Ten Montreal families won a hard-fought battle in court Thursday ensuring their children's right to English education.
An administrative tribunal ruled in their favour after the parents' request for access to English education was denied in July by Quebec's Ministry of Education.
Each of the students involved in the case had already been attending English-language private institutions.
The problem was that the schools received some provincial funding, meaning all students require Certificates of Eligibility to study in English, and these pupils were not eligible because under Bill 104 those certificates only go to children who have a parent who has done the majority of their schooling in English in Canada.
Last fall, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Bill 104, but put its ruling on hold while giving the Quebec government one year to come up with an alternative.
Since it hadn't come into full effect, the Ministry of Education ruled that Bill 104 still applied, but on Thursday a judge ruled that the delay in applying the decision was not a reason to deny a child's constitutional right to English education.
The students in the families involved in the case will begin class - in English - next week.
The government is appealing the decision.
