Charter of the French Language

By Trevor Greenway

Every school year staff at Heritage College take a “calculated risk” when enrolling students into classes to avoid hefty fines from the province, says its new director-general. 

Bill 96 – now Law 14, the province’s overhaul of the Charter of the French Language, passed in 2022 – places enrollment caps on English CEGEPS across the province, preventing schools like Heritage College from expanding its programs and growing its student population. 

Heritage College is capped at 1,198 students, and if the college accepts between one and 50 additional students, they face a $7,000 fine from the province. However, if they go over by 50 or more additional students, the fine doubles to $14,000 per student. 

“So you really have to be careful, right? Because you can’t let somebody in and then tell them that they can’t study here,” said Heritage College’s new director-general Lisa Peldjak. 

She explained the college’s dilemma under Bill 96: “You never know from one year to the next. It’s a calculated risk to think about how many students are going to stay on another year. How many are going to leave after that first year so you have an idea how many you can admit? And then, between the time they accept their letter of admission to the first day of class, how many do we historically lose? And then we are hoping that we’ve done the right calculation to be as close to that cap as possible.”

The enrollment caps have been a major barrier to the College’s growth, Peldjak said, as enrollment numbers used to be around $1,500 pre-Bill 96 – and growing. This allowed Heritage to grow in the past, adding programs like women’s hockey and ultimate frisbee. But the caps have stifled future growth, she said, as the fear of additional French classes for students made Ontario students initially reluctant to cross the river. 

Peldjak said the school has done a good job of sending the message that anglophone students are welcome at Heritage College. 

“There were students who were afraid of coming here, especially that first year – the francophones, the non-certificate holders, because there was a misunderstanding that they weren’t allowed to come here or how many French courses they have to take,” explained Peldjak. “But this year we had even more from the anglophone population. Once that first group went through, they were talking with friends and realizing it’s not detrimental to their successes.”

New cohort more prepared than COVID kids

Director-general Peldjak told the Low Down that the wave of new students entering Heritage College this year is far more prepared than the past few years of students who were feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and years of virtual learning. 

However, this new crop of students were in elementary school when COVID was at its peak, and while they lost some social time with their friends, they didn’t lose the full high-school experience that prepares teenagers for college. 

“They had more of their experience in high school and not that online component,” said Peldjak, adding that the school broke a record for the number of students who attended orientation day this year. “They seem to be more well-adjusted and not as dependent on waiting to be told what to do or where to go or being guided in every single direction. They seem very comfortable here; smiling faces – just the overall vibe between the students, the faculty coming back, the vibe has been great.”

Peldjak said she is a firm believer on day one of school being a positive experience, as that lays the foundation for a successful academic year. She said she understands that the “fear of the unknown can be crippling,” and the school does everything it can to make students feel comfortable and safe during the entire year but especially during that first week. 

Budget cuts hurt colleges

In June of this year, Quebec’s Education Ministry announced that it was cutting $150 million in funding for Quebec’s 48 CEGEPs – money that has forced Heritage College to cut contract workers. Peldjak said the school eliminated up to six contract positions but was able to keep all permanent staff employed through the cuts. 

“The $150 million cuts in post secondary education, the student cap, the capping of our total hours worked, as well as the recruitment freeze, has had significant impacts in services, some more than others. We can’t control that – it is our regional reality,” she said, continuing, “So [we’re] making sure that whatever it is that [students] need to be successful moving forward [they have], even in spite of the budget cuts.”