Foreign students who continue their education outside of Montreal’s urban community will see their tuition reduced to the same level as students in Quebec from September 2023.
The Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Solidarity and Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Jean Boulet, made the announcement on Thursday at the University of Quebec at Rimouski (UQAR) in the company of the institution’s rector, François Deschênes.
Nearly 2,850 foreign students are taking part in Operation Main-d’oeuvre and are targeted by the proposal presented by Quebec. However, to qualify, they must study full-time outside the metropolitan area.
Beginning in the fall of 2023, these students will pay the same fees as students in Quebec. At the college level, they are not included in the $ 17,000 per year fee, and at university, they will pay approximately $ 3,000, rather than the $ 24,000 typically charged. The fee paid by Quebec under this program will amount to $ 80 million over four years.
This measure will not be retroactivewarned Minister Boulet, but it will apply [aux étudiants] na nandoon na. If, at the moment, 2850 students are targeted, the Minister predicts that there will be 1200 more over the next three or four years.
Mr. Boulet indicated that this was necessary make the program public before it is put in place and it is needed meet deadlineswhich explains why the program in question will not begin until September 2023.
Quebec’s goal is to fill part of the labor shortage. We have an interest in attracting and retaining students [étrangers], added Mr. Boulet. They are a life force for Quebec, he pointed out. Emphasis will be placed on support for them to find shelter and find employment.
The Minister remembered that retention rate [des étudiants étrangers] is 75% in Rimouski and that they are future of Quebec.
The health and technology sectors are particularly targeted
While programs where foreign students will be partially exempt from tuition fees are the same as for Operation Workforce, health, education, information technology and engineering will be specifically targeted, a prominent Minister Boulet said.
Universities and colleges are vehicles for successful immigrationrecollection of the rector ofUQARFrançois Deschênes, who admits that the challenge is great for attract and retain students in the region.
He mentioned that the program announced Thursday by Quebec is an additional argument to maintain them. Training should be made accessible to the regions, he pleaded. According to him, this new incentive could help attract more foreign students toUQAR.
Those are [nouveaux] that means that will help ushe said.
The new tuition fee relief program for foreign students is in line with measures adopted by the Quebec Government to address the labor shortage.
In April, Quebec notably launched 17 overseas missions to hire 3,000 workers. And the Workforce Operation strategy aims to fill 170,000 vacant positions with investments of nearly $ 3.9 billion over five years.
Source: Radio-Canada
