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Montreal English-language CEGEPs are preparing for the year ahead as parts of Quebec’s language law reform take effect, threatening financial penalties for non-compliant schools.
The law, known as Bill 96, limits enrolment in English CEGEPs and mandates additional French courses for students.
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CEGEPs that exceed their enrolment caps this school year risk penalties of $7,048 per additional student. Next year, that penalty will only apply to the first 50 excess students, and increase to $14,096 for each pupil beyond that.
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Dawson College director general Diane Gauvin says unpredictability in the enrolment process has made complying with its government-imposed cap of about 8,000 full-time students particularly stressful.
“It’s extremely difficult to manage these numbers,” she said in an interview. “We work hard at it, but it’s not an exact science.”
Gauvin pointed to a higher-than-expected number of returning students this year, as well as uncertainty about the final tally of full-time students after the first few weeks of classes, when some students may switch to part-time studies. Dawson won’t have an accurate enrolment portrait until mid-October, she said.
Also taking effect this year in English CEGEPs is the introduction of a French-language exit exam for students who were not eligible to attend the province’s English-language primary and secondary school system. Those students, including many allophones and francophones, have to pass the test to graduate — and CEGEPs need to provide some courses in French to prepare them.
Students whose parents or siblings went to school in English in Canada have the right to a special certificate that allows them to attend English-language primary and secondary schools in Quebec. Beginning next year, CEGEP students with those certificates will be forced to take additional French second-language courses or attend some regular program classes in French.
