Fined into Compliance: LaSalle College Slapped with $30M for Exceeding English-Language Student Quotas

Private institution LaSalle College is under financial and legal strain after being fined nearly $30 million by the Quebec government for violating newly implemented enrolment quotas for English-language post-secondary programs — fines the college is now challenging in Quebec Superior Court.

The Ministry of Higher Education imposed two consecutive fines on LaSalle:

• $8.7 million in 2024
• $21.1 million in 2025
  The latter resulted from enrolling 1,066 students above the government-imposed cap for the 2024–25 academic year.

Law at the Center: Bill 96 and the French Language Charter

These fines are tied to Bill 96, part of Quebec’s broader legislative effort to protect the French language. This law introduced quotas for how many students could be enrolled in English-taught programs, even at private colleges like LaSalle. While these rules came into effect in Fall 2023, LaSalle claims they were not given sufficient time to adjust their operations.

College president Claude Marchand argues that LaSalle was “doomed” from the start, as international student recruitment and admissions had already been finalized by the time the quotas were announced in February 2023.

“The first question that came to my mind is which organization or family business can afford to pay such a fine,” Marchand stated. “Now we’re fully compliant in Fall 2025, but it took us two years to get here.”

Why Is LaSalle the Only One Being Fined?

LaSalle is currently the only college in Quebec — public or private — that was fined for violating the 2024 quotas, according to the province’s budgetary documents. The government claims that other institutions complied or successfully renegotiated their caps.

For example, Cégep Marie-Victorin, a public college, had its quota increased from 232 to 332 students for Fall 2023, as shown in government records.

LaSalle, on the other hand, says its requests for flexibility were either ignored or rejected, describing the imposed limits as “unreasonable”, particularly for international students in AEC (Attestation of College Studies) programs — where no government subsidies are issued.

Legal Challenge and Allegations of Double Penalties

LaSalle’s legal claim contends:

• The quotas were arbitrary and insufficient
• The school is being fined twice for the same students across two academic years
• The fines function more as a financial clawback than a corrective measure

The Quebec government, however, defends the penalties as legitimate efforts to enforce Bill 96. A spokesperson for Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry emphasized that LaSalle had received “close support and several warnings,” and accused the college of being the only subsidized private institution to defy the language law.

The Minister for the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, echoed this sentiment on X, calling the enforcement of these quotas a “brave but necessary” step to preserve Quebec’s French identity.

LaSalle now awaits a ruling from Quebec’s Superior Court as it contests both penalties in an ongoing civil lawsuit.

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