Quebec is extending more than a hundred million dollars over five years to encourage CEGEP students from large urban centers to study in the regions.

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The Minister of Higher Education, Danielle McCann, wants to breathe new life into the interregional mobility program, which has existed for five years now in the college network, but which had not yielded all the expected results until now.

A total of $7.5 million had been invested in it since 2016-2017 and more than 1,000 young people have benefited from it.

The new version of this program, which will be funded to the tune of $112 million over five years, now aims to convince 5,000 young people from large cities to study in 18 CEGEPs in the regions.

As of fall 2022, these students will be able to obtain a scholarship of $7,500 for each year of study. All programs will be eligible.

The CEGEPs that host them will also receive $1,500 per young person to promote the program, improve scholarships or organize reception activities.

Minister McCann will make the announcement today at Cégep de Saint-Félicien, along with MNA for Roberval, Nancy Guillemette.

Quebec is betting that with this program, renamed “Parcours”, many young graduates will decide to stay for good in several regions, which will contribute to their vitality.

This financial assistance can be combined with the Perspectives Québec scholarship program, which targets study programs where there is a severe shortage of manpower.

Filling spaces in the region

The initiative also makes it possible to respond to a very concrete challenge of lack of space in the college network.

In Montreal, many CEGEPs are overflowing and several expansion projects are underway, while in regional establishments, approximately 9,000 places are available.

However, it remains to be seen whether the additional sums will be sufficient to convince more students living in Quebec and Montreal to move to Matane, Baie-Comeau or Alma for their studies.

The inter-regional mobility program which was set up five years ago was relatively unknown to young people, according to the Federation of Quebec College Students (FECQ), which initiated this initiative.

Until very recently, scholarships were administered locally, by regional CEGEPs. Award amounts, eligible study programs and advertising varied from institution to institution.

To help raise awareness of this program, the student federation proposed in a recent notice a national advertising campaign, in order to reach students in urban centers in particular.