Quebec Universities Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Amid COVID-19

Students from 15 Quebec universities have filed an application for authorization for a class action lawsuit, claiming their schools should refund part of their tuition for the semester disrupted by COVID-19.

The class action application was filed by a Université Laval student, plaintiff Claudia Larose, who completed her bachelor’s degree in public communication during this session.

After Quebec government ordered the suspension of courses at the province’s educational institutions on March 13, several universities reformatted their in-person classes to take place online.

The Quebec university class action lawsuit alleges that the cancellation of in-person classes across the province caused students to lose access to essential learning services, like libraries and training seminars. Claudia and other university students also stressed that while some classes were moved online, others were cancelled entirely.

“Essentially for a semester students are paying for many services since March 13 but many of those services have been eliminated,” according to Elodie Drolet-French, Claudia’s lawyer. “The class action is meant to compensate students for the services they didn’t get.”

The class action lawsuit application alleges that the measures introduced at most universities for the winter 2020 session were “insufficient to enable them to honour the commitments they made to students under their university contracts.”

The Quebec university class action lawsuit is seeking compensation of $30 per university credit. One university course generally amounts to three credits. Among the different bachelor’s programs in the province, a bachelor’s degree course can cost from $300 to $350.

According to the allegations submitted in the Quebec university class action, students obtained educational services that were significantly inferior to what they were entitled to receive. Moreover, Class Members claim that they couldn’t access all the services they paid for under the university contract.

“There are a multitude of services to which they have not had access. In particular, libraries and sports centres,” explains Élodie Drolet-French.

The Quebec university class action application points out that, in addition to having been deprived of certain physical facilities, such as, laboratories and multimedia rooms, university students were not able to take advantage of several training activities, including internships and educational conferences. The application also highlights that Quebec university students missed out on “student life,” which is characterized by the presence of various student groups and clubs on campus.

The Quebec university class action lawsuit also indicates that Claudia could not celebrate her graduation with the rest of her class at the graduation ceremony that was supposed to take place at the end of the session due to COVID-19 university measures.

Quebec: COVID-19 Epicentre

According to infectious disease specialist, Matthew Oughton, Quebec has the earliest spring break in Canada, taking place early March. In an interview with CTV News, Oughton believes the early March break likely contributed to Montreal getting hit early and hard by COVID-19, weeks before quarantine and social distancing measures were instituted.

A study led by Université de Montréal, a defendant in the Quebec university class action lawsuit, the province of Quebec may have 12 times the reported number of COVID-19 cases. As of June 9, Quebec’s COVID-19 deaths reached a deadly high of 5,000. The city of Montreal remains the epicentre of the virus in Canada, accounting for roughly half of COVID-19 cases in the province.

Quebec Universities Targeted

The defendant universities have received notice of the pending class action application. They will have 15 days to respond, indicating that they are aware of the legal action against them.

A date will then be set by the court to consider whether the Quebec university class action should be authorized. This process may take longer than usual, according to Élodie Drolet-French, due to COVID-19 backlogs in Quebec’s justice system.

Class Members include all students who are Quebec residents and registered for at least one credit for the winter semester of 2020 at one of the following universities :

• École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal
• École nationale d’administration publique
• École de technologie supérieure
• Institut national de la recherche scientifique
• Polytechnique Montréal
• Bishop’s University
• Concordia University
• Université Laval
• Université de Montréal
• Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue
• Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
• Université du Québec à Montréal
• Université du Québec en Outaouais
• Université du Québec à Rimouski
• Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Were you a student in one of the listed universities or another university? Were your classes cancelled ? Tell us your story in the comments below!

The plaintiff and Class Members are represented by Jean-François Bertrand Avocats Inc.

The Quebec University Class Action Lawsuit is Claudia Larose v. Corporation de L’École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal, et al., Case No. 200-06-000246-200, in the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montreal, Canada.

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