Concordia University’s Fall Open House Attendance Sees Decline Amid Tuition Hike Concerns

Hundreds of teenagers and their families gathered at Concordia University’s downtown campus Saturday to attend the school’s fall open house.

Despite the large turnout, Concordia’s director of student recruitment, Savvy Papayiannis, felt like the crowd was smaller than in previous years.

“There aren’t more people, that’s for sure,” Ms. Papayiannis said by telephone since the event. She could not confirm attendance figures, but concluded that she was under the impression there was a drop in attendance.

Ms. Papayiannis says her office is already seeing the effects of the tuition hike expected to take effect next year, as many potential applicants cancel their campus visits and withdraw from recruiting events.

And since the provincial government’s Oct. 13 announcement, calls and emails have poured in from concerned prospective students, she said, many of whom say the tuition hike — from $8,992 to around $17,000 per year for Canadians outside Quebec — is an insurmountable financial barrier.

“We are criticized more and more every day,” said Ms. Papayiannis.

Several students at the open house said the increase would influence their decisions about college. For Gage Crouchman, 17, from Ottawa, that could mean giving up on going to school in Quebec.

“It’s a shame,” he lamented. (For) many students, this will remove Montreal as an option.”

Mr. Crouchman was considering Concordia and neighboring McGill University for his undergraduate studies. He said that if the government reversed its decision to impose a tuition hike, it would still be a possibility. Otherwise, “it’s definitely no,” assured his father, Cameron.

Coco Clément, a 17-year-old who traveled from Vancouver to Montreal to visit Concordia University, says the new tuition fees make her less interested in Quebec because of the added financial burden.

“It’s extremely expensive and it makes me not want to come here as much just because it’s another thing I have to overcome,” Ms. Clément said.

Although Kees Lokker, 16, and his father from Grimsby, Ont., say their family would be able to afford the new tuition fees, around $17,000, Kees Lokker fears the amount will eliminate opportunities for his friends.

“It’s just going to make it even harder for them to get enough money to go to Concordia, or even a university like McGill,” the 16-year-old said.

He’s considering the province’s renowned engineering and aerospace programs, but his father says the increase will encourage them to more seriously explore options in Ontario, the United States and Europe.

Decline of French in Quebec

According to preliminary data from Statistics Canada for the 2023-2024 school year, undergraduate tuition fees of approximately $17,000 would be among the highest in the country for domestic students and the highest outside of specialized programs in undergraduate studies in law, management, dentistry, medicine, veterinary medicine and pharmacy.

“I don’t think it’s fair,” said Jaco Lokker, pointing out tuition fees in other provinces.

Quebec argued that this increase would allow it to recover the cost of education for non-residents of Quebec. The provincial government also plans to charge universities $20,000 for each international student they recruit. Premier François Legault defended the decision, insisting that Quebec taxpayers should not have to subsidize students from outside the province.

This measure should mainly affect Quebec’s three English-speaking universities – Concordia, McGill and Bishop’s – which welcome more non-Quebecers than French-speaking schools. Government members cited what they say is a decline in French in the province in their decision to increase tuition fees. Mr. Legault argued Tuesday that the influx of English-speaking students “threatens the survival of French.”

Quebec is committed to reinvesting its recovered funds in the French-speaking university network.