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Concordia and McGill universities are filing separate lawsuits Friday morning against the Legault government, asking the courts to cancel tuition changes that have led to a drop in applications and are expected to devastate the institutions’ finances.

In what Concordia describes as a “complementary and coordinated approach,” the two institutions say the tuition overhaul, which disproportionately affects English universities, is illegal, contravening the Canadian and Quebec charters of rights.

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As part of its challenge, McGill is asking the Quebec Superior Court to suspend the tuition changes — which affect out-of-province and international students — pending the outcome of their lawsuit.

“The policies introduced by the government were deliberately designed to inflict harm on anglophone universities,” Concordia president Graham Carr told the Gazette.

Premier François Legault’s government “had responsibilities to us under the law, particularly as anglophone educational institutions and those responsibilities were not respected.”

McGill president Deep Saini said the changes “are illegal and if upheld, will threaten McGill’s mission, its place as one of the world’s top universities and its vital role in Quebec.”

“In addition to the financial impacts these measures will have on McGill, we are hearing from our recruiters that these measures are making students think twice about coming to Quebec,” he said in a statement.

“I find this particularly distressing, considering how warm and hospitable I have found Quebecers to be, and how much employers want and need these highly talented young people.”

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In an email to the Concordia community, Carr said Quebec is legally obliged under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to consider “equality among francophone and anglophone linguistic groups and the protection of Quebec’s minority English-language community.”

“We contend that, in addition to weighing and taking into account those values, the government had a responsibility to ensure that its policies did not harm our institution,” he said.

McGill’s lawyers plan to argue the tuition measures:

• Constitute discrimination under federal and provincial rights charters.
• Are an unreasonable exercise of the powers of the higher education minister, since they are incompatible with the mission assigned to her by the Higher Education Act.
• Were adopted following inadequate consultation and an unfair process.
• Constitute a disguised and illegal tax, imposed without the National Assembly’s authorization.
• Create unconstitutional barriers to interprovincial trade, thereby limiting student mobility, choice of university and access to education.

In December, Julius Grey and Michael Bergman — prominent Quebec lawyers who have taken on anglophone rights cases for decades — told the Gazette the universities would be on solid legal ground if they took the issue to a court.

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Grey said the university overhaul violates discrimination clauses in Quebec, and federal law. Bergman said English universities can argue the measures contravene the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry has said the tuition overhaul will help boost funding for French universities and reduce the number of non-French-speakers in Montreal’s post-secondary institutions.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government has imposed new rules expected to have a major impact on Concordia and McGill. The two institutions welcome most out-of-province and international students who study in Quebec.

Starting in the fall, tuition for students from the rest of Canada who study at Concordia and McGill will increase by 33 per cent, to $12,000 per year. Quebec is also clawing back about $5,000 from every international student who studies in Quebec; previously this money stayed at the university where the international student studied.

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Carr said the changes “could have a significant and harmful impact on Concordia’s student enrolment, financial well-being and international reputation. Members of the government publicly admitted as much on several occasions.”

At Concordia, applications from Canadian students outside Quebec are down 27 per cent, with international applications down 10 per cent. Concordia, which was already suffering from a large deficit, has previously said the tuition changes could have dire financial consequences, costing it up to $62 million per year.

McGill says it has seen a 20-per-cent decline in undergraduate applications from out-of-province students and a drop of more than five per cent for international students. It has warned the tuition changes could cost it up to $94 million annually and lead to 700 job cuts.

Both Carr and Saini said they have tried in vain since the fall to find a compromise with the CAQ government but were left with no choice after their recommendations were ignored.

“We tried our utmost to work in partnership with the government. We would have greatly preferred not to do this, but we have run out of viable alternatives,” Saini said.

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“Again and again, we proposed realistic, concrete solutions that would allow us to continue to attract top talent to address Quebec’s labour needs and strengthen Quebec’s knowledge, competitiveness and innovation agenda.”

Saini said English universities “have repeatedly and unsuccessfully requested data demonstrating the feasibility and necessity of these government measures.”

He noted the government’s own advisory committee on accessibility, composed of representatives of the government and French-language universities and CEGEPS, recently said the tuition overhaul risks compromising access to quality education and depriving Quebec society of potential talent.”

That committee urged the government to reconsider the decision.

Concordia “tried to engage with the government in good faith on the tuition issue throughout the fall,” Carr said.

“Although the government reduced its initial proposed tuition increase for out-of-province students, it never worked with us in any substantive way to hear, let alone address, our wide-ranging concerns.”

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“It’s with regret and frankly with sadness that we’re (going to court), but we feel that at this point this is the only alternative remaining to us,” he said.

The court actions do not challenge Quebec’s new French proficiency requirements for university students from outside the province. As of fall 2025, 80 per cent of students from outside Quebec will have to reach an intermediate level of French by the time they graduate.

Concordia and McGill have said 40 per cent would be a more reasonable goal.

Carr stressed Concordia is “fully committed” to efforts that would see more of its students learning French. He noted English universities proposed a francization program before the government put forward its plan.

“We feel that (francization) is not only beneficial and important for Quebec, but if done in the right way as we want to do it, it will be beneficial for our students and our university, as well,” he said.

Quebec has established a working group to study how to implement the francization plan. Its first meeting is expected in the coming weeks.

Saini said McGill remains “hopeful that we can work together to set realistic, achievable (francization) targets.”

French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge has said too much English is being spoken on the streets of Montreal, with non-French-speaking university students partly to blame.

On Thursday, Université de Montréal rector Daniel Jutras said the Legault government’s attitude toward out-of-province students has “harmed” Montreal. He argued that students from the rest of Canada are not making Montreal less French and that the decision to target Concordia and McGill will not help French universities much.

ariga@postmedia.com

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