Concordia loses attempt to suspend tuition fee increase

A Quebec Superior Court judge has rejected a request by Concordia University to suspend the provincial government’s tuition fee increases for students from other provinces and abroad until the university’s lawsuit against the changes can be heard.

Judge Eric Dufour ruled on July 12 that while Concordia had raised serious issues and demonstrated that it would suffer serious or irreparable harm, it had not shown a clear violation of rights. The high standards required for a stay of government policy at this stage of the legal process had not been met, Dufour ruled.

Article content

Starting this fall, tuition fees for students from other provinces at Concordia and McGill universities will rise by around 30 percent to at least $12,000. International students must pay at least $20,000, with the Quebec government covering $17,000.

The provincial government argues that the changes would divert funds to French-speaking universities and reduce public spending on students from other provinces who often leave Quebec after graduating.

Concordia argued that the changes would violate the rights of English-speaking Canadians and were based on stereotypes about anglophones, Dufour wrote. The university also argued that the changes would hurt it financially and also violate the rights of anglophone Quebecers.

Applications from students from other provinces have dropped by almost 30 percent, the university told the court. The percentage of students who accept places has dropped by almost 35 percent, the judge wrote. Overall, he expects a 12 percent drop in enrollment and a loss of $21 million in funding, according to the ruling, which will force the university to make cuts.

The government argued that discrimination based on language is not prohibited by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that the university has not shown that it will suffer serious or irreparable harm. It also argued that the “need” to reorient state funding of universities outweighs the harm to Concordia, the judge wrote.

Concordia spokeswoman Vannina Maestracci stressed that the judge had acknowledged that serious or irreparable harm was being done to the university and that the matter had raised serious questions.

“This motion is just one step in the process and we look forward to having our arguments heard on the merits,” she wrote.

McGill University has also challenged the tuition fee increases in court.

Editor’s recommendations