Quebec's English-language schools may open to Canadian visa holders

October 23 2009 by Liam Clifford

Canadian Bill voted to be abolished and may open English-language schools to Canadian visa holders.

The Canadian Supreme Court made a ruling on Thursday that may see immigrant families being able to send their children to English-speaking schools in Quebec.

A Canadian law, called Bill 104 and brought in in 2002, closed a loophole that allowed immigrant families to send their children to schools in the English public school system if they first enrolled a child in a privately-funded English school. The loophole allowed immigrant families to get their kids into English schools despite being otherwise ineligible to do so.

However, on Thursday the court voted 7-0 in favour of abolishing the Bill. It will remain in place for a year to allow the Quebec government to decide upon a fairer law that will take individual families’ circumstances into account when assigning places in English-language schools.

The change in the law is expected to be welcomed by families who have moved to Canada with hopes of sending their children to learn English at school.

The case was brought to court by a group of 25 parents who fought the case for seven years. One of the parents, Virender Singh Jamwal, welcomed the development, remarking "this is really wonderful news, it's a great decision".

See the latest Immigration News