The Minister of Immigration, Francisation, and Integration in the Government of Quebec, Jean-François Roberge, was blunt: 120,000 foreign students in Quebec, this is "too much." Therefore, today he presented a bill to reduce their number. By how much? The minister refuses to provide a specific target, but he assures that he will act "cautiously" and will protect educational institutions in areas outside urban centers.

The primary goal of Bill 74 is to enable the government to gather more information about foreign students. According to the minister, this information will be essential to determine how much the number should be reduced.

"This will allow us to identify, with greater flexibility, the number of applications from foreign students and admission cases based on regions, levels of education, institutions, programs, and the vitality of our institutions, while maintaining study programs in the regions," Roberge explained at a press conference held this afternoon at the National Assembly (legislative assembly) in Quebec City.

The number of foreign students in Quebec has increased significantly over the past ten years. According to the figures provided by the minister, the number rose from 50,000 in 2014 to 120,000 currently, an increase of 140%.

Although Roberge stated that he does not specifically want to target post-secondary institutions that teach in English, he pointed out that nearly 60% of foreign students in Quebec, the only Canadian province with a majority French-speaking population, are located in the Montreal area and that the language of instruction could be a criterion.

"So, if we want to reduce the numbers, it is clear that there will be a decrease in the Montreal area, and we know that the main institutions that teach in English are located in the Montreal area," said Roberge, referring to McGill and Concordia Universities.

Addressing the "slippages" of some educational institutions

The Minister of Immigration, Francisation, and Integration in the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government also intends to address the "slippages" of some educational institutions. He cited the example of two private educational institutions, which he did not want to name, that have seen increases in their foreign student numbers of 1392% and 246%, respectively, in less than a year and a half.

"We clearly see that there are slippages. (...) As if education is no longer a social and economic mission, but has become a business model for selling Quebec and Canadian citizenship to some people, instead of selling the quality of the degrees," Roberge said.

Roberge added that the Quebec government wants "students who are foreign students, not asylum seekers using student visas to apply for asylum."

"What we want is to accept a number of foreign students that respects our capacity and does not cause housing problems or penalize those who are already here," Roberge continued.

It is worth mentioning that the Quebec government is pressuring the federal government to distribute half of the 160,000 asylum seekers in the province to other Canadian provinces.

Minister Roberge added that he "strongly" wishes for his bill to be passed before Christmas so that he can start implementing the procedures outlined in it starting September 2025.