The federal government’s first budget under Prime Minister Mark Carney will be delivered Nov. 4, and universities are watching to see if Mr. Carney will deliver on his campaign promise to strengthen Canada’s research ecosystem.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Canadian universities expect to be able to move quickly to hire researchers from abroad if the federal government announces new money to attract top scientists in the coming budget.
Universities have been waiting to see what direction the federal government will take as other countries have jumped on the potential hiring opportunity created by recent instability in U.S. academic funding.
Two major proposals to enhance Canada’s scientific capacity have been up for government consideration for several months. One was designed by Quebec’s leading research universities. The other was led by former governor-general David Johnston, Eddie Goldenberg, who was chief of staff to Jean Chrétien, and Alan Bernstein, the former president of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
Other jurisdictions, starting with France and the European Union, announced plans several months ago to tempt researchers with financial incentives.
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Australia, Denmark, Spain and Norway have also launched their own international outreach, moves that were interpreted as an effort to capitalize on a major shift in the U.S. approach to science under Donald Trump.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration attempted to slash funding to U.S. government agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the world’s largest funder of medical research, and the National Science Foundation.
It has also engaged in a long-running battle with universities to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies, and has threatened top schools such as Harvard with funding cuts and a possible ban on enrolling foreign students.
Many of those conflicts have landed in court and are yet to be resolved. But they have contributed to a sense that the U.S., long the world leader in science, is undergoing a major shift. Historically, U.S. universities have been a magnet for scholars from around the globe, but they may no longer be as attractive.
In the 2025 federal election, the Liberal Party under Mark Carney promised to strengthen Canada’s research ecosystem and implement what it called the Canadian Sovereignty and Resilience Research Fund.
That election pledge said that “where the U.S. is squeezing out researchers, we will look to welcome research here in Canada. … More researchers at home will help us solve Canadian problems, and export more Canadian solutions to the global marketplace.”
The Widener Library at Harvard University. In May, 2025, the Trump administration revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, including hundreds of Canadians. A temporary injunction granted Harvard reprieve from this decision.Charles Krupa/The Associated Press
Vincent Poitout, vice-rector for research and innovation at the University of Montreal, said the talent attraction plan seemed to have momentum in spring and early summer but has since been on hold.
The Liberal government’s first budget under Mr. Carney’s leadership will be delivered Nov. 4 in the House of Commons and universities are watching closely in anticipation.
Dr. Poitout is one of the authors of the Polaris Platform, a menu of ideas for expanding research capacity which was devised by Quebec’s four research universities.
Polaris called for hundreds of millions of dollars in government spending to attract 25 to 100 established research stars, up to 500 international PhD students, up to 300 postdoctoral fellows and funding support for up to 150 newly appointed professors.
“I’m hopeful that we’ll have good news next week,” Dr. Poitout said.
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“We’re ready in case something comes through. Not only my university, but all big research universities in Canada are ready to act upon whatever decision gets made.”
Dr. Poitout said universities should be able to make quick decisions on recruitment because they’ve already been at work for months identifying talent for the Canada Excellence Research Chairs program. Internally, they’ve all vetted a number of highly qualified candidates, he said.
“The timing is good, from our perspective, as we’ve had many more applications for Canada Excellence Research Chairs than we have chairs available. And we have excellent applicants.”
He said he also thought it wouldn’t take long before the foreign scientists could be up and running in Canada.
“For the established scientists, they have a lab to move, some of them a family to move with them, so it can’t be two weeks. But I think a matter of months would be my prediction,” he said.