Government of Canada launches new initiative to recruit world-leading researchers

Canada will invest up to $1.7 billion over 12 years to attract and support more than 1,000 leading international and expatriate researchers, including Francophone researchers. Recruitment will target individuals who are advancing world-leading research in critical fields that will deliver direct economic, societal and health benefits for Canadians.

This initiative has four streams:

• The Canada Impact+ Research Chairs program offers $1 billion over 12 years to support institutions in attracting world-leading researchers. New chairs and their teams will advance transformational research projects that can be applied and/or commercialized by connecting with receptors in industry, government and society, while also developing the next generation of highly qualified personnel. Importantly, the program funds both researcher salaries and supporting infrastructure, ensuring comprehensive support for recruited researchers.
• $120 million over 12 years is being provided for institutions to attract international early career researchers (ECRs) through the Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders program. This program will add more global talent to the Canadian research ecosystem, bringing in fresh ideas, diverse perspectives and significant potential.
• Another $400 million will be used to create the Canada Impact+ Research Infrastructure Fund over six years to establish a complementary stream of research infrastructure support to ensure the recruited research chairs and ECRs have the world-class facilities they need to achieve their research goals.
• The Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards will invest $133.6 million over three years to enable top international doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers to relocate to Canada.

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Sara Seager, a Canadian astrophysicist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is among those leaving - she will join the University of Toronto in September, as reported by Reuters.

“There (are) many reasons why I’m returning to Canada, and one of them is the budget cuts and also the huge uncertainty in science funding in the U.S.,” Seager told Reuters.

Four of Canada’s leading universities told Reuters they are stepping up efforts to recruit top academic talent from abroad in response to Prime Minister Mark Carney's budget plan to attract over a thousand highly qualified international researchers over the next decade or so to make the country more competitive.