(Montreal) The Lasalle College, in Montreal, disputes a fine of 30 million for welcoming an excessive number of students in its English -speaking programs.
Claude Marchand, president of the college, says that this fine threatens the survival of the 65 -year -old bilingual establishment.
“A fine of 30 million not only is disproportionate, but also unprecedented in the Quebec education system and elsewhere,” said Marchand. It represents an existential threat to our establishment, our students and hundreds of jobs. »»
The college asked the Quebec Superior Court to cancel the fine, arguing that it is unreasonable.
In a recent publication on social networks, the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, defended the government’s decision.
“The LaSalle college is the only subsidized private establishment not to respect the law and to have challenged the French language charter, despite tight support and several warnings,” she said.
The college admits having exceeded the number of students authorized in its English -speaking programs in the past two years.
The Government of Quebec requires limits to the number of students that can register for English -speaking college programs since the adoption of law 96 in 2022.
During the 2023-2024 school year, the first year of application of the new limits, the Lasalle college exceeded its quota of 716 students and received a fine of 8.8 million. During the last school year, the college exceeded its quota of 1,066 students and was inflicted an additional fine of 21 million.
The college says that it was impossible to respect the limits in part because of the number of foreign students who had been accepted before the announcement of the quotas. The school says it will be in accordance by fall.
In court documents, the college claims that the process of admission of foreign students often starts more than a year before the scheduled start date. After receiving an admission letter from the college, students must obtain a certificate of acceptance from the Quebec government.
The Lasalle college maintains that the government has granted more than 700 certificates to foreign students wishing to follow programs in English for the 2023-2024 school year, despite the new college quota for the year, which was only 693 students.
There were already 654 students enrolled in English programs, he adds.
The education establishment claims not to have been able to cancel the offers already made to students who have received acceptance certificates from the Quebec government. He also noted a higher proportion of foreign students than other Quebec colleges.
“The law was implemented without a transition period, which put us in a situation where it was impossible to conform to it,” said Marchand.
He also noted that the total number of English -speaking students had not increased since 2019.
The college claims to have imposed a moratorium on registrations on some of its English programs for the 2024-2025 school year and that it will be in accordance with the new quotas by fall.
