Unjustified $30 Million Penalty

The Government of Québec has imposed a $29.9 million penalty on LaSalle College, Montréal, for an administrative imbalance in the distribution of English-speaking students between our ACS and DCS programs.

The students concerned were already enrolled at the time the law came into effect and were all legally admitted with the required government authorizations. The College cannot legally cancel their contracts or interrupt their educational path.

Since May 2021, LaSalle College has:

• Actively participated in the democratic debate around Bill 96 (now Law 14);
• Made several formal appeals to the Minister of Higher Education, Ms. Pascale Déry, and to Premier Legault’s office;
• Officially challenged the government’s decision in court as of July 2024;
• Received indirect support from Judge Éric Dufour who, in a related case (regarding McGill and Concordia), condemned similar government decisions as unreasonable and unsupported by convincing data.

We have always expressed agreement with the principles and objectives of Law 14.

That said, from the beginning and throughout consultations, we have raised serious concerns about the law’s implementation parameters — particularly the decision to base calculations on 2019 student numbers instead of those from 2022, despite the fact that our enrollment shifted significantly between 2019 and 2022 in direct response to government directions. We have shown agility by gradually transferring a large portion of our offerings from DCS to ACS programs, in line with the targets set under the Opération main-d’œuvre initiative.

Because of these choices, we were deemed non-compliant on day one.

The total number of English-speaking students has not increased since 2019. The current issue is not one of volume, but of administrative distribution between two types of programs (ACS and DCS).

Nevertheless, the government continues to pursue a penalty that threatens an institution founded in 1959, with 66 years of commitment to higher education in Québec and in 10 countries.

This $30 million penalty puts the future of our institution — and of thousands of students — at risk. We will continue to act with determination, transparency, and integrity.