The transfer of young Quebecers from French-speaking secondary schools to English-speaking CEGEPs concerns the French language commissioner, Benoît Dubreuil. But Quebec already believes it has resolved this problem.
During a press conference organized in the national capital on Thursday, Commissioner Dubreuil presented to the media a series of studies on the state of French in Quebec. Among its findings: the drop in the number of students attending French-speaking CEGEPs.
According to the commissioner’s data, 9% of students graduating from high school between 2009 and 2021 chose to attend an English-language CEGEP. Even if this statistic may seem low, it perfectly illustrates the notion of “linguistic transfer” observed in recent years in Quebec, noted Mr. Dubreuil.
“Movements are twice as numerous from French to English, and it’s happening [surtout] between high school and CEGEP,” he said.
This trend is all the more important, according to Mr. Dubreuil, as the probability of using French at work drops considerably when a student completes their entire post-secondary career in English, even if they are French-speaking.
In his documents based in particular on Statistics Canada studies, the commissioner calculates that a person who attends French-speaking establishments from kindergarten to doctorate will be almost three times more likely (88%) to use French at work than a person who obtains their post-secondary diplomas in an English-speaking CEGEP and university (32%).
“For me the conclusion is quite clear: the longer you are in the network, the longer you are exposed to a language during your studies, the more the probability then increases of using the language in the job market and elsewhere,” said Commissioner Dubreuil.
However, according to the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, this trend towards anglicization is already being reversed.
By imposing enrollment ceilings in English-speaking CEGEPs, the Quebec government has slowed down the transfer of French-speaking and allophone students to the college network, argued the CAQ elected official in an interview with Dutythis week.
According to estimates from the Ministry of Higher Education, 14.6% of registrations in the CEGEP network will be in English-speaking establishments in 2030-2031. This is three percentage points less than in 2020-2021, a year during which peak attendance was recorded in English-speaking CEGEPs.
On the contrary, he predicts, the proportion of students enrolled in CEGEPs in French will only increase in the coming years. On a graph, the registration curve in French-speaking areas looks like a V.
“The mandate that the Prime Minister gave me [donné] in 2022, it was to reverse the decline of the French language. I believe that we are in the process of doing this in CEGEPs. The demonstration is clear,” he maintained.
« Loi 96 »
The cap on registrations in the English-speaking CEGEP network has only applied since the start of the 2023-2024 year. It is a direct consequence of Bill 96 reforming the Charter of the French language, which was adopted in 2022 at the end of François Legault’s first mandate.
To limit the transfer of young Quebecers from French-speaking secondary schools to English-speaking higher education establishments, the former minister responsible for the French language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, then imposed a double requirement on English-speaking CEGEPs: each year, all put together, they can only accommodate a total of 30,834 students, no more. The proportion of places available in English-speaking CEGEPs cannot exceed 17.5% of the total places in the college network.
The law also provides that it is impossible to go beyond the levels of the previous year. With the increase in the size of the college student class, the English-speaking network is therefore condemned to lose weight in sharing places.
Without saying whether this is the best solution to ensure attendance in the French-speaking college network, Benoît Dubreuil describes capping enrollment in English-speaking CEGEPs as a promising measure to help slow down the anglicization of Quebec.
“It is certain that if there are more people who study French for longer, the effect will be visible,” maintains Mr. Dubreuil, while emphasizing that “school does not do everything”. “You have to have moderate expectations. »
As part of the debates on Bill 96, the Parti Québécois proposed that Bill 101 extend to CEGEPs. According to Jean-François Roberge, the results of the measure chosen by his government prove that it was not necessary.
“We get closer every year. If we strictly applied Law 101 to CEGEP, that is to say an outright ban, it must also be said that there would be less social diversity,” he said. “It seems to me that we have an approach that is pragmatic. »
