November 10, 2026

St Francis Xavier University has established a new scholarship with a $1M endowment. This scholarship will be awarded to the student with the highest academic average at John Hugh Gillis Regional High School in Antigonish, should they choose to attend the university. The scholarship endowment was established by Ralph Kirk and Frances Kuzsman and provides one student with $10K per year on a renewable basis over four years, ultimately serving four students by 2030. Kirk stated that the goal of the scholarship is to encourage high-caliber students to attend StFX rather than other universities. The first recipient of the scholarship will receive their funding for the Fall 2027 semester.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada recently released the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, which outlines its targets for international student arrivals over the next three years. The targets for 2027 and 2028, which The PIE News states were shared in last year’s plan, will remain at 150,000 for 2027, 2028, and 2029. Canadian Bureau for International Education President Larissa Bezo stated that this will provide institutions with the certainty they need “to ensure Canada can actually meet its target of 150,000 new international students per year.” The plan also indicates that Canada will continue with 380,000 permanent resident admissions each year, including those already working or studying in Canada, and details the country’s intent to raise the Francophone immigration target to 12% of permanent resident admissions outside of Quebec by 2029.

Atlantic Colleges Atlantique (ACA) has joined the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Atlantic Universities in the Atlantic Prosperity Charter: One Region, One Vision for Talent. As part of the Prosperity Charter, ACA will support the region in building on collective strengths, responding to workforce challenges, and attracting and retaining talent. “By joining the Prosperity Charter, we are reinforcing our commitment to working together across Atlantic Canada to develop the talent, skills and innovation capacity needed to strengthen our economy and build a more resilient, prosperous and self-reliant Canada,” said Atlantic Colleges Atlantique Chair Dr Pierre Zundel.

As a new open-access policy by Canada’s Tri-Agencies goes into effect this upcoming January, Richard Hayman (Mount Royal University), Amanda Wakaruk (University of Alberta), