Quebec government

Tuition strikes: student mobilization underway

This graphic is incomplete, check in with your association on current strike status. Graphic Panos Michalakopoulos

Maria Cholakova
Local Journalism Initiative

In the past two weeks, the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) and fellow student associations at Concordia have been mobilizing students to vote, attend general assemblies, spread the word and encourage students to protest the Quebec government’s tuition hikes. 

According to Angelica Antonakopoulos, the academic coordinator at ASFA, this is a crucial time for the student movement to come together in a university-wide strike. 

“[Striking] places a lot of economic stress on the government because the government subsidizes education in Quebec […]So if you’re placing this imminent threat of cancelling a semester, the government will have to re-subsidize the students that got held back while also subsidizing a new cohort of students coming in,” Antonakopoulos said. 

She continued to explain that apart from the government having to re-invest funds, strikes are withholding an entire group of students from graduating and entering the workforce, which would have a significant effect on the economy.

Currently, 14,524 students  are striking from March 11 to 15. In the upcoming days, five associations (Urban Planning Association, Concordia Association Psychology Association, Concordia Religion Student Association, Political Science Student Association, Sustainability and Diversity Student Association) are holding GAs for students to vote on striking. 

However, getting students to mobilize has been a challenge, according to Antonakopoulos.

“Nowadays, especially post-COVID, it’s really difficult to convince folks to do anything outside the immediate scope of their academic affairs,” she said. 

Antonakopoulos added that Concordia hasn’t been too open to the idea of students striking. 

“Concordia has done a very elegant job at making any disruption to regular academic life seem like the end of the world, which is why a lot of students are very wary toward striking,” she said. 

However, ASFA is not backing down. According to Antonakopoulos, a demonstration during the striking week is being planned, alongside some of the smaller, independent actions that will be occurring within Concordia, like a picketing workshop on March 6 and March 8 on the seventh floor of the Hall Building. 

Tuition strikes: student mobilization underway Read More »

Concordia and McGill to sue Quebec over tuition hikes

Photo Alice Martin

Maria Cholakova
Local Journalism Initiative

On Feb. 23, Concordia President Graham Carr announced that the university is set to take legal action against the province after months of discussions with the government.

According to Carr’s statement, the decision to pursue legal action comes after months of unsuccessful talks with the government and Coalition Avenir Québec’s (CAQ) rejection of Concordia’s French language program proposal

The CAQ has reduced the increase for out-of-province students from $17,000 to $12,000. However, despite the change, Carr wrote that the provincial government “never worked with us in any substantive way to hear, let alone address, our wide-ranging concerns.”

Concordia is already feeling the effects of the hikes, with the university seeing a 27 per cent decrease in out-of-province student applications. In addition, the university is already in financial trouble, with a current deficit of $35 million, on top of the $362 million of total debt. 

Due to these challenges, Concordia is ready to take legal action, stating that they “have no choice but to pursue a just outcome.”

Concordia’s main reasons for the action are its financial troubles, the belief that “diversity is a critical driver of excellence,” the need for accessible education for all, and the importance of “equality among francophone and anglophone linguistic groups and the protection of Quebec’s minority English-language community.”

Concordia isn’t the only English university taking legal action. McGill has also pursued a similar lawsuit, although completely separate from Concordia’s. 

Apart from the Concordia administration’s efforts to put an end to the tuition hikes, student groups around campus have continued their mobilization efforts. Twelve student associations went on strike from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, and many are set to strike again from March 11 to March 15. 

Concordia and McGill to sue Quebec over tuition hikes Read More »

The reality of learning French in six months: In the aftermath of Bill 96, how are people coping to meet Quebec’s tight deadline?

Graphic Myriam Ouazzani

Leora Schertzer
Local Journalism Initiative

As a pastry cook in the Mile-End, French is part of Louisa Sollohub’s daily life. Her neighbours and coworkers are francophone, and her vocabulary including “derrière” and “chaud” has helped her get by at the restaurant.

However, working in kitchens is not Sollohub’s end goal.

Back-of-house jobs are coveted by Montreal anglophones and allophones who can’t find other work, and Sollohub is among them. She feels her current intermediate level of French is not enough to pursue her ambitions in the film industry or marketing, let alone to obtain permanent residency.  

Sollohub lives in Montreal as an American on a post-graduation work permit with hopes to immigrate to Canada. 

