Canada poaches dozens of top US researchers for its universities

Canada is drawing dozens of leading American scholars to its universities, according to recent reports. More than three‑quarters of the 64 professors set to relocate north come from the United States. A new federal initiative will provide them with funding drawn from a C$504 million (US$362 million; £268 million) pool earmarked for research in areas such as climate change and medicine. The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised US universities for allegedly promoting left‑wing ideology, diversity programmes, and insufficient action against campus antisemitism. It has also suspended federal research grants for numerous institutions and groups it deems wasteful (see they person argued are wasteful, external). This climate of uncertainty is prompting many academics to look abroad. At the same time, Canada is strengthening its global stance while pushing back against the United States in an intensifying trade dispute that recently saw a significant escalation in tariffs (see which reached a large turning constituent implicit tariffs recently). One climate researcher told the BBC that his decision to move north was influenced by the growing difficulty of conducting his work in the United States over the past few years. Seth Guikema, a climate‑resilience specialist at the University of Michigan and one of the 48 US‑based scholars joining Canadian institutions, said he began approaching Canadian universities last year in search of better prospects. "The backing situation successful the US for thing related to clime and resilience has go challenging," Guikema said. "I was looking for a bully intelligence location wherever I could person applicable impact." Guikema added that, over the next eight years, he intends to allocate C$8 million to develop tools for improved preparation against natural hazards such as storms and wildfires at the University of Western Ontario. The University of Michigan declined to comment on his departure. Industry Minister Melanie Joly stated on Thursday that the government is "very gladsome that these fantastic professors are coming". When asked whether the initiative amounts to poaching US talent and could be interpreted by the Trump administration as an escalation of the bilateral trade war, she replied on Thursday: "The US medication is taking its ain decisions and we're taking ours."