Something that people should keep in mind is that the fees were lower for those "out-of-province" students in Québec than in their own province.
This fee raise basically brings it on par with what they would pay in their on province. One of the reasoning behind this law is that Québec shouldn't be subsidizing other provinces way too expensive university system.
If you are living in Québec, university fees are quite cheap, and this doesn't change.
The French vs English aspect is widely talked about, but not a whole lot is mentioned about the actual price hike.
The total fees for out of province students will still be lower than for out of province students in other provinces.
The fees for international students will still be lower than the fees for international students in other provinces.
In the only province where French is the only official language, French universities received less financing than English universities no matter the source, including from the provincial government. Donating to one's Alma Mater isn't part of the French Canadian culture for a ton of historical reasons, that leads to an university like McGill getting 200m$ from a single ex student and having over a billion sleeping in its coffers while the Université du Québec en Outaouais barely manages to offer basic services to its students.
Is it such a bad thing that the government asks that foreign students integrate themselves by learning the local language? That's an incentive for them to stay and it prevents the issue of having some of them stay without being able to speak the language, pretty much forcing them to live in one of three urban areas and their suburbs (Montreal, Gatineau, Sherbrooke).
They are foreign though, literally. They are from a different province, plus a very different culture. There isn't much that separates someone from Alberta from someone from Montana or Massachussetts in that case, other than a passport.
I mean you can Google the word "foreign" and the first thing that shows up is:
of, from, in, or characteristic of a country or language other than one's own.
of or belonging to another district or area.
And Wiktionary gives:
Located outside a country or place, especially one's own.
Originating from, characteristic of, belonging to, or being a citizen of a country or place other than the one under discussion.
Most Québécois are primarily francophones, while the rest of Canada are anglophones, it checks that box. And obviously Québec is a different district/area than not Québec. And someome from outside of Québec is of course from a different place, both being a different province and a completely different sometimes almost unrecognizable culture.
Idk man seems pretty reasonable to call them "foreign" seeing as how they're from a different province. Plus "foreign" is a good catch-all word for anyone who isn't from the jurisdiction.
Also yes if you go into another state you are foreign to that state. Not foreign country-wise, but foreign state-wise.
See there's this thing we call "a definition" and that word is appropriate to the situation and if you think "foreigner" is pejorative then you're the one who's got an issue...