The Canada Award, designed to compensate about 80 per cent of Canadian undergraduate students from outside Quebec by $3,000, is the university’s attempt to soften the blow of the Quebec government hiking their tuition from about $9,000 a year to $12,000. It will fund the awards with money it saves as a result of budgetary cuts and a recently-announced hiring freeze, as well as “a redistribution of existing funding for scholarships and student aid,” McGill University spokesperson Keila DePape told The Logic. (The Logic)

Talking point: Concordia, the other English-language university affected by the increases, hasn’t yet announced any similar plans, but Concordia spokesperson Fiona Downey said the hikes “could mean some students might be shelving their dreams of studying here, so we’re determined to increase the number of scholarships available to them.” Both McGill and Concordia are reeling from the hikes, which the Quebec government said are an attempt to curb “anglicization” in the province. McGill president Deep Saini said the government’s requirement that 80 per cent of out-of-province students attain intermediate French proficiency before graduating was “incoherent policy based on impressions and emotions.” The government granted Bishop’s University an exemption from the tuition hikes, citing the university’s size and demographics.