"It was a nightmare. An existential crisis."

"We don't get it. We don't get that there was no dialogue from day one. ... It's really strange."

"I will not say that personally that's my vision of the world but I perfectly respect that a duly elected democratic government can act pretty much however they want."

"LaSalle cannot be depicted as the institution threatening French on the Island of Montreal."

"[While I support protecting the French language] ... I refuse that LaSalle be instrumentalized for small politics like that."

"The first question that came to my mind is which organization or family business can afford to pay such a fine." 

Claude Marchand, director-general, LaSalle College, Montreal

Claude Marchand, president and CEO of LaSalle College, says the private Montreal college has been slapped with hefty fines it can't afford. The college is challenging them in a civil suit in Quebec's Superior Court. (LCI Éducation/Diego Iñiguez /Petr Tanko)

 

"It's uncomfortable to live in a place that is always sending you messages, in big ways and small ways that you are not welcome."

"If you read a headline that stated 'Government Shuts Down School for Accepting Too Many Minority Students', we as Canadians would probably be shocked and wonder in what oppressive regime this school is being shut down."

Merwie Garzon, mother of second-year LaSalle student  

Successive governments of the Province of Quebec have tied themselves into legislative knots of anguish over their perceived alarm to the dominance of French-language usage, seeing threats in the presence of Quebec Anglophones' use of English. One law after another has been enacted over the years to diminish the presence of English in the province, and to promote the use of French. From public signage that must see French dominate and English printed in smaller letters, to demands that businesses use French-only identity names, to mandating that French only must be used in government offices, minority English-speakers' rights have been inevitably decimated.

 

The province's language charter was altered in 2022 to ensure that French would be the only language of communication between government agencies and Quebecers; "a common denominator in the public sphere", according to the governing Coalition Avenir Quebec.  English-speaking Quebecers quailed in horror at the thought that hospital interfaces with patients would be in French only, denying English citizens their basic rights under federal law. For the  upcoming October 5 election, all election material provided to voters is in French only.

 

As a private college, LaSalle and others like it were required to ensure that their graduating students have at least three French-taught courses, outside the core common French language instruction courses. A strict quota was placed on the number of students taking English courses to ensure that as specified in law, a set proportion of all college students -- no more than 11.7 to 18.7 percent -- be taught in English. No transition period was offered before financial penalties would be imposed on violators.

 

LaSalle College students call for resumption of classes, in Montreal on Aug. 27, 2026 (Arthur Henault, CityNews)

 

Under this strict regimen, without a period of adjustment LaSalle College realized a temporary, two-year 'administrative imbalance' (since resolved) where it exceeded its 2023-24 quota by 715 students, and 1,066 by the following year. This allowed the government to levy fines to an extent to which LaSalle College was unable to pay. School shut-down seemed imminent through bankruptcy. 

 

Quebec Superior court Justice Martin Castonguay on September 4, ordered the province to pay the school its allocated subsidies, allowing the new year's classes to proceed, while extending the school's creditor protection, ordering the parties to return to court. The sole creditor is the province. So the school was given brief breathing room so that classes could proceed for the year. The problem, however is not resolved -- with the school continuing to face punitive fines of $30 million for excessive Anglophone education.

 

The school's students responded in the only way they could, by rallying at the school before a last-ditch court appearance, holding signs declaring "Studying is a right, save our education/our future", and "Laissez-nous etudier". "They're tied up in knots", explained Merwie Garzon, mother of a student who is 'furious' at the provincial government's discrimination against a linguistic minority in 'calculated' methods to manoeuvre the college's closure, "actively trying to drive out Anglophones".

 

La Salle College  Photo: LaSalle website

 

There are 400 employees at the school. The Marchand family founded the private college in 1962. Claude Marchand has been responsible for running La Salle for 18 years. He was left wondering whether the government would ever return his calls, or respond to settlement offers, a dozen to date. On the school's website can be found the declaration that it "finds itself abandoned by the very organization with which it has collaborated for more than 67 years"; the province. 

 

Currently, LaSalle College has fewer students studying in English than ever before, and fewer in their diploma programs. Yet they are being fined into bankruptcy because their anglophone class numbers exceeded the government quota. No clarity was offered by the government, Mr. Marchand's appeals went unanswered; there had been no response from government when he informed them in 2021that the college needed a transition period.

 

On June 28, 2024 the school was fined $8,781,740, and $21,113,864 a year later. This year, LaSalle managed full compliance with the quota system, as it had the year before, successfully managing its own transition. Although no added debt occurred with penalties imposed the last two years, the debt of the previous two years swelled to $50 million, which would place the college into bankruptcy. The college, said Mr. Marchand, could manage $20 million, but the two fines would break it. 

"[The fines are a] clawback, [the government is also fining twice for the same student over the last two years]."

"We don't have more students in those [English-taught] programs than in 2019 which is the ultimate spirit of the law."

"We're fully compliant for next semester and we have a public mission to serve all [our] 5,000 students and we want to keep going."

Claude Marchand, La Salle College 

LaSalle College was fined $30 million by the Quebec government for enrolling too many students in English-language programs between 2023 and 2025. It also needs to repay $17.9 million in provincial subsidies. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)