Quebec must reduce the place of English in CEGEP and university, says report

Photo: Marie-France Coallier Archives Le Devoir Commissioner Dubreuil suggests that Quebec set a target of 85% French-language instruction in higher education.

The Quebec government must reduce the share of English-language instruction in CEGEPs and universities so that 85% of students take their courses in French, according to French Language Commissioner Benoît Dubreuil. Otherwise, “unfavourable trends” in maintaining the language risk becoming more pronounced, he said Wednesday.

The commissioner released his most recent report on the future of the French language this morning. The document, entitled Understanding the decline, reversing trends, is intended as a response to data released by the Office québécois de la langue française last year. It contains eight recommendations.

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First, he suggests that “the Quebec government set a target of 85% French-language instruction in higher education with the goal of gradually increasing the place of this language.”

According to Mr. Dubreuil, the current proportion of students taking courses in English at CEGEP or university (22.4%) is “too high.” Gradually reducing the number of courses taught in English in the higher education system “would ensure the predominance of French in higher education, including in Montreal, while recognizing the importance of giving English a reasonable amount of space.”

To meet the “85%” target, it is not necessary to extend “Bill 101” to CEGEPs, the commissioner believes. According to him, the measures to cap enrolment in English-language CEGEPs imposed since the adoption of “Bill 96”, as well as the government’s intentions regarding the reduction of foreign students in English-language institutions suggest that the target would be reached naturally.

“We believe that a combination of measures […] would make it possible to take into account the organisational constraints of universities and colleges,” he wrote.

But the fight to reverse the decline of French does not stop there, according to Mr. Dubreuil. Given the increasing importance of English in the cultural content consumed by young Quebecers, he urges the government of François Legault to table a bill as soon as possible on the discoverability of French-language and Quebec content.

In January, the Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, promised that such a legislative proposal would be tabled within a year.

“We believe that this legislation should, at a minimum, require major digital platforms to achieve quantifiable objectives for promoting original French-language content,” Mr. Dubreuil recommends in his report.

Other details will follow.