Canada poaches dozens of US academics as Trump administration tightens university funding

By Mitchell McCluskey, CNN

(CNN) — Canada has recruited dozens of academics from American campuses as the United States cracks down on prestigious institutions.

On Thursday, Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly announced the hiring of 64 scholars, who will be supported by more than 500 million Canadian dollars (more than $350 million) for eight years at several universities in Canada.

Forty-eight of the academics will come from institutions in the US, including Harvard, Cornell, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They come from a range of disciplines, including medicine, engineering, and climate science.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted a set of elite colleges and universities since he returned to office, exerting control by cutting them off from federal funding. Researchers have also expressed concern over the White House’s increasing power over who receives scientific grants.

The concerns have led to turmoil as academics at colleges and universities in the US consider the future of their research.

“While certain countries are cutting research and turning their back on academic freedom, we’re doubling down on science and we’re doubling down on research,” Joly said at a press conference at the University of British Columbia (UBC) on Thursday.

When asked whether she believes Trump will view the hirings as an escalation of the trade war, Joly said that the move represents Canada making its own decisions.

“The US administration is taking its own decisions and we’re taking ours,” Joly said. ”We’re very glad that these fantastic professors are coming.”

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

The funding for the researchers comes from Canada’s Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative, a 1.7 billion Canadian dollars (more than $1.2 billion) effort to “attract world-leading researchers to Canada.”

The institutions that hired the professors celebrated the move in a series of statements.

Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon, the president and vice-chancellor of UBC, which hired nine of the researchers, said that the university is “delighted to welcome these nine exceptional researchers, whose work will have important and meaningful impact.”

“This vital government support is helping Canada build an extraordinary foundation of research excellence amid an uncertain international landscape, said Melanie Woodin, president of the University of Toronto, where six researchers will work.

Some of the researchers cited concerns over academic freedom in the US as contributing to their decision.

Phillip Zamore, a researcher of RNA biology at the University of Massachusetts, told NPR affiliate WBUR that he decided to depart his institution after recruitment became an issue.

“I cannot do my best work in America,” said Zamore. “I can’t recruit the best people to help me do that, and I can’t promise them an environment where they’ll be safe.”

Ethan Zuckerman, a media scholar who will leave the University of Massachusetts Amherst for McGill University, said in a statement that he saw it as an opportunity to join a team doing “groundbreaking work.”

“Canada’s willingness to support research that challenges commercial and political threats to democracy is deeply necessary at a moment where authoritarianism is on the rise around the globe,” he said.

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