To improve her French, she took publicly funded French classes through Francisation Québec last winter. 

For four months she juggled two day jobs while taking French night school, but was overwhelmed by the amount of work it became. 

To support non-francophones, the Quebec government offers free French language classes through the Ministère de francisation et de l’immigration (MIFI). These French classes are full-time, running Monday through Friday for 25 to 30 hours over a ten-week session. Students can receive up to $230 per week for taking the classes under the condition that they maintain perfect attendance.

“I got burned out after maybe two sessions [of French classes],” said Sollohub. She asked the school to take a break from the classes with the intention of returning after around a month, and they promised to save her spot. However, when she tried to return to the class less than one month later, Sollohub discovered it was not possible.

Quebec implemented Bill 96 in June 2022, placing strict measures on the use of English as well as implementing changes to their public French education program. Enrollment at the public French schools is now controlled by the provincial government through a centralized online portal, Francisation Québec, and out of the hands of the individual schools. In the past, admissions were managed by each French language school. 

With the new enrollment process, Sollohub had lost her spot in the class and was put on a centralized waitlist. She was told by the MIFI that the average wait time to get a spot in the classes was three months. Being put on the waitlist eats halfway through the six-month grace period immigrants now have to access government services in English. 

The pressure for immigrants to learn French in Quebec long predates the bill, but since Bill 96 was introduced 18 months ago, new arrivals to the province now have a deadline. After six months of living in Quebec, they cannot receive any government services—including healthcare, educational services, and housing and tax ministries— in English. At a hospital, for example, doctors and nurses are meant to refuse to speak English to their patient, unless the patient provides proof that they have lived in Quebec for under six months. 

For many non-French speaking immigrants, Quebec’s imposed six-month timeline to learn French is not realistic.

According to a 2018 Cambridge study, it takes about 500 hours of guided learning to achieve basic fluency in a language, equivalent to four or five months of full-time Francisation Quebec classes. However, for many immigrants, especially those supporting families, the $230 weekly income is not enough. Sollohub, and others working multiple jobs, say the full-time class schedule is not feasible alongside full-time work.

Maya Tanatwi, an international civil engineering student at Concordia from Qatar, was also told by the MIFI that she would have to wait three months to take French classes. Upon receiving the news, Tanatwi was somewhat relieved. She said she feels overwhelmed taking full-time French classes alongside her full-time Engineering studies. “I’m pushing it, but I think it’s hopefully doable.”

It does not seem like the waitlists will shorten anytime soon. Gabriel Bélanger, the media relations director at the MIFI, confirmed in an email that “there have been no changes to the funding arrangements for French-language learning services for school service centers and school boards in 2023-2024.” He wrote that 41,438 people took Francisation Québec courses from April 1 to Sept. 30 in 2023. Bélanger did not comment on the length of the waitlist.

Stewart, who did not wish to provide his last name for privacy reasons, is the academic coordinator with the Excellence through Quality Improvement Project (E-QIP), a private language school in downtown Montreal. He said he has noticed the stress of his students rise over the last 18 months. 

“Some of the [immigrant students] are with families. Some of them have made quite large sacrifices to come,” he said. “It takes a lot of time and energy to move to another country and take up a position. And then they’re kind of threatened with the prospect of not being able to stay.”

Stewart said that in the past, what drove his students to take French classes was self-motivation. Now he believes, “it’s more of a push, not a pull.”

The high workload and new immigration rules are not the only stressors of learning French amid Bill 96. The bill has also come with a set of bureaucratic barriers.

For Sollohub, the enrollment process for the classes has been “unnecessarily difficult.” She noted that the website has been hard to navigate because ”it’s all in French,” and she still doesn’t know French well enough to understand “specific government details.”

Tantawi has struggled with this same issue. “Every type of communication you want to have with the [MIFI], it’s all in French,” she said. “So if you don’t understand French, it’s almost impossible for you to know what they’re saying.”

Sollohub additionally faced issues with submitting her paperwork required to enrol. She received a confirmation email when she signed up for the classes online but didn’t hear back for several months. 

According to Solluhub, the process to enrol is “supposed to take a long time, so I thought it was normal.” At the three-month mark she called the MIFI. She was told her documents weren’t accepted because they were submitted virtually rather than through the mail. “It was very not clear that you’re supposed to do it through the mail because they had an option to submit it virtually,” Sollohub said. 

