Over the last few months, academics and scientists in the U.S. have been scrambling to keep their footing on swiftly eroding ground, amid massive Donald Trump-ordered funding cuts and new restrictions.
But although a weakening of the American scientific community has far-reaching impacts on the global academic landscape, experts say one side effect could be top talent from the U.S. coming to Canada.
Already, some researchers, academics and scientists are making the journey — and some provinces and organizations in Canada are looking to reap the benefits.
“The more questions and concerns emerge in the United States, the more opportunity there is for Canada to try and reassert its leadership in the world as a global research powerhouse,” said Gabriel Miller, president and CEO of Universities Canada.
A dominating force in academia
The U.S. has long been a dominating force in the academic world, home to many of the most highly regarded universities in the world. But Trump has begun an aggressive campaign in his second term, increasingly targeting academia and scientific organizations in a bid to cut government spending and move against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Over the last few months, the administration has slashed federal funding and restricted leading institutions from communicating with international counterparts. Trump has also issued executive orders that led to many organizations, like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deleting scientific data sets and censoring language.
Katy Frank, left, a former computer scientist at the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, protests in February after losing her job during massive purges of staff called for by Trump’s administration. (Paul Sancya/The Associated Press)
Most at risk are researchers whose work goes against the stated goals of the new administration. The Environmental Protection Agency terminated grant agreements worth $20 billion US for clean energy and climate-friendly projects earlier this month, and Canadian researchers applying to receive U.S. grant funding are now being asked to confirm that their projects contain no “DEI” elements, among other politically charged inquiries.
“It’s kind of an attack to what we’re used to in university, academic freedom and the opportunity to inquire about any kind of topic,” Rémi Quirion, Quebec’s chief scientist, told CBC News.
Against this backdrop, some academics in the U.S. have already decided to take their skills up north. Jason Stanley, a philosophy professor, recently left a position at Yale University to join the University of Toronto, citing a “far-right regime” under Trump.
Two other Yale historians also made the same move earlier this year. Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore, who are married, are on leave from Yale and slated to begin teaching courses at U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy in the fall.
Snyder is the best-selling author of The Road to Unfreedom and On Tyranny, 20 Lessons From the 21st Century, the latter of which is about the need to stand up to authoritarianism when it threatens democracy.
They’re not the only American experts eyeing a switch to Canada. Though there isn’t specific data at the moment, several in the Canadian research community, including university leaders and professors, are reporting increased interest from scientists working or training in the U.S., said Mona Nemer, Canada’s chief science adviser.
A U.S. crisis could be a Canadian opportunity
Earlier this month, Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge announced that the province was actively looking to recruit scientific talent from the U.S. who are wary of what he called “the climate-skeptic directions that the White House is taking.”
“Every crisis brings opportunities,” he said at an event held by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.
LISTEN | How U.S. cuts could benefit Canada’s academic landscape:
The Current22:50Could U.S. cuts to science research be an opportunity for Canada?
U.S. President Donald Trump has slashed and frozen funding to the National Institutes of Health, stalling research on ailments from cancer to dementia and possible new drugs to treat them. We look at the impact on research in Canada, and hear why some say this is an opportunity to attract talent to laboratories here.
For researchers in this field and others targeted with cuts, Canada could be an appealing alternative, said Quirion.
In Quebec in particular, academic freedom is legally guaranteed, he said. (However, this came with its own controversy, as the law’s creation was prompted by a debate over whether a professor should be suspended for saying a racial slur in a lesson.)
Other provinces are also looking to attract U.S. workers. Both Manitoba and B.C. have launched campaigns within the last two months to attract more U.S. health-care professionals.
Jennie Massey, a partner with executive search firm KBRS in New Brunswick, told CBC News earlier this month that she’d received 14 applications the morning after Trump’s inauguration. Most were from academics looking to join Canada’s universities and colleges, she said.
Court challenges and backlash may have caused the U.S. administration to reverse some recent funding freezes, but the impacts on the field are lasting.
“If your grant is stopped for a few months, it’s really hard to basically keep coming back and keep the momentum on the research topic,” Quirion said.
“Very quickly you lose competitiveness or you lose interest also because you don’t get enough support for that research project.”
Complications in pulling U.S. talent
An ironic twist is that as some regions seek to woo more U.S. talent, Canada has been trying to cut down on international students and new permanent residents.
In October, the federal government announced a reduction in immigration levels in a bid to relieve pressure on the housing market. Under this plan, more than 40 per cent of new permanent residents in 2025 will be temporary residents already living in Canada.
Medical researchers from universities and the National Institutes of Health rally near the Health and Human Services headquarters to protest federal budget cuts, on Feb. 19 in Washington, D.C. (John McDonnell/The Associated Press)
A cap on international students, announced last year, has also triggered job cuts, lower enrollment and program cancellations at some post-secondary institutions due to the loss of revenue from international students’ tuition fees, potentially impacting their ability to acquire new teaching talent.
At this moment, Canada needs to invest more in pathways for U.S. talent to come to this country, Quirion said.
Existing pathways could be expanded on, he suggested, citing the Canada Excellence Research Chair, which supports Canadian universities with investments of $10 million over seven years to attract researchers.
