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