Funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, CKUT’s Local Journalism Initiative will publish local news stories from reporter Jules Bugiel.
You can also find the web stories on Frequency (formerly Canada-Info), listen to our Local Journalism Initiative roundup every Tuesday at 5:00 pm on Off The Hour, or click here to check out CKUT’s other community news radio programs.
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Archive: out-of-province tuition hikes
January 31: Striking students at McGill face battle to build momentum
From Wednesday to Friday, over five hundred students at McGill University as well as nine thousand students at Concordia are striking in protest of the Quebec out-of-province tuition hikes. CKUT spoke to Liam Gaither, VP External of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), about the uphill battle to build momentum against the hikes.
January 9: With new Canada Award, McGill sends message that all are welcome
McGill has a new draw for Canadians worried about rising tuition fees: the $3,000-per-year Canada Award, which will offset Quebec’s tuition hike for around 80 percent of next year’s out-of-province students. Fabrice Labeau, Deputy Provost of Student Life and Learning, joins CKUT to discuss the award and the way McGill is responding to the uncertainty surrounding the hikes.
December 19: Quebec confirms tuition hike, adds French requirement for anglophone students
The CAQ is going ahead with tuition hikes for out-of-province students, with a few major adjustments. Instead of raising tuition to $17,000 per year, the CAQ has decided to up tuition by a third, to $12,000 annually. It’s also introduced a new French requirement: starting fall 2025, 80% of graduating students at McGill and Concordia must reach Level 5 French, or the schools risk a government clawback on funding.
December 5: McGill institutes hiring freeze, cross-campus cuts in response to tuition hikes
McGill University is taking drastic action to prepare for out-of-province tuition hikes. The latest move is an immediate freeze in academic and administrative hiring. Speaking to CKUT, students and faculty share their thoughts about how this contraction will affect their programs at McGill, as well as the reputation of the school as a whole.
November 1: Students take to the streets to protest of out-of-province tuition hikes
Hundreds of students and supporters came out on Monday to protest the doubling of out-of-province tuition, which is slated to affect incoming undergraduate and professional master’s students next fall.
October 17: McGill to lose out-of-province students, pivot to international admissions
The province’s out-of-province tuition changes will have major impacts on student body composition at anglophone universities, says higher education consultant Alex Usher. “If I had to guess I’d say McGill is going to lose half its out-of-province students,” he tells CKUT. “And what will they do? They’ll pivot to more international students.”
October 13: Quebec to double out-of-province tuition next fall
The CAQ announced Friday they’re upping base tuition fees for out-of-province students in undergraduate and professional master’s programs. Currently, the minimum students pay is $8,992 per year; that’ll go up to roughly $17,000.