Sollohub now has to wait another three months to take the classes.

Bélanger from the MIFI wrote in an email that the new Francisation Québec system “makes it possible to consolidate requests in a single location,” which in turn will “enable better course planning.”

If someone can’t get into the public French courses, it is likely they will have to turn to private lessons, which might not be a feasible option for everybody. The private group classes at the language school E-QIP cost $60 to $75 per person for one 45-minute lesson. For Tantawi, the zero dollar price tag for the Francisation Québec course made it the clear option. She believes, to achieve fluency by taking the private lessons, one ends up paying half of their income. “I wasn’t willing to pay that,” Tantawi said.

The types of students E-QIP attracts has changed, according to Stewart. Since Bill 96, E-QIP has drawn in many business executives and professionals from private companies. Stewart said the students “need to meet the French requirements [to immigrate] and the resources available to them for free are not enough. It won’t get them over the hump in the amount of time they need [to pass the French test for permanent residency].” 

Stewart said they receive many students at E-QIP who are dissatisfied with the public system. He said it is challenging to learn a language with more than eight people in a room, “because you’re just not getting the attention you need.”

With regard to the new language laws, Tantawi said she will leave Quebec if “that’s how they feel about us.”

“If I’m going to get paid almost the same thing in other places, why would I stay here?” 

Despite the barriers with the French language, Tantawi has appreciated the quality of education she has received at Concordia. “We get very good education,” and “we are treated fairly in Canada education-wise.”

For Sollohub, Montreal is home. 

“I have so much motivation to take classes and learn French,” said Sollohub. “I want to have a job where I’m speaking French and be part of [Montreal’s] culture.”

The reality of learning French in six months: In the aftermath of Bill 96, how are people coping to meet Quebec’s tight deadline? Read More »

Legault’s failure to protect public transit: Quebec’s resistance to fund public transit is detrimental for riders and climate

Bus stops have longer wait times caused by public transit issues. Graphic Olivia Shan

Genevieve Sylvestre
Local Journalism Initiative

Every day, I leave my apartment in the freezing cold to queue up and take a bus, followed by the metro, followed by another bus, or, God forbid, the Concordia shuttle. The problem: as I approach my bus stop, I notice the line is unusually long on a daily basis.

The bus I was supposed to take is late, as are all the ones after it, which seems to be the new norm. Instead of a bus passing every five minutes, three to four busses pass every fifteen to twenty minutes, and they are all filled to the brim with passengers.

If this sounds all too familiar, it’s not just you. According to data from the Sociéte de Transport de Montréal (STM), around a quarter of all buses are late. On average, only 78.3 per cent of all buses were on time in 2023 so far, and 74.9 per cent were on time in the month of September. Overall, buses this year are consistently more likely to be late than at the same time in 2022, and the yearly average has not been this low since 2019.

The potential reduction in the STM’s services came after Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault announced that the province’s capital would only fund 20 per cent of the cost of public transit in Montreal. Since this, Guilbault has agreed to cover 70 per cent of the cost, but that is still less than what the city asked for. 

Indeed, the ten regional transit agencies had asked for $300 million dollars, but the Quebec government is only offering to pay $265 million dollars, with $238 million dollars going to the city of Montreal. That is $35 million dollars less than what public transit agencies requested.  

The number of people using public transit in the city has not gone back to pre-pandemic levels, a huge blow to the STM budget. Even with the new offer from Guilbault, the STM still has a hole in its budget. If the STM cannot find the money, it will have to cut back on services, although the transit provider claims that it should not impact buses or the metro. 

For people who have to take multiple forms of public transit back to back, this tardiness compounds. A few minutes means missing a metro or maybe even the next bus, leading to even more wasted time and an increased risk of being late.

It is true that passengers can always leave earlier, but doing so can add 15 to 20 minutes to one’s daily commute, which can add up to two hours every week.  As someone who already spends around three hours commuting to Loyola campus every day, I would much rather spend those two hours sleeping or doing literally anything else besides waiting. 

This decrease in quality is especially frustrating considering STM fairs are rising rapidly. The cost of a monthly pass jumped from $94 to $97 in July 2023—a three per cent increase—while single passes jumped from $3.50 to $3.75. 

These hikes put additional pressure on commuters amidst a cost of living crisis, especially as the quality of services goes down. And with the news that the metro could begin closing at 11 p.m. and start opening at 9 a.m. on weekends, the future is looking bleak for those who rely on public transit. 

