Concordia cutting budget by $36M as it subsidizes French universities, Carr says

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Concordia University says enrolment will drop by almost 1,200 students and it will get four per cent less in government funding this fall even as it subsidizes French universities to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

Blaming Premier François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec government for its growing deficit, the university plans to cut spending by $35.8 million in 2024-25.

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Concordia president Graham Carr provided the grim financial update in a message to the university community last week.

“I know we’re all exhausted and frustrated by the endless series of cuts and compressions,” he said. “But the reality is that the (Quebec) government isn’t working to help us. It’s therefore up to us to break the deficit cycle and move forward.”

The news comes weeks after the Moodys credit rating agency downgraded the university, saying Quebec policy changes “will materially negatively affect Concordia’s student demand and revenue.”

Here are the key points about Concordia’s financial situation:

Enrolment

Concordia will have 29,120 students in 2024-25, a drop of 1,191. The 3.9 per cent decline is the biggest since the university was founded 50 years ago.

All categories saw decreases, including students from the rest of Canada (560), other countries (419) and Quebec (212).

The university predicted a drop in enrolment after Quebec imposed a 33 per cent tuition hike on out-of-province students attending English universities and sparked confusion about fees for foreign students.

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Funding

Carr said Concordia is “losing four per cent of our government funding while subsidizing the francophone universities to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.”

He said that “without consultation, the Quebec government has decided to redistribute significant sums of funding in the budget of the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur to the benefit of francophone universities and at a cost to Concordia.

“Specifically, the government will redistribute around $400 million in funds clawed back from universities and student fees across the network, with $76 million, or 19 per cent of that total, taken from Concordia.

“Although we will receive some government grants for deregulated international students, Concordia is the university most hurt by the government’s policies.”

In a separate note to the community, Denis Cossette, Concordia’s chief financial officer, and Anne Whitelaw, the university’s provost, said English universities are net losers in Quebec’s $400-million redistribution.

Meanwhile, “francophone universities will benefit from an additional $116 million in funding,” Cossette and Whitelaw said.

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“Also, anglophone universities will no longer have access to funds to recruit and integrate international students, which represents an $8.5-million loss for Concordia.”

Quebec’s university policy changes are part of Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry’s effort to increase funding for French universities and reduce the number of non-French speakers in Montreal post-secondary institutions.

The Legault government has complained too much English is being spoken on Montreal streets, with non-French-speaking students partly to blame.

Deficit

Concordia “has been in a deficit position since emerging from the pandemic, due to dropping enrolments, inflation and the increasing salary and service costs required to run the university,” Carr said.

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In 2023, the university cut overall spending by 7.8 per cent to lower its deficit, planning to return to a balanced budget by 2028-29.

Concordia ended 2023-24 with a $30.9-million deficit and now faces additional challenges.

“The reduction in number of students, salary increases and inflation will add an additional $20.8 million to our expenses,” Cossette and Whitelaw said. Also, “the new tuition fees framework is creating an additional negative impact of approximately $15 million.”

In 2024-25, Concordia’s deficit target is $34.5 million.

But to reach that, the institution must “achieve $35.8 million in cost reductions.”

Carr said he will meet with “union, managers and the community” in the coming weeks.

Concordia will maintain its hiring freeze and is “reviewing course and program offering,” Cossette and Whitelaw said. “We are also exploring opportunities to increase revenues through the creation of new professional education programs and strategic partnerships with other universities.”

Concordia is also “examining the use of campus space to repurpose office areas that are underused and reduce the existing space-management pressures on our campuses.”

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Future

“In the medium to long term, we need to identify what a truly sustainable future looks like for our university,” Carr said. “Our goal is to develop new strategies and practices that can better withstand the vagaries of Quebec politics and international recruitment trends.”

He said “Concordia’s unique position in Quebec is as strong and persuasive as ever. We offer innovative programs, conduct high-impact research and are leaders in the arts, culture and innovation.”

He noted that Times Higher Education recently ranked Concordia as the 80th-best “young university.” It’s the first time the university has cracked the top 100.

In February, Concordia and McGill universities filed separate lawsuits asking the courts to cancel Quebec’s tuition changes. They argue the government is acting illegally, contravening the Canadian and Quebec charters of rights.

“It was the injustice of the government’s approach to funding anglophone universities that led us to launch the legal challenge in defence of Concordia,” Carr said.

“Inevitably, it will take time for the lawsuit to make its way through the courts. Meanwhile, we have no choice but to confront our realities, control our deficit and create the conditions to chart a new course for success.”

ariga@postmedia.com

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