Why students are still choosing Quebec schools despite soaring out-of-province tuition fees

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Kian Dunn worked hard to save $40,000 while working part-time jobs during high school and his undergraduate degree. But that won’t be enough to get him through a two-year graduate sound recording degree in Quebec.

Originally from Victoria, Mr. Dunn, 23, is considered an out-of-province student in Quebec, a designation that comes with hefty surcharges.

Since fall 2025, out-of-province students at McGill and Concordia universities – the province’s biggest English-language schools – can expect to pay approximately $12,600 a year. In Mr. Dunn’s case, he expects to pay roughly $14,000 a year, $8,000 of which he says is a supplement for out-of-province students. On average, Canadian graduate students pay a little less than $8,000 a year, according to Statistics Canada.

“It’s definitely a lot of pressure,” said Mr. Dunn, who is paying more than double what he did in British Columbia, adding that holding a part-time job is nearly impossible because of his challenging program.

Some postsecondary institutions in other provinces such as Ontario charge out-of-province fees, but the costs are usually much smaller. For example, York University charges non-Ontario residents 10 per cent more for each credit.

Quebec maintains tuition hike for out-of-province students at English-language programs

Students from across Canada have different reasons for taking the financial hit to attend school out of province, whether it’s the prestige of their program or an interest in learning French. For families deciding on universities and colleges, out-of-province fees can be an unexpected add-on to a postsecondary education.

Quebec has had higher tuition charges for students coming from other provinces for decades, but the supplementary fees became dramatically higher in 2023. That year, the provincial government announced that it would increase out-of-province tuition by 33 per cent. At the time, former premier François Legault and his ruling Coalition Avenir Québec party said that it doesn’t want Quebeckers to subsidize the education of students from other parts of Canada.

Quebec’s out-of-province fees remain a controversial issue. In 2025, provincial courts ruled that the government’s rationale for increasing tuition was unjust. However, the province has forged ahead and introduced new reasoning that its policy protects the “vitality” of the French language.

At schools such as Concordia, out-of-province students are charged roughly three times more than a Quebec resident, with tuition costs rising up to nearly $15,000 a year.

Justin Kang, a 23-year-old student from Toronto, who is also studying sound recording, said he chose the program because there simply isn’t another degree with the same history and reputation as McGill’s.

McGill, Concordia drop battle against Quebec tuition hike for out-of-province students

The decision is already paying off: He is currently working at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, in a role related to his area of study. He says he wouldn’t have been able to get the job without connections and help from professors at McGill.

He will take on more debt than he would have in other provinces, but Mr. Kang says it’s worth it for the career opportunities after graduating.

For 23-year-old Leslie Huston, the decision to go to Concordia was based on an interest in Quebec culture and the French language. They could see themselves staying in the province or working in a French country in the future.

In an attempt to attain cheaper tuition, they entered school as a part-time student to eventually become a Quebec resident. (Quebec residency can be attained by part-time students, but not by full-time students.)

Huston also had saved a large amount of money since high school, with a little less than $40,000 set aside.

But after just one part-time year of school, in which they finished only 15 per cent of the credits they need to graduate, Huston spent $9,000 on tuition and $10,000 on rent.

“Almost $20,000 is gone, and that’s before groceries and transit,” said Huston, who relies on student services that provide free meals.

Huston eventually abandoned the idea of becoming a Quebec resident. They live with a disability that is adequately covered in Ontario, and the state of Quebec’s health care is concerning to them.

Huston hasn’t decided to transfer yet – they love living in Quebec and Concordia has a good communications program – but the massive expense of going to school in the province has them in a dire financial situation.

“It kind of feels like throwing money into a black hole sometimes,” they said.

The cost of education in Quebec is taxing on parents too. Tina Kozlovik, 49, saved money in a registered education savings plan for her son’s university education, but never considered that tuition in Quebec would become nearly double what it is in Ontario.

Ms. Kozlovik, who lives in the Greater Toronto Area, encouraged her son to study at McGill. She believes bilingualism will give him a leg up in Canada and wanted him to be immersed in the language and culture. But she says she ultimately has to provide a parental loan for her son to be able to study in Quebec, and the costs will likely alter how long it will take for her to retire.

Her financial adviser has said she’ll have to cut her own expenses by 15 per cent, and that her hopes to travel more as she nears retirement will probably not be achievable.

In researching other schools and cities, Ms. Kozlovik found a silver lining that housing is often cheaper in Montreal than at most college towns in Ontario. She also opted for a student residence without a meal plan for her son’s first year to save money. She estimates studying in Quebec will cost between $2,500 and $4,000 more a year than if her son studied in the GTA.

“It’s a lot, but I’ve always been raised to view education as a priority,” Ms. Kozlovik said.

“That is why I’m going to bite the bullet and just swallow whatever hard times might be ahead for me.”