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The Quebec government tabled a bill Thursday to expand the province’s language regulations to adult and vocational education centres. <\/p>\n
If the Charter of the French Language \u2014 commonly known as Bill 101 \u2014 is expanded under the new legislation<\/a>, students who are not considered part of the province’s “historic anglophone” community would no longer be able to access English-language education <\/p>\n “The bill is ambitious and important,” Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Roberge, the minister responsible for French in Quebec, told reporters Thursday at the National Assembly.<\/p>\n “Studying in French means working in French, shopping in French, and living in French. We see there’s a loophole right now: adult general education and vocational training,” he said.<\/p>\n “We’re correcting that situation.”<\/p>\n In May, Roberge said as many as 27,000 students<\/a> could be affected, while Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette previously put the number at 10,000<\/a>. <\/p>\n Asked about the discrepancy at a news conference on Wednesday, French language commissioner Beno\u00eet Dubreuil told reporters that he’s had discussions with the Education Ministry to determine the exact number. <\/p>\n “The issue of data is crucial. We’re currently analyzing it on our end to try to understand what we know and what we don’t know,” he said. <\/p>\n English school boards concerned <\/p>\n In a letter shared with students, staff and parents on May 28, the Eastern Townships School Board said it is concerned the proposed legislation could restrict access to education for those who need it most, under the guise “to preserve the French language.” <\/p>\n The letter goes on to say that English school boards are strong proponents of French-language learning, adding that many vocational centres offer bilingual materials and internships in French-speaking workplaces. <\/p>\n “The solution is not to close successful pathways. The solution is to strengthen French-language support while protecting access to programs that help Quebecers graduate, gain skills and contribute to the province\u2019s economy,” the letter states.<\/p>\n Judy Kelley, chair of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, previously told CBC she also fears the changes would create barriers to education and estimated that half the students at that board would not be able to continue their studies. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to help anyone in the society,\u201d Kelley said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to work together to enhance what students learn, but we should not be restricting their choices.” <\/p>\n At Wednesdsay’s news conference, Dubreuil said that if the government hadn’t proposed the bill, his office “probably would have looked into it by now.” <\/p>\n “We know that a number of students are leaving the French-language system for the English-language system for all sorts of reasons, going to adult general education or vocational training. So, there is an issue, and we are very eager to be able to discuss it further,” he said. <\/p>\n Roberge’s bill may not make it past this legislative session.<\/p>\n There are only six working days left in the session \u2014 the last before next fall’s election \u2014 and the CAQ government is trying to ram through several pieces of legislation.<\/p>\n “We have to use the time we have in the best way possible,” Roberge said.<\/p>\n “If everyone agrees, I think we can move forward. I don’t see who would be opposed, not even the Liberals.”<\/p>\n WATCH | Quebec government looks to pass an ambitious number of bills: Quebec constitution back in play as Fr\u00e9chette looks to ‘do the maximum’ in coming weeks<\/p>\n Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette plans to maintain a fast pace during a five-week legislative session at the National Assembly. Fr\u00e9chette listed her priorities in an opening speech, which include measures aimed at addressing the rising cost of living, the housing crisis, homelessness, conjugal violence, language, and a proposed Quebec constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-476146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780589529_459_default.jpg\")
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