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Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FUNDING FOR QUEBEC UNIVERSITIES: PHASE II REINVESTMENT IS IMPERATIVE.
(Version française)
Montreal, January 30, 2003 - Quebecs universities would need $375 million to regain their ability to compete with universities in other provinces. Of this amount, $114 million represents income from endowments and $261 million is income from the general fund, the main component of which is government grants.
Note that, in 2002-2003, the universities’s operating budget should be about $2.25 billion. These are the results of a study carried out last year by a CREPUQ-MEQ joint committee to fulfill a commitment made during the Quebec Youth Summit in February 2000. With a view to ensuring that Quebec’s university system is competitive with those of its neighbours, this commitment involves monitoring the operating resources of Quebec universities and comparing them with the budgets and resources of other Canadian universities.
In the wake of the Quebec Youth Summit, the government had decided to add $300 million, over three years, to its grants to universities. The universities were pleased with this major government initiative, which was called the Phase I reinvestment at the time. However, three years later, we must realize that there remains considerable catching up to do to compete on an equal footing with universities in other provinces, and a Phase II reinvestment is imperative.
It is essential that students attending our universities receive quality education that is at least comparable to that received by their peers: this will be tested when they join the labour market. Improvement of teaching through faculty renewal and expansion, improvement of support services - library collections, laboratory equipment, computer equipment - and renewal of other types of staff: therein lies the true focus for the reinvestment. Pierre Lucier, President of CREPUQ and President of the Université du Québec, points out that universities have played a decisive role in the advent of modern Quebec since the Quiet Revolution. In a knowledge-based economy focused on information, technology and creativity, this role will obviously expand in the future. It is by investing in its universities that Quebec will be able to generate the resources required to meet the needs of its population across all sectors of society.
For information:
Jacques Bordeleau
Executive Director
(514) 288-8524, ext. 201
Link to French document
http://www.crepuq.qc.ca/crepuq_meq/RapNivRessfinal.pdf