And the question of handling academic freedom is still contentious in some regions of Canada. Earlier this month, Alberta exempted post-secondary institutions from a bill that would have required them to get provincial approval before entering into agreements with the federal government, after pressure from academic organizations. And a debate is currently unfolding in Nova Scotia over a proposed bill which critics say would give the government too much control over university funding.
Still, Canada has a unique opportunity right now, Miller said.
“The benefit of this moment is the reminder to Canada that we should treasure our outstanding research being done in universities and that we can take advantage of this moment to reassert that we’re gonna be leaders and that we’re gonna win in the global competition for talent.
“It’s a wake-up call, and the question is, will we hear it?”
President Trump on Wednesday commuted a federal sentence for Larry Hoover, who is credited for founding the Gangster Disciples, a Chicago gang known for heinous murders, violent robberies and international narcotic sales. Despite Trump’s decision, Hoover will remain in prison unless his legal team succeeds in its push for clemency from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker…
A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after an 86-year-old woman was struck and killed while using a zebra crossing, police have said.
Gloria Stephenson, from Silksworth, Sunderland, was using “a zebra crossing when she was struck by a black Sur-Ron electric motorcycle” on the city’s Burdon Road on 16 May, Northumbria Police said.
The electric motorbike was travelling in a southbound direction when it allegedly hit Ms Stephenson, the force added.
The 86-year-old woman’s daughter and grandson were also at the scene, according to a family statement.
The rider drove away from the scene and was later arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, police said, adding that the bike was recovered.
The teenager has since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Ms Stephenson’s family paid tribute to the “amazing” pensioner, saying she was “full of life”.
“We are all devastated at the loss of our vibrant, active, beautiful, and intelligent mam, grandma, mother-in-law and great grandma,” the family said.
They added: “She was active, fit, healthy, and had years left to give her love and share her energy and zest for life with everyone who knew her.
“The family want to express their heartfelt thanks and gratitude to everyone who supported mam, and her daughter and grandson at the scene.”
Northumbria Police has urged witnesses to contact them with information and footage of the collision.
Sergeant Russell Surrey, of Northumbria Police, said: “Our thoughts remain with all of Gloria’s family and loved ones as they try to process what has happened.
“We will support them in any way that we can, as we look to get them the answers they deserve.”
The Supreme Court placed new limits on the bedrock environmental law that has, for decades, required federal agencies to study the environmental effects of energy and infrastructure projects such as pipelines, transmission lines, and highways.
In an 8-0 ruling, the high court determined that courts should narrow the scope of reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act to just the environmental effects of projects, and not consider broader downstream effects. The ruling could give a boost to the Trump administration’s efforts to ease major infrastructure projects.
The decision overturned a lower appeals court ruling that sided with environmentalists who accused federal regulators of failing to assess the risks to the broader environment by building an 88-mile rail line in Utah designed to transport crude oil to refineries along the Gulf Coast.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit previously ruled that the Surface Transportation Board was required to evaluate these broader effects, as the projects could contribute to greater Gulf Coast air pollution and other environmental concerns.
Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling rolled back that decision.
“Simply stated, NEPA is a procedural cross-check, not a substantive roadblock,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in the opinion.
“The goal of the law is to inform agency decision-making, not to paralyze it,” he said.
Kavanaugh emphasized that under the 55-year-old law, federal agencies are only required to focus on the environmental effects of projects — in this case, the rail line.
He said the law does not require the Surface Transportation Board’s environmental review, also referred to as an environmental impact statement, to address the upstream or downstream effects of oil refining.
“Rather, it needed to address only the effects of the 88-mile railroad line,” the opinion said. “And the Board’s EIS did so.”
All three liberal judges on the bench agreed with the final ruling, but offered a different reason.
In a separate concurring opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor insisted that NEPA reviews conducted by federal agencies should be limited to the scope of their own sector. Therefore, in the case of the Surface Transportation Board, which has expertise in transportation, it would not be required to consider the effects of oil drilling and refining.
“Under NEPA, agencies must consider the environmental impacts for which their decisions would be responsible,” Sotomayor said.
“Here, the Board correctly determined it would not be responsible for the consequences of oil production upstream or downstream from the Railway because it could not lawfully consider those consequences as part of the approval process,” she said.
Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in the ruling as he recused himself from the case.
The ruling was a major win for the Trump administration and Republicans, who have blamed NEPA for causing undue delays, excessive litigation, and additional costs within the permitting process for large-scale energy projects.
Supporters of the law, enacted in 1970, have insisted that NEPA is critical to avoiding the endangerment of public lands and wildlife, as well as to efforts to combat climate change.
The law has remained at the forefront of the permitting reform debate in Washington, with both Republican members of Congress and President Donald Trump taking steps to simplify NEPA-required reviews.
Most recently, Trump signed an executive memorandum aimed at quickening the permitting process by bolstering the technology used in issuing these environmental reviews. This includes eliminating the use of paper-based application and review processes, accelerating processing time, reducing the length of documents related to applications, increasing the accessibility of such documents, and improving transparency of permitting schedules.