Canada’s government is launching a massive $1 billion multi-year investment plan aimed at attracting top global researchers and scientists, including skilled professionals currently working in the United States, as the Trump administration tightens immigration policies.
Mélanie Joly, Canada’s industry minister, announced the initiative on Tuesday, confirming that the government is finalizing an accelerated pathway for highly skilled individuals to move to Canada. The funding will be utilized over the next few years to both attract international talent and retain its own skilled workforce.
The move is widely seen as a strategic bid to capitalize on the uncertainty facing H-1B visa holders in the U.S. and other researchers concerned about increasingly restrictive academic environments.
Minister Joly framed the plan as an effort to reverse Canada’s historical talent loss. “For decades, Canada has had a brain drain issue, and now we are in a brain gain mode. My message to Canadians around the world is, it’s time to come home,” she told the New York Times.
She further underscored Canada’s commitment to creating a stable environment for intellectual work, stating, “As other countries constrain academic freedoms and undermine cutting-edge research, Canada is investing, and doubling down, on science.”
Joly issued a direct invitation to international talent, assuring them that Canada offers both security and respect for their professional contributions: “If you want to live in the best country on earth, that is also the safest, and the one that will actually respect your work and offer you the right environment to flourish, well, come to Canada.”
