Police in Canada’s Quebec have arrested at least 84 protesters outside the venue of a meeting between student leaders and officials in Quebec City aimed at ending a 16-week tuition dispute

Police in Canada’s Quebec have arrested at least 84 protesters outside the venue of a meeting between student leaders and officials in Quebec City aimed at ending a 16-week tuition dispute.

"We have made 84 arrests for blocking traffic," a policeman at the scene of the protests told AFP.

The protesters faced the police response on Monday for “blocking traffic.” They were fined $400 each and were then released.

The negotiations would continue on Tuesday afternoon with no clear results from the Monday meeting yet.

Students have been protesting across Canada's eastern province of Quebec since February in a bid to add up pressure on the province’s government to drop a plan to increase tuition fees.

Nearly 170,000 students are refusing to attend classes in protest at the plan.

Earlier, the government passed an anti-protest law aimed at limiting the right to protest, prompting angry demonstrations across the province.

The protest-related law, the Bill 78, outlines strict regulations for demonstrations and conditions of heavy fines for students and their federations. Under the new law, for any demonstration of 50 or more people, police should be informed eight hours in advance and told of the route of the demonstration.