The CEGEP de Saint-Laurent is collapsing, and its students have had enough. Some 4,000 students were on strike today to protest hundreds of millions in cuts to CEGEP budgets.
In the summer of 2024, François Legault's government announced the withdrawal of $200 million from the envelope earmarked for these institutions. Yet their maintenance deficit has risen from $326 million in 2021-2022 to over $700 million in 2024-2025.
In the case of the CEGEP de Saint-Laurent, this maintenance deficit amounts to $20 million, while more than half of its buildings are deemed to be in poor condition. “Now, there's an entire pavilion in our CEGEP that we no longer have access to,” Ariane Paradis-Théberge, treasurer of her student association, tells L'Étoile du Nord.
The CEGEP administration had to close its Pavillon A last fall, and is now having to relocate courses from Pavillon B. The buildings have been so poorly maintained that their structure is threatened. To compensate, the CEGEP has been forced to rent space in the former NFB building, two kilometers away.
“There, because of the buildings, they closed the Okafhé [the student café in the great hall], which was really an important place,” said Paula Ernzerof, responsible for action and awareness at the CEGEP de Saint-Laurent Student Association (AECSL).
Since students have to go back and forth between different buildings, the great hall, a gathering place for students, is increasingly deserted. “It was supposed to be a place of exchange,” adds Paradis-Théberge, who decries the erosion of the student community following the relocation of classes.
The walk from the CEGEP to the new Pavillon K takes almost 25 minutes. “It doesn't sound like much, but it adds up,” says Ernzerof. Paradis-Théberge adds: “I've had people tell me personally, ‘I usually take public transit to school, but because I'm going to have to go to the K, I'm taking the car.’” All this means extra costs for parking and gas.
Cuts beyond maintenance
The two students also denounce the CAQ's cuts to education in general. “If there's a freeze on employee overtime, we can't have evening activities because teachers can't be there to supervise,” laments the AECSL treasurer.
“If a teacher is on sick leave, they can't be replaced because there's a hiring freeze. Libraries haven't been able to get new books, even though this had already been accepted in the budget.”
She also recalls the end of perspective scholarships, which were intended to financially support students in strategic sectors, such as education. “There are plenty of students who said to themselves, 'Shit, since I don't have my scholarships anymore, I'm not going to be able to continue.'”
Her colleague, referring to an architecture student at the CEGEP, mentions that “he depends on that grant to pay for his apartment.”
A crumbling network
Other major cuts were announced by the government in its new budget, while 65% of buildings in the CEGEP network are still considered to be in poor condition.
Several programs have also been cut. For example, CEGEP de Montmorency in Laval has had to cut six Attestation of College Studies programs. These short programs are often used by workers to reorient their careers, or by young people from working-class backgrounds to get a job faster.
But Ernzerof and Paradis-Théberge are not giving up. They are currently trying to raise funds with other student associations to commission a research group, IRIS, to produce an in-depth report on the situation.
They also want to rekindle mobilization. The two students say they are trying to forge links with CEGEP unions and other student associations. “The goal is to get the movement going, so that in the provincial elections, this will be a dominant issue,” concludes Paula Ernzerof.