Canada Can Be a Refuge for America’s Grad Students

In early April, I travelled to Chicago and Baltimore to attend meetings with several associations of Canadian and American graduate schools. The atmosphere at these events was sombre, marked by a profound sense of uncertainty. Just two months before, the Trump administration had proposed caps on federal funding for scientific research administered by the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. Around the same time, the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, abruptly cancelled more than $1 billion in research contracts, many of which had been awarded to universities. My American colleagues told me that the humanities, psychology, and social and life sciences were particularly vulnerable. Research led by women and people of colour was disproportionately at risk. 

Related: Can Canada Survive Trump’s Attack on Science?

As they lost funding, many U.S. universities rescinded admission offers. Students who received Ph.D. offers—which often meant they were in the top five to 10 per cent of all applicants—were later told that their spots had been relinquished, and their hopes of pursuing their research were dashed. Their lives were thrown into disarray as the schools’ anticipated funding vanished. The leaders of graduate schools I spoke with were deeply distressed. They were eager to support the prospective students they’d been forced to turn away, yet their hands were tied. 

Universities have depended on federal funding for decades; sustaining research at the same scale is impossible without it. At Harvard, for example, funding uncertainties have jeopardized critical research on cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease and infectious diseases. Other institutions risk shuttering projects focused on pandemic prevention and the impact of environmental chemicals on children.

I am dean of graduate studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. My school was not directly affected by the recent funding cuts, but, as someone who deeply values research and the essential contributions graduate students make in advancing knowledge, I found the broader implications of the cuts deeply unsettling. Research must remain an objective and autonomous pursuit. When political decisions threaten the independence of scientific inquiry, the integrity of the entire scholarly enterprise hangs in the balance.  

The senior leadership team at Queen’s realized many emerging scholars were being left without viable options for doctoral studies as American universities withdrew their offers. We resolved to find ways to support them. This past April, we allocated a significant sum from our central funding pool to launch the Special U.S. Doctoral Recruitment Initiative. Our goal was to attract top-tier talent who’d been affected by the NIH cuts and to have them continue their research at Queen’s. This new program awards students granted admission at U.S. institutions—particularly ones ranked among the top 100 worldwide—with $40,000 annually for four years of study. 

Our scholarship initiative kicked off at the tail end of the graduate-admissions cycle in North America, but even so, we managed to send offers to eight prospective graduate students. They hail from Canada, the U.S. and beyond, and they’re poised to pursue Ph.D.s in disciplines as varied as cultural studies, chemical engineering and mechanical engineering. This coming year, we hope to award 20 scholarships. 

This is a critical moment for Canadian universities to help preserve the research that is being lost in the U.S. But it’s also an opportunity to bring a diverse and talented group of researchers to Canada. Over the past few decades, the manufacturing sector in Canada has shrunk. In the 1950s, it accounted for around 30 per cent of Canada’s GDP; these days, it’s closer to 10 per cent. By contrast, Canada’s gross domestic expenditure on research and development has increased steadily over the past few years, rising by as much as nine per cent per year by the early 2020s. Higher-ed institutions in particular are R&D hubs; in 2021, Canadian universities conducted $1.4 billion of R&D. By 2022, that figure rose to $18.1 billion. We live in an ideas economy, which thrives on contributions from both emerging and established researchers. Attracting more high-calibre researchers to Canada would foster innovation and yield substantial long-term economic benefits, positioning our country as a global centre of excellence. 

Canadian universities often struggle to recruit talent because of limited resources compared to the U.S., but retaining talent is an even greater obstacle. Many highly competitive graduate students, both domestic and international, who pursue advanced degrees in Canada ultimately accept positions in the States, drawn in by the broader scope of opportunities available across the border. Students need more support to translate their ideas into tangible career advancements. This requires a more concerted effort from the private sector and federal and provincial governments to incentivize graduates to remain in Canada. We need intentional pipelines to connect students with industry through internships and to create clear pathways to full-time employment.

At Queen’s, we wanted our scholarship initiative to catalyze a deeper national conversation about talent recruitment and retention in Canada. We hope to inspire other Canadian universities to adopt similar measures. Western University has already drawn inspiration from us, launching an identical program this past July. The University of Toronto has also introduced an initiative focused on recruiting postdoctoral fellows and faculty. 

Graduate students who choose Canada bring fresh ideas, stimulate economic growth and enrich our society. While Canada has historically been unable to match the funding levels of U.S. institutions, the current uncertainties in American higher education have opened a unique window for us. Now is the moment to position Canada as the premier destination for innovative and creative minds from around the world.

Fahim Quadir is the vice-provost and dean of graduate studies and postdoctoral affairs at Queen’s University.