March 31, 2025

As the United States’ reputation as a “beacon” for academics and scientists comes under fire, Canada has an opportunity for a “brain gain,” writes Adam Bjorndahl for Maclean’s. Bjorndahl highlights the changes in the US that have fundamentally broken trust that the “US is the best place (or even a place) to find support for science, innovation, and intellectual history.” However, the author notes that taking advantage of this opportunity to become a beacon of science, humanism, and free inquiry will require Canada to take action with “clear policies and tangible investments” into research. CBC and Inside Higher Ed report that scholars from Yale University have left the US for the University of Toronto, citing the political circumstances and their institutions’ reactions to orders from the US government.

Simon Fraser University has announced that it is the first in Canada to adopt a university-wide open scholarship framework. Open scholarship is a research practice that makes scholarly knowledge accessible to anyone, with the goal of maximizing the impact of research on society and involving society in scholarly pursuits. The open scholarship framework outlines guiding principles that emphasize the importance of equitable practices, open sharing, and respecting research participants. To support the integration of these principles across SFU, the university and the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute have partnered to establish a $1M endowment. “This framework will play a key role in our efforts to support students, staff and faculty across the university who are producing innovative research that makes a difference for BC and Canada,” said SFU President Joy Johnson.

Postsecondary institutions across Canada are marking Trans Day of Visibility today with special events and activities. Acadia University is hosting an event where students can make pronoun and pride flag buttons, find gender-affirming support, and learn about famous trans Canadians. The British Columbia Institute of Technology collaborated with TransFocus to increase gender-inclusive washrooms across campus and is offering resources such the Relearning Gender online course. Niagara College recently screened a film about Jackie Shane, a trans R&B star. Simon Fraser University is hosting a roundtable bringing students, staff, and faculty members together to discuss topics such as trans joy. Niagara and the University of Winnipeg are both holding flag-raising events.

Critics are calling for the Government of Alberta to entirely scrap Bill 18, the Provincial Priorities Act, reports CTV News. Earlier this month, the Government of Alberta shared that it had exempted universities from Bill 18. The bill—which comes into effect this week—could have required universities to receive provincial approval to accept federal funding. “The entire bill needs to be revoked,” said University of Alberta doctorate student Andrea DeKeseredy. “Giving an exemption to the postsecondary sector is not enough. The bill itself should not have existed in the first place.” AB Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said that he is not considering further exemptions to the bill.

The Government of British Columbia has invested nearly $4M Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English Language Learning (ELL) pathway programs at 11 public postsecondary institutions and Native Education College. The funding will support 23 new pathway programs until the end of August 2026. These programs will help students transition into postsecondary programs with tailored programs and student supports. In addition to NEC, institutions receiving funding include Camosun College, Coast Mountain College, College of Rockies, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, North Island College, Northern Lights College, Selkirk College, University of the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Community College, Vancouver Island University.

The University of Ottawa has launched an Arctic Research Hub, a three-year pilot project focused on connecting, strengthening, and amplifying Arctic research. The hub has been tasked with bridging disciplines and leveraging knowledge to understand and adapt to Arctic change. Its objectives include advancing interdisciplinary research on topics such as climate change; fostering collaboration between universities, Indigenous communities and organizations; and assisting decision-makers and innovators with knowledge development and mobilization. “Through the Arctic Research Hub, we will play a pivotal role in enhancing Canada’s global reputation as an Arctic nation with a world-leading science ecosystem,” said UOttawa Professor and Canada Research Chair Jackie Dawson, who will lead the initiative.

In a new article from Campus Technology, Christine Montagnino (Champlain College) and Raffi DerSimonian explain how to craft an AI policy for higher education. The authors touch on topics such as building trust and driving AI adoption, the importance of balancing policy with innovation, and the KPIs that institutions can use to evaluate the impact of AI initiatives. DerSimonian and Montagnino conclude by offering a step-by-step framework for developing a policy, as well as examples of AI policies from 10 institutions, including the University of Toronto. “We encourage institutional leaders to take a proactive stance — to lead rather than follow — and to craft AI policies that reflect the unique values of their communities,” conclude the authors.

A group of students at the University of Regina has started a petition with the aim of temporarily dissolving the students’ union. CTV News reports that many students are dissatisfied with URSU, citing issues such as concerns about the union’s management of student fees and whether it is listening to the student body. Indigenous students at the First Nations University of Canada—who are represented by URSU—have also expressed their frustration with fees for benefits they do not need and the three-year vacancy of the Indigenous student representative seat. Former URSU board member Style Stenberg argued that the union “needs a reset” to ensure proper representation by qualified representatives. If the petition reaches 850 signatures, a specialized general meeting will be held to vote on dissolving URSU.

Assiniboine College and Portage College have each announced new health care programs. Assiniboine will begin offering a Practical Nursing program in Steinbach starting in Fall 2025. Additionally, it will once again offer the program in Neepawa starting in January 2027. “Rural sites, like these in Steinbach and Neepawa, are integral to our mission to meet provincial and regional health care needs,” said Assiniboine President Mark Frison. Portage has launched a Kinesiology and Sport Studies Diploma, which will provide students interested in working in fitness programming with a broad introduction to kinesiology. The program includes in-class instruction and a work placement. The program also ladders into several degree programs related to in-demand health care occupations.

A new analysis of Nature’s Nature Index—which tracks natural science and health science journals—demonstrates that the gender gap in research publishing is slowly improving, though there is plenty of room for improvement. The analysis explored gender parity in paper authorship by factors such as scientific field, institution, and country. Canada was one of three countries to have female author representation of more than 30%. When examined by field, the highest proportion of female authorship tended to be in the health sciences, in fields such as reproductive medicine (53%) and paediatrics (50%), while the lowest was found in physical sciences, in fields such as mathematical physics (10%). Lynn Nygaard (Peace Research Institute of Oslo) commented that reaching gender parity in research publishing will require a deep commitment and long-term coordination across countries and institutions.