Quebec urged to reconsider $30M fine against college over English-language enrolment

MONTREAL — The Quebec government is being urged to show leniency toward a Montreal college facing a $30-million fine for enrolling too many students in its English-language programs.

An association representing private subsidized colleges says LaSalle College risks “irreversible consequences” if the provincial government won’t change its position.

Association des collèges privés du Québec is calling on the province to negotiate with the school to avoid its closure, calling the fine unjustified and counterproductive.

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.

The government has said LaSalle College is the only private subsidized college that has not respected the quotas.

The college has asked the Quebec Superior Court to overturn the fines, arguing they are unreasonable.

LaSalle College has said it was impossible to respect the limit, in part because many international students had already been accepted before the quotas were announced.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2025.