Amid upheaval abroad, universities urge Ottawa, Quebec to invest in attracting talent

The McGill University campus on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017, in Montreal. (The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz)

Four major Quebec universities are proposing initiatives to make the province a landing spot for high-level researchers.

A joint statement released today highlights a number of moves, including co-ordinated steps at the national level to attract talent.

The four universities — Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal, and Université de Sherbrooke — hope to leverage political and social tensions affecting researchers around the world to lure them to Canadian schools.

The group of universities, going by the name Polaris, say both Quebec and Ottawa have a role to play in making that happen.

Vincent Poitout, vice-rector of research and innovation at Université de Montréal, says there is a window to transform a very unfortunate situation in science, particularly in the United States, into an opportunity for Canada.

The universities note a recent survey published in Nature, a journal, that 75 per cent of researchers in the United States are considering leaving the country.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2025.