Canada

Cultural, scientific and institutional cooperation

The major focuses of cooperation are decided by the Prime Ministers during their regular meetings in the two locations. The legal framework of our cooperation and its instruments is distinct from those of our cooperation with the federal government of Canada. This cooperation is organized by the France-Quebec Permanent Structured Cooperation (CPCFQ). Our cooperation draws in particular on specialized bodies such as the Franco-Quebecois Youth Office (OFQJ) and the France-Quebec council for university cooperation (CFQCU).

Decentralized cooperation is taking off. Exchanges between local governments in France and Quebec have developed considerably in recent years thanks to the France-Quebec decentralized cooperation fund (FFQCD) established in 2005. Decentralized cooperation was opened up in 2011 to operations in third countries, with the launch of a call for projects in Haiti.

Our scientific and academic cooperation is intense. Most actions co-financed equally with the Quebec side seek to structure partnerships, through the creation of integrated courses and joint laboratories, joint-supervised PhDs (more than 3000 defended to date), mobility of teaching staff, and the organization of scientific events and symposiums. While this cooperation was long based on an agreement providing for waived fees for French students in Quebec (tuition fees aligned with those of Quebec home students), the closure of this scheme by Quebec’s government led France and Quebec to conclude a new agreement on 6 March 2015. This means an alignment of fees for newly enrolled students in bachelor’s programmes in Quebec with those due from other Canadian students from outside Quebec, starting from the 2015 intake. The agreement does, however, provide for maintaining tuition fees similar to those of Quebec home students on postgraduate courses, as well as for all French students residing in Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

Cultural cooperation is particularly intense between France and Quebec in all aspects of contemporary artistic creation. It is based on a number of partnerships between many local artists and cultural operators. Quebec is the leading export market for the French cultural industries. The current priority is seeking new partnerships and high-level co-creation projects.

For more information, consult the website of the French Consulate-General in Quebec