Canada recruits dozens of researchers from US universities amid funding disputes

Canada recruits dozens of researchers from US universities amid funding disputes

Canada has awarded 64 international scholars C$504 million (US$362 million) in funding to relocate their research to Canadian universities, with more than three-fourths of the recipients coming from the United States, according to officials and reports.

The initiative, part of a broader Canadian effort to boost university research, includes 48 researchers from the U.S., including from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The remaining 16 scholars come from 12 other countries, including the UK, Germany, China and Japan.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly announced the funding in Vancouver on Thursday, describing the recipients as "fantastic professors." "While certain countries are cutting research and turning their back on academic freedom, we're doubling down on science and we're doubling down on research," Joly said, according to the South China Morning Post.

The recruitment drive comes amid ongoing tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and American universities. The administration has accused universities of being dominated by left-wing ideology and diversity policies, and of failing to tackle alleged campus antisemitism. It has also frozen federal research grants for institutions and groups it argued were wasteful, creating uncertainty that has pushed some researchers to consider opportunities elsewhere.

Canada, meanwhile, has been asserting itself more on the global stage while pushing back against the U.S. in an escalating trade war, which recently reached a major turning point over tariffs.

One of the researchers relocating is Seth Guikema, a climate resiliency researcher at the University of Michigan. Guikema told the BBC he decided to approach Canadian institutions last year in search of opportunities, citing the challenging funding environment in the U.S. for climate and resilience work. Over the next eight years, Guikema will use C$8 million to research tools for preparing for natural hazards like storms and wildfires at the University of Western Ontario. The University of Michigan declined to comment, according to the BBC.

Another researcher, Peter Caravan, a biopharmaceutical researcher and professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, will now conduct research at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Stephanie Burt, an English professor at Harvard University, said Canada offered a "far more welcoming environment."

According to Joly, 23 of the research chairs are Canadians returning home. The program is part of an initiative Prime Minister Mark Carney's government unveiled last year, earmarking C$1.7 billion over 12 years to recruit more than 1,000 researchers to Canadian universities.