A Quebec college facing a $30-million fine for enrolling too many students in English-language programs is suspending the first day of classes on Monday.
LaSalle College says in a statement that the suspension is tied to the fine imposed on the Montreal school.
The college says back-to-class will now be on Tuesday and assures the measure won’t have an impact on students’ academic careers.
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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.
Claude Marchand, the CEO of the college, says in a Linkedin post that despite calls for leniency and the college being in compliance with the law for the 2025 school year, the government is maintaining a hard line in cutting the college’s operating subsidies.
Quebec’s Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry accused the college of holding the students hostage in the middle of the negotiation process with the school.
She repeated in a post on X that LaSalle College is the only private subsidized college that has not respected the quotas.