McGill and Concordia drop legal fight over Quebec's out-of-province tuition hikes
CBC
Montreal’s two largest English-language universities are abandoning their legal battles against the Quebec government’s out-of-province tuition hikes, citing financial strain and a desire to repair their relationship with the province.
The move follows an April ruling by Quebec Superior Court Justice Éric Dufour, who struck down parts of the government’s 2023 tuition overhaul — including a French-language requirement — but allowed a 33 per cent increase for out-of-province Canadian students to remain in effect while the province revises its policy.
Concordia and McGill universities had launched separate lawsuits in early 2024, arguing the hikes were discriminatory and threatened their financial viability.
"We will not be taking this to court again given our financial situation," said Concordia spokesperson Vannina Maestracci on Friday.
Maestracci detailed a "projected deficit of $84 million for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which we must limit to $31.1 million according to our recovery plan."
While Maestracci maintained that the 2023 measures "harm the competitiveness of Quebec universities," she expressed hope that the school could work productively with the government moving forward.
McGill University spokesperson Katherine Cuplinskas said further legal action would undermine McGill's goal of "strengthening local engagement."
“McGill will continue to work with the government of Quebec to ensure predictability, stability and transparency in the rules governing higher education,” she wrote in an email.
“McGill remains strongly committed to investing in scholarships and student aid and to ensuring that students have access to the resources, guidance and financial support they need to succeed in their studies.”
The dispute began when the Coalition Avenir Québec government raised undergraduate tuition for out-of-province Canadian students to $12,000 and imposed new French-language proficiency requirements.
Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry has said Quebecers had no obligation to subsidize the education of students from the rest of Canada. Premier François Legault has said those students were coming to Montreal and contributing to the decline of French in the city.
Both universities had reported significant drops in out-of-province applications since the policies were announced.
Concordia reported a 27 per cent decline in applicants from the rest of Canada and a 12 per cent decline in the number of students coming from abroad in 2024. Also in 2024, McGill announced it was seeing a 20 per cent drop in out-of-province applicants.
In his 82-page decision last year, Dufour awarded McGill and Concordia universities a partial victory.
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