Cap on foreign students will undermine education system: universities

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QUEBEC — In a display of institutional unity, Quebec’s universities and CEGEPs rallied together Tuesday and called on the Legault government to think twice before adopting proposed legislation designed to cap international student admissions.

But the minister responsible for the legislation held his ground, insisting Quebec’s immigration policies can’t be dictated by such players.

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The number of international students in Quebec has soared from 50,000 a decade ago to 120,000 today, said Immigration, Francization and Integration Minister Jean-François Roberge. He argued Quebec’s housing and public services are maxed out and French is threatened.

Over the course of a full day of committee hearings on the legislation, Bill 74, the heads of francophone and anglophone universities and the Fédération des cégeps argued they should not pay the price for some of the abuses committed by a few private players in recruiting foreign students in the past.

The Coalition Avenir Québec’s solution to the problem wrongly includes the schools and threatens years of often arduous recruitment efforts in the highly competitive business of luring top minds from around the world, they said.

“It has taken us decades — in McGill’s case, two centuries — to build this outstanding university system that we have,” McGill University president Deep Saini told reporters as he emerged from a committee room where he and other rectors presented a brief on Bill 74.

“It can be destroyed within a very short period. We’re not talking about something minor. This is fundamental to the future of this province.”

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In their brief, McGill, Université Laval, Université de Montréal and Université de Sherbrooke noted 12 different international student policy changes have been announced by the Quebec and federal governments since 2023, each adding further “confusion and uncertainty” to the system.

“Any negative messages that we send to the world are not going to help attract more students,” Saini said. “Just this year, our applications are down seven per cent.”

He agreed with a comment made by Université Laval rector Sophie D’Amours, who told the committee that “if there was abuse in the system” by some private colleges, as the government maintains, “we were not part of it.”

“The problem is there are some bad actors in our system,” Saini said. “The government has all the tools that it can possibly need to solve that problem. We just have to be surgical. We don’t give medicine that will have a whole bunch of side effects.”

The rectors were among the first witnesses to appear before the committee examining the bill, which was presented in October by Roberge.

Bill 74 would cap international student admissions as part of a CAQ government plan to reduce the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec, address housing shortages and protect French.

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The legislation would give Quebec sweeping new powers to manage international student applications at universities, CEGEPs and private colleges.

The government could determine the number of international students by establishment and region, and even oblige them to take certain courses.

Roberge has not hidden the fact that the goal is to reduce the total number of foreign students, but has not given specifics.

There are 57,440 international students in Quebec’s universities and 9,000 more in the CEGEP system.

On his way into the committee room Tuesday, Roberge defended the legislation despite the overwhelming criticism. He ruled out the request from the university and CEGEP network that it be exempt.

“To think we can do all this without the involvement of the university and CEGEP network is not reasonable,” Roberge told reporters.

“It’s not normal that the migratory patterns of Quebec be left in the hands of 20, 40 or 70 (educational) institutions — all independent,” he added. “We need a conductor.”

He said the government is aware of the concerns and has no plans to impose a “wall-to-wall solution.”

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But the first day of hearings was marked by a parade of opponents.

In the afternoon, the Fédération des cégeps, the Union étudiante du Québec and Concordia and Bishop’s universities joined the chorus of those saying Bill 74 is not necessary, and is even a danger to their institutions.

In its brief, Concordia highlighted that it has been welcoming foreign students for years, saying they “enrich the academic environment” by bringing a diversity of perspectives to campus life. Such students also provide valuable labour in a time of shortages and play a crucial role in the university’s finances.

“We see Bill 74 as a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of all universities and cannot fathom the need (on the part of the government) for such power,” Concordia said.

Later, appearing before the committee to present their briefs, Concordia rector Graham Carr and Bishop’s principal Sébastien Lebel-Grenier tangled with Roberge, who in his remarks said he was hoping to dialogue with the universities about the changes.

Both rectors reminded the government that anglophone institutions in particular are still suffering as a result of the tuition increase for out-of-province students imposed by the CAQ government in 2023.

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That action has translated into a drop in enrolment in both institutions and a budgetary deficit for Bishop’s University, located in Sherbrooke, even though it was ultimately given a partial exemption from the tuition hike.

“You understand we don’t have much confidence there will be a dialogue,” Lebel-Grenier responded, noting international student enrolment at Bishop’s dropped by 27.7 per cent despite its efforts to convince international and out-of-province students they were still welcome in Quebec.

Bishop’s this year has 417 foreign students out of a total enrolment of 2,518.

“More uncertainty is the last thing we need,” he said.

International enrolment at Concordia also dropped, by 16 per cent, Carr told the committee.

“I find this very disappointing for us and for Quebec,” Carr said, adding Bill 74 is more bad news.

“It’s clear there will be a negative effect. There is already a negative effect.”

Interviewed by The Gazette as they left the committee room, both Carr and Lebel-Grenier said they hope the minister got the message. Both noted opposition to the bill after a first day of hearings seems clear.

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“There is no abuse in our system,” said Lebel-Grenier. “It seems to be a solution in search of a problem and that is a great source of concern for us.”

The unfortunate reality is that institutions are having to spend money fighting measures “that make us weaker,” Lebel-Grenier added. “Nobody benefits from that.”

“The other issues that are being raised … the pressure on health care, pressure on housing: it’s not international students creating this pressure,” said Carr. “By and large the international student population is quite young. They also have private insurance so that actually pays for their medical needs.”

The only witness who appeared in favour of the legislation on Tuesday was Quebec French language commissioner Benoît Dubreuil, who argued the number of foreign students in the province’s universities and CEGEPs has grown too high and could pose a threat to French.

In his brief, Dubreuil quotes Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data indicating that as of Dec. 31, 2023, 24 per cent of international students in Quebec universities spoke only English. In the CEGEP system, it was 43 per cent.

The hearings wrap up Wednesday.

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