Removing Access to English Adult Education and Vocational Centres is a Lose-Lose Proposition for Quebec

As we speak, some 14,000 adult students currently enrolled in the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) network stand at risk of being shut out of their chosen education and training pathways. The Quebec government, under the CAQ’s new leadership, is recklessly reviving its plan to extend Bill 101’s restrictions to adult education and vocational training. This misguided move would impose the same eligibility criteria used for elementary and secondary students (requiring a parent educated in English in Canada) onto adult learners, with devastating consequences for Quebec’s economy and workforce. 

Minister Jean-François Roberge has spoken of redirecting some 27,000 adult students to the French network. This figure is not only inflated but dangerously detached from reality. Forcing adult learners out of English centres will not produce a smooth, one-for-one transfer. It will instead trigger widespread dropouts, prolonged delays, and lost opportunities. 

Flawed and Counterproductive Assumptions 
The government’s rationale rests on deeply flawed assumptions. Many adult learners, particularly immigrants, newcomers, and those still building French proficiency, simply will not be ready for immediate immersion in French-language programs. They will drop out due to language barriers, languish on francization waiting lists, face excessive travel burdens to distant centres, or lose access to the specialized support services available in the English network. 

At the EMSB, we estimate that 65 to 70 percent of currently eligible adult learners could lose access under these restrictions. This is a massive disruption that will choke off the supply of skilled graduates at precisely the wrong time. Quebec already grapples with severe labour shortages across critical sectors. Diminishing the flow of trained workers into healthcare, daycare, construction, trades, hospitality, and administration is shortsighted and economically self-destructive. 

English adult education and vocational programs deliver excellent results. Placement rates in key areas such as health and child care routinely reach 75 to 95 percent. These graduates quickly become productive taxpayers and contributors to Quebec society. Small and medium-sized businesses across Quebec rely heavily on this talent pipeline for talented employees who meet real workplace needs. 

Restricting access will not magically strengthen French in the workplace. Studying in an English vocational centre does not prevent graduates from working in French. On the contrary, students gain technical skills and confidence faster in their stronger language, then naturally improve their French skills on the job. Many programs already incorporate French modules, technical terminology, bilingual materials, and French-language internships. 

By blocking these proven pathways, the government is sabotaging successful integration and reducing overall workforce participation. 

Language competencies in the workplace 
The government also assumes that this measure will combat the decline of French in the workplace. But studying and training in English doesn’t preclude working in French. To ease entry into a new job, it has been shown that adult students newly graduated gain confidence and adapt more quickly to the demands of the job by being able to communicate in the language of their choice. There tends to be natural improvement to communicating in French while on the job. 

Devastating Ripple Effects 
The financial and operational fallout will be severe. Sharp enrolment drops will force English school boards to slash program offerings, eliminate specialized training, and potentially close centres in certain regions. Hundreds of teaching and support positions will be threatened.  

At the EMSB alone, adult education funding contributes up to $15 million annually to support our elementary and secondary networks. Cutting this vital revenue stream will harm students across all levels and undermine the entire public education system’s capacity to serve Quebecers.  

Human and Economic Costs 
This policy strikes at the heart of individual opportunity. Adult learners often return to education after interrupted schooling, job loss, career changes, or as newcomers seeking a foothold in Quebec society. Programs like the Sociovocational Integration (SVI) initiative at Wagar Adult Education Centre provide access to over 100 semi-skilled trades, offering students a choice of over 100 semi-skilled trades (from technology and manufacturing to childcare, landscaping, and maintenance), delivering dignity, independence, and meaningful employment. 

A Public Education Pathway Essential for Quebec’s Future 
Adult education and vocational training in English centres serve all Quebecers—English-eligible students, francophones, allophones, immigrants, and people of diverse abilities and backgrounds. These programs help individuals complete high school, meet prerequisites for further studies, retrain for new careers, and enter the workforce with recognized qualifications.  

Shuttering access to these successful institutions is not sound public policy. It is an ideological overreach that will produce fewer graduates, fewer skilled workers, fewer taxpayers, and greater strain on our economy and public services. 

Quebec needs practical solutions that expand opportunity and strengthen the workforce, not punitive restrictions that deepen labour shortages and damage our collective prosperity. The government must abandon this reckless proposal. 

Joe Ortona is President of the Quebec English School Boards Association and Chair of the English Montreal School Board, Quebec’s largest English public school board serving over 33,000 students in its youth and adult sectors.