CAQ says it’s utilizing all accessible instruments to scale back the variety of non-permanent residents in Quebec, which has doubled previously two years
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Printed on October 10, 2024 • 5 minutes of studying
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MONTREAL – Quebec has launched laws to restrict the variety of worldwide college students within the province, half of a bigger push by the federal government to scale back momentary immigration.
The Avenir Quebec coalition says it’s utilizing all means accessible to scale back the variety of non-permanent residents within the province, which has risen to 600,000 from 300,000 previously two years. Prime Minister Francois Legault first introduced his intention to restrict international college students final summer season.
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Immigration Minister Jean-Francois Roberge mentioned Thursday there was a “super improve” of worldwide college students in Quebec over the previous decade, from about 50,000 in 2014 to 120,000 final yr.
“It's an excessive amount of,” he instructed reporters throughout a press convention on the provincial legislature, saying international college students put strain on housing and well being companies and threaten the survival of the French language. He claimed that some non-public faculties have seen a a number of improve in worldwide pupil enrollment in recent times and accused them of utilizing schooling as “a enterprise mannequin to promote Quebec and Canadian citizenship.”
The invoice, launched on Thursday, will give the federal government the ability to gather information from establishments about international pupil enrolments. The province would then have broad discretion to manage the variety of worldwide pupil functions by area, by academic establishment, by stage of research and by program. Roberge mentioned the language of research can even be thought-about.
On Thursday, Roberge wouldn’t decide to a most variety of worldwide college students, saying extra evaluation is required.
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A number of Quebec universities are already speaking concerning the invoice. The Universite du Quebec, a community of 10 academic and analysis establishments throughout the province, says it has “critical considerations” concerning the authorities's plan. In an announcement, president Alexandre Cloutier mentioned international college students assist fill the labor scarcity by working throughout their research. He additionally mentioned that 93 % of the community's worldwide college students converse French.
Roberge mentioned the federal government intends to guard regional applications that will not be viable with out worldwide college students. However he was much less clear about how English-language faculties can be affected.
“It's not about attacking the English-speaking community, under no circumstances,” he mentioned. “Nonetheless, this can be a component that can be taken under consideration, particularly wherein language this system is delivered. We all know that nearly 60 % of worldwide college students are within the Montreal area. So if we need to cut back the numbers, clearly the numbers can be diminished within the Montreal area, and we all know that the primary English-speaking establishments are within the Montreal area.
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McGill College had about 12,000 worldwide college students enrolled in fall 2023, whereas Concordia College has about 7,700 enrolled this yr. “Now that the invoice has been launched, we hope the federal government will seek the advice of with universities and take note of any particular conditions,” a Concordia spokesperson mentioned in an e mail.
McGill College mentioned international college students are a “very important asset” for Quebec. “Worldwide college students assist strengthen Quebec's aggressive place within the data financial system, present extremely expert expertise for the workforce and assist appeal to enterprise to Quebec,” the college mentioned in an announcement.
Quebec's two largest English-language universities say they’ve already been hit laborious by the federal government's determination final yr to boost tuition for out-of-province college students from $9,000 to $12,000 in an effort to scale back the variety of non-French audio system. . within the province. Concordia says it has additionally seen an almost 16 % drop in worldwide pupil enrollment this yr.
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On Thursday, Roberge claimed Anglophone universities exaggerated the affect of the schooling hike, which he mentioned was not “the tip of the world”.
“Everybody ought to analyze (the brand new laws) fastidiously and I don't suppose they need to be afraid,” he mentioned. “Let's talk about collectively how we will do it in the perfect methods.”
A spokesperson for the College of Montreal mentioned the establishment plans to “reiterate to the federal government that the contribution of worldwide college students is essential for Quebec in some ways.”
In Ottawa on Thursday, federal immigration minister Marc Miller mentioned worldwide college students have been used to “fill coffers that ought to in all probability be full of different price range funds.” He mentioned he was “pleading with the provinces… to train their jurisdiction on this space”.
Foreigners are charged a lot larger tuition charges than native or out-of-province college students, making a much-needed income for cash-strapped universities. At McGill, for instance, tuition for the 2024-25 educational yr within the undergraduate engineering program is greater than $62,000.
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Miller mentioned Roberge's legislation exhibits Quebec is “taking motion” on the difficulty, however famous the province is dwelling to 4 of the highest 10 Canadian post-secondary establishments with essentially the most worldwide college students making refugee claims after their arrival. Roberge mentioned Thursday that he doesn't need folks to “use pupil visas to make asylum claims.”
Ottawa has additionally taken steps to restrict the variety of international college students throughout the nation. In January, the Liberal authorities introduced a cap on worldwide pupil functions that marked a 35 % drop from final yr's quantity. Final month, Miller introduced an extra 10 % lower by 2025.
Roberge mentioned he hopes the Quebec legislation can be handed by the tip of the yr, with the brand new guidelines beginning to take impact in September 2025.
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Preliminary estimates of the variety of worldwide college students enrolled in Quebec universities within the fall of 2024:
College of Montreal – 12,845
McGill College – 10,353
Concordia College – 7,751
Laval College – 6,190
Universite du Quebec in Montreal – 5,287
Greater technological faculty — 2858
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Universite du Quebec at Trois-Rivieres – 2,681
College of Sherbrooke – 2,603
Universite du Quebec at Chicoutimi – 2,415
Universite du Quebec at Outaouais – 1,197
Universite du Quebec at Rimouski – 1,144
Ecole Nationale d'public administration — 735
Universite du Quebec in Abitibi-Temiscamingue – 471
Nationwide Institute of Scientific Analysis – 435
Bishop's College-417
Supply: Bureau de cooperation interuniversitaire
– With extra reporting by Thomas Laberge in Quebec Metropolis.
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