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Why do so many students from the rest of Canada flock to Quebec universities and how many of them remain once they graduate?

And perhaps more important: are they welcome if they decide to stay?

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These are among the questions that have arisen since the government of Premier François Legault announced that it intends to double tuition for out-of-province students to $17,000 from about $9,000 starting next year, a move Quebec’s three English universities have warned will decimate their enrolment, finances and programming.

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The rationale(s) offered for this plan have been confusing and contradictory. Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry complained Quebec is sick of subsidizing the education of so many students from the ROC who attend school here and then leave, suggesting the province is concerned it is missing out on the labour and contributions of this talent pool.

Minister of the French Language Jean-François Roberge has said it’s because these many English speakers are contributing to the anglicization of Montreal, treating them as scapegoats and hinting they should be driven away.

Supposedly this new tuition scheme is aimed at putting more money in the coffers of Quebec’s underfunded francophone universities, since the extra fees would be redirected to them. (But if students stop coming to English universities because it’s so expensive, it’s all a moot point.)

Cynics suspect the whole idea is aimed at deterring English speakers from other provinces from coming to Quebec in the first place or settling here permanently. After all, this would bolster the ranks of the “historic” anglophone community and increase the number of Quebecers with a right to health and social services in English. In most cases, the children of these interprovincial emigrés would probably be eligible for English school.

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As it turns out, more Canadians whose mother tongue is English moved to Quebec from elsewhere in the country than left the province between 2016 and 2021 — for the first time in 50 years. This resulted in a net increase of 2,645 anglophones in the last census. According to Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, the bulk of the arrivals are the young adults, some of whom could be in the student age bracket.

So maybe more students are staying and paying taxes than the government surmised.

As for what lures fellow Canadians to Quebec, a study Jedwab and the ACS did back in 2015-16 for the federal department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada offers a glimpse.

Assuming, for the sake of argument, that out-of-province students are still welcome in Quebec, the report examined the “push-pull” factors that determine whether students enrolled at English universities decide to stay or leave after they complete their degrees. It dates from a time when the primary concern was a brain drain and the vitality of Quebec’s English-speaking minority after many decades of outmigration. Eight years later, the context is very different, but some of the findings are as relevant than ever.

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Of the 502 respondents: 35 per cent were born in Quebec, 27 per cent came from the rest of Canada and 38 per cent were international students. There were 25 focus group participants from all three English universities. Their decisions to study in Quebec were based primarily on the academic programs they were applying to, but living in a French environment was also a big draw.

“Several students in the focus groups identified the French language, and to a lesser extent, French culture as key factor that drew them to Quebec. However, despite their initial intentions to learn French, most of these students did not actually improve their language skills due to time constraints, a lack of motivation, or because they interact mostly with English-speaking students,” the study concluded.

Although French classes were available, they weren’t always accessible, due to scheduling conflicts, because of other program requirements, or as a result of their workload. Often they have to get special permission from supervisors to register. Many, though enthusiastic, also feared the impact on their grade point average.

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There was criticism that the courses were too focused on mastery of grammar and less on promoting social interaction. And those that spoke French lamented a dearth of opportunities to practise their skills, including because francophones would switch to English in conversation.

“Participants felt strongly that universities and government could be doing much more to support students to learn and practise French,” the study stated.

Back in 2015-16, about a quarter of all students wanted to stay after graduating, but most said they would go where the job market took them. Some expressed doubts about whether they would have the French skills to get gainful employment in their field in Quebec. Many respondents wanted the universities to make French-language acquisition more of a priority.

“English-speaking students expressed a strong desire to learn a second language (French); for many it was a motivating ‘pull’ factor to live and study in Quebec. However, several English-speaking students said they had very little time or resources to learn French and maintain their grade point average. Without opportunities to learn French and integrate into Quebec, we may lose many of these graduating students.”

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Two of the study’s recommendations were echoed in the “historic” proposal the rectors of McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s made to Legault on Monday: bolster French-language training for English students and improve access to social networking opportunities in French.

As an alternative to the damaging tuition hike, the three English universities have vowed to introduce more compulsory French courses for their students, assistance reaching the skill levels required by their intended professions, opportunities for internships and co-op placements in French and occasions to foster social and cultural learning. The goal is for 40 per cent of their students to graduate with an intermediate level of French, so they can better integrate into Quebec society.

So far the official response to this Hail Mary proposal has been vague, other than Déry saying the government is interested in a solution for Bishop’s, which has rallied the support of the local community in Sherbrooke and is unlikely to survive the new tuition scheme.

Ambiguity is probably a good thing — for now.

Perhaps this kind of approach should have been taken much sooner. But if the willingness is there from students and universities now, what does the government have to lose? Instead of destroying English universities, Quebec could adopt constructive measures to protect and promote French that retain more of the best and brightest who come out of Quebec universities during a labour shortage and invigorate the economy.

How Legault ultimately responds to this opportunity will reveal much about his true motives.

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