While these changes are not guaranteed, it is not uncommon for people who work in healthcare or in the service industry to leave or come back from work at that time.These changes could force people to use their car, pay for a taxi or an Uber just to get to work, or quit their job altogether. Indeed, if people are forced to pay to get to and from work, it might no longer be financially viable to keep that job. 

The reliance on cars over public transit also contributes significantly to the climate crisis. According to the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) environmental plan, Quebec’s transportation sector accounted for 42.8 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in 2020, with light vehicles accounting for 60 per cent of those emissions. 

Public transit is essential to decreasing GHG emissions, with the STM reporting that public transit in Montreal helps avoid the emission of 2.3 million additional tonnes of greenhouse gases.

If the CAQ governments directed even a small amount of funds into public transit, it could help increase the number of buses on the road, increase the metro’s punctuality and could even lead to it closing later rather than earlier.

Legault’s failure to protect public transit: Quebec’s resistance to fund public transit is detrimental for riders and climate Read More »

Students voice concerns over Quebec’s newest financial barriers

Graphic Sara Salsabili

Safa Hachi
Local Journalism Initiative

In the echoing halls of McMaster University, Nathalie White, a fourth-year psychology student, saw her grad school ambitions clouded by the news of a tuition increase, emphasizing the intersection of academic dreams with financial barriers.

“I had a list of graduate schools that I wanted to apply to next year,” said White. “I initially heard about the tuition increase briefly on the news and was immediately disheartened. I knew that I could simply not afford tuition fees.” 

“This may be a bit jaded, but it seems like they’re saying you’re not welcome unless you can afford it. I understand wanting to preserve French culture […] but that just means that whoever has the money can come,” she added. 

On Oct.13, Coalition Avenir Québec’s (CAQ) Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry disclosed that the province intended to increase tuition fees for students from outside of Quebec. The new cost would rise from $8,992 to approximately $17,000 per year, starting fall 2024. Additionally, an established minimum tuition of $20,000 per year was stipulated for international students. For those who are already enrolled, they must remain in their current program for a maximum of five years, rendering deferrals and part-time studies more complicated.

This tuition hike hits Quebec’s English universities the hardest—Concordia, Bishops and McGill. Despite claims from Dery stating, “I’m not closing the door to any anglophone student,”  doubling out-of-province tuition undeniably imposes limitations.

Quebec French-language Minister Jean-François Roberge expressed in an interview with La Presse that, “We’re fed up with managing the decline, protecting the language, curbing the erosion of the language; these are all defensive terms. It’s time to regain some ground.”

In May 2022, Québec’s National Assembly passed Bill 96. The bill is designed to bolster the use of French in the province. The law spawned various initiatives, including Francisation Québec. Introduced by the CAQ on June 1, 2023, this initiative aims to centralize French learning services for immigrants, contributing to Quebec’s needs through temporary or permanent candidate selection, according to information taken from the Quebec government’s website.

During their first six months in Quebec, new immigrants are entitled to services in English. However, after this period, they are expected to handle services in French as effortlessly as resident speakers. This is despite the fact that the government’s own internal report on the feasibility of the acquisition of French within a six-month timeframe deemed it nearly impossible.

According to Julia Balot, a McGill student, there seems to be a lack of clarity between citizens and the government in regards to what Quebec is aiming to achieve. 

“It really makes me feel unwelcome here, especially by the government. Which is weird, because my day-to-day interactions with [Quebec-born francophones] tend to be pretty positive,” said Balot. “I’m happy to be able to go to a school like McGill […] but I definitely worry that the culture on campus might change. Amplifying this division between anglophones and francophones seems like a step in the wrong direction.” 

Students with a French citizenship or a francophone Belgian citizenship will be able to avoid the tuition increase. However, many Middle Eastern and North African international students speak French, but are subject to pay international fees. Yasmina May Hafiz, an international student from Morocco, called out the Quebec government’s double standard when it comes to French-speaking immigrants.

“I am already paying $24,000 a year,” Hafiz said.  

Hafiz comes from a country colonized by France, where French is a major part of her life. She speaks it fluently, both back home and here. 

“So why can’t I get lower tuition rates like French or Belgian citizens?” she continued.  “I moved here, pay rent here, work here, speak French here, I add to the so-called fortification of French, but I am no longer a desirable immigrant because I am North African,” she added.

Students voice concerns over Quebec’s newest financial barriers Read More »

CSU hosts town hall to discuss proposed Quebec tuition hikes

CSU hosted a town hall for students to discuss tuition hikes. Photo Catriona Ray

Catriona Ray
Local Journalism Initiative

On Oct. 26, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) hosted a town hall to discuss the tuition hikes recently proposed by the Quebec government.

The event was held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and was led by CSU General Coordinator Harley Martin, CSU Academic Coordinator Alexandrah Cardona. In attendance on the panel were also Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) Mobilization Coordinator Lily Charette, and School of Community and Public Affairs member  Adam Semergian. The event covered a variety of student concerns, with a particular focus on what student mobilization on this issue may look like in the coming months.

The proposed tuition hikes would force out-of-province students to pay a minimum of $17,000 per semester. In addition, universities will have to pay $20,000 to the government per international student enrolled.  Most importantly, the Quebec government would expect institutions to charge above the minimum to make up for any potential losses—out-of-province and international students could end up paying closer to $30,000 per year minimum as admissions drop. Additionally, while these measures would not initially affect students who are already enrolled, actions like a degree or faculty change may force an already-enrolled student to pay higher prices.

Semergian, kicked off the event with a brief history of the student movement in Quebec, which has been active since as early as the 1960s. 

“A very common thread in all of this has been for free tuition or to end tuition hikes,” said Semergian. The largest of these movements took place in 2012 when province-wide tuition increases were protested by students from both francophone and anglophone campuses. Student strikes lasted for months and eventually forced the government to rescind their proposal for higher tuition.

“For years there has been a fight in Quebec for free education,” said Cardona. “This tuition increase is just another wave in the government trying to combat that movement.”

Semergian also cautioned against the possibility of student division. “Remember that just because right now [the tuition hikes] don’t affect in-province students […] this is probably just a preamble to something that would affect everybody.”

Charette agreed. “It’s very intentional that these increases in tuition are being done in a way that brings in language politics,” she said. “It deeply confuses the situation and is going to create so many rifts between communities […] They’re hoping to divide the student movement in Quebec.”

Furthermore, tuition increases have wide-ranging impacts on Concordia as an institution. Cardona told students, “Concordia is projecting, on the conservative side, that we would lose enrollment by up to 60 per cent […] Funding-wise, Concordia would be looking at losing upwards of tens of millions of dollars per year.”

Cardona also pointed out that programs that attract mostly out-of-province students will be disproportionately affected. Fine arts, including studio arts— as well as the aerospace and engineering programs—are looking at especially devastating losses.

“This is a first step in trying to coordinate our actions,” said Charette. Going forward, large unions like the CSU and ASFA are looking to smaller, department-level student associations to make their voices heard. According to Charette, because a general assembly to vote on a strike mandate for the CSU would require upwards of 450 students to appear in-person and vote, smaller student associations have a better chance of getting mobilization started in earnest.

While this may sound intimidating, student associations certainly wouldn’t be working alone. Cardona assured students that the CSU intends to assist with coordination, funding, and communication going forward. Additionally, according to Becca Wilgosh, who represented CREW-CSN, most of Concordia’s labour unions are nearing the end of their negotiations with the university, which would allow them to legally strike. “This is a key moment for solidarity between labour unions and student unions,” she said.

A full-on student strike is likely impossible, however, until at least the winter semester. This is due to scheduling and communication constraints. In the meantime, Cardona encouraged students to get acquainted with their department-level student associations and agitate for action against the tuition hikes.

“The more students say, ‘Why aren’t we striking about this? We should do this,’ [it] gives more power to us to start planning and coordinating those kinds of actions,” Charette said.

The CSU is now endorsing a protest on Monday, Oct. 30. It is set to begin in Dorchester Square at 1 p.m., and students will march to McGill’s Roddick Gates. There is also a teach-in on the history of the Quebec student movement on Nov. 16, as well as a petition available on CSU social media this week to bring this issue before the National Assembly.

A previous version of this article stated that the townhall was organized by the CSU, ASFA and La Crues. The townhall was organized solely by the CSU. In addition, Adam Semergian was named as an executive of La Crues. However, he is a member of the School of Community and Public Affairs. The Link regrets these errors. 

CSU hosts town hall to discuss proposed Quebec tuition hikes Read More »

Scroll to Top