and strain staff across the province.
Éric Cyr, president of the Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges (FPPC-CSQ), said in an interview the situation is especially concerning for professional staff, who play a key role alongside teachers and support personnel in student success. “This fall our members are going back to school and they’re kind of nervous because there’s been a lot of cuts in the past year. For example, just since last May, 91 of our members have been cut,” he said. The losses come amid what he described as a $151-million reduction in funding since May.
The cuts arrive at a time when CEGEPs are seeing steady growth in student numbers. According to Cyr, the system is “receiving more and more students every year,” creating a collision between increasing demand and shrinking resources. He added that the trend is expected to continue for the next five years, with growing cohorts in both pre-university and technical programs.
The pressure is especially acute in English-language CEGEPs, where staff must also meet additional obligations under Bill 14, legislation that extends French language requirements in the education sector. Cyr noted that implementing and complying with the law “gives them a lot of extra work… and less staff to do the work.” The result, he said, is “a lot of new demands on the staff” paired with shrinking teams, making it harder to maintain service levels.
Cyr stressed that many CEGEPs have dipped into their reserves to maintain essential services, softening the immediate impact. “The numbers I’m giving you would have been much higher if it was not for the CEGEPs who have taken money from their reserves to preserve services,” he explained. But these reserves are finite, and the hiring freeze imposed last November remains in effect. Even when positions become vacant due to retirements or departures, they may be left unfilled—further eroding capacity in the months ahead. “The current situation will probably be worse a month from now,” Cyr warned.
The FPPC-CSQ conducted a review over the summer and found that roughly half of the eliminated positions were in administrative or back-office roles, such as accountants and other professional staff whose work supports institutional operations. However, the other half directly assisted students and teachers. Among those lost are psychologists, student life counsellors, and adapted services counsellors—staff who provide crucial accommodations for students with diagnosed learning needs or disabilities.
“These are direct services that have to be cut because CEGEPs don’t have the money to keep them,” Cyr said. While some basic services remain, “there are less people to offer them,” meaning students could face longer wait times or fewer options for support. He added that in some cases, students might be forced to seek help in the private sector—an option not all can afford.
Cyr emphasised that both students and staff ultimately bear the brunt of these cuts. “We really think that there’s a limit to what our colleagues can do. You cannot do more with less—it becomes impossible.” He fears the combination of heavier workloads and fewer resources could lead to burnout and higher absenteeism among those who remain, further undermining service delivery.
Addressing the challenges, Cyr called for greater dialogue with the Ministry of Higher Education. He noted that the spring cuts were announced abruptly, leaving institutions scrambling to adjust. The government’s argument, he said, was that CEGEPs could absorb the reductions, but in reality, the cuts represented about five per cent of their budgets. “You still have to have teachers in every class… there’s a limit where you can absorb those cuts,” he said.
In the short term, Cyr believes dialogue could help identify temporary solutions to manage the strain. But in the long run, he said, more funding will be unavoidable. “Eventually there are more students in the CEGEP network every year… it’s supposed to be like that for the next five years. Eventually it’s going to take more money. You can’t do more with less.”
Cyr also urged students and parents to speak out when services are lacking, stressing the importance of demanding the support that should be available. “Oftentimes when you’re in CEGEP you’re 17, 18, 19 years old… if in your CEGEP there’s no psychologist or there’s nobody to answer your questions at the library, students have a government body,” he said, suggesting they should raise their concerns with student unions about the reduction in services.
He reminded that these supports exist for a reason: to help students succeed and graduate. “Inside the province of Quebec we need students to get a diploma,” he said, noting that strong graduation rates are essential to meeting the province’s economic and workforce needs.
While the coming year remains uncertain, Cyr expressed hope that the situation is temporary and that the government might reconsider its approach, as it has recently in other parts of the education sector. “Not all the money CEGEPs would want to have,” he said, “but enough money to make them function properly.”
The FPPC-CSQ represents more than 2,200 professional staff in 38 CEGEPs across Quebec. It is part of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec, which represents over 225,000 members province-wide, including educators, health and social service workers, and other public-sector employees.