PQ plans bill to limit access to English CEGEPs

Quebec’s Parti Québécois government will table a bill next year that would restrict English-language CEGEPs to students who are legally eligible to study in English, French-language Minister Pascal Bérubé said Wednesday at the National Assembly.

Bérubé said 2027 will mark 50 years since the adoption of the Charter of the French Language and that the government intends to mark the milestone by reforming the law, CBC News reported. He described the measures as “strong” ones. CEGEPs are Quebec’s junior colleges, where students typically begin pre-university or technical programs after graduating from high school at 17.

“We are counting on everybody to make sure that the French language still has vitality and is there forever,” Bérubé said.

Under the Charter, children of francophones and allophones must attend French-language elementary and high schools in the public system. Only students who qualify for a certificate of eligibility for instruction in English are exempt. Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has publicly supported extending those restrictions to English-language CEGEPs, a plan that was also part of the PQ’s election platform, CBC reported.

Bérubé also said the government intends to support renewing the notwithstanding clause on Bill 96, Quebec’s language law, which is set to expire next June. The clause lets a provincial legislature override parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for up to five years unless it is renewed. CBC reported that Bérubé plans to table two bills in the coming months, one renewing the clause and another to boost the protection of French.

The PQ governs with a minority, so it would need the support of at least one opposition party to pass either bill. Our earlier report noted that the party won a minority government with 59 seats in the Oct. 5 election, and that the new session of the National Assembly is not set to open until Dec. 1.

The opposition parties were not united behind the plan. Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime said his party would not support a measure forcing adults to study in a specific language, and said current laws already require francophones and allophones to attend French public schools. “Adults should make their own decisions,” Duhaime said.

Madwa-Nika Cadet, the Quebec Liberals’ critic for the French language, francization and integration, said restricting access would not increase the number of French speakers or help French flourish. “What it does is prevent francophones and allophones from frequenting higher-learning institutions in the language of their choice at a moment when they are already French speakers,” Cadet said in an interview with CBC’s Quebec AM on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Québec solidaire confirmed Wednesday that the party opposes applying the Charter at the CEGEP level, noting that it respects adults’ freedom of choice, according to CBC.

The Conservatives, Liberals and Québec solidaire have each said they oppose the CEGEP measure, which leaves the government without a declared partner for it. The government has not released the bill’s text, and Bérubé did not give a tabling date beyond 2027.

Language policy has been a recurring flashpoint for the new government. We previously reported on Quebec’s decision to mail voter information in French only and on the PQ’s first 100 days in office.

Source: CBC News, Nov. 11, 2026.

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