Opinion: On university funding, Quebec has much to learn from donors

Concordia University recently closed its most-successful fundraising campaign ever with a total of $365 million.

That’s after launching the Campaign for Concordia: Next-Gen Now in 2017 with a goal of $250 million, which was frankly a stretch target for a young university that had never previously raised more than $150 million.

The success of our campaign is a statement for and by our community. But we aren’t the only ones celebrating.

In February, Université Laval received a $20-million gift, the largest single donation in its history, from Québecor as part of the campaign for its Carrefour international Brian-Mulroney. Not so long ago, in 2022, the Université du Québec à Montréal closed a university-wide campaign with nearly $119 million.

Meanwhile, the Université de Montréal embarked