MONTREAL — A Montreal college is facing $30 million in fines from the Quebec government for having too many students in its English-language programs.
Claude Marchand, president of LaSalle College, says the fines, which relate to quotas imposed under Quebec's 2022 language law, threaten the survival of the 65-year-old bilingual institution.
"A $30 million fine is not only disproportionate — it is unprecedented in the Quebec education system and beyond," Marchand says in a statement written in French. "It represents an existential threat to our institution, our students and hundreds of jobs."
The college has asked the Quebec Superior Court to overturn the fines, arguing they are unreasonable.
In a recent social media post, Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry stood by the government's decision.
"LaSalle College is the only private subsidized institution not to comply with the law and to have defied the Charter of the French Language, despite close support and several warnings," she said in French.
The college admits to having exceeded the number of students allowed in its English-language programs for the last two years.
Quebec's government imposed limits on the number of students who can be enrolled in English-language college programs as part of a new language law passed in 2022.
In the 2023-24 school year — the first year the new limits were applied — LaSalle College exceeded its quota by 716 students and received a fine of $8.8 million. In the most recent school year, the college surpassed its quota by 1,066 students, and was fined an additional $21 million.
The school argues it was impossible to respect the limit, in part because many international students had already been accepted before the quotas were announced.
In court documents, the college says the admissions process for international students often begins more than a year ahead of the expected start date. After receiving a letter of admission from the college, students must obtain a certificate of acceptance from the Quebec government.
LaSalle College says the government granted more than 700 certificates to international students wishing to attend English-language programs for the 2023-24 school year — despite the college's new quota for the year being just 693 students.
There were already 654 students enrolled in English-language programs, it says.
It says it was unable to cancel offers already made to students who had received certificates of acceptance from the Quebec government. The college says it has a higher proportion of international students than other colleges in Quebec.
"The law was implemented without a transition period, placing us in a situation where it was impossible to comply," Marchand said in French.
He also said the overall number of English-speaking students has not increased since 2019.
The college says it placed a moratorium on registrations for some of its English-language programs in the 2024-25 school year, and it will be in compliance with the new quotas by the fall.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2025.
Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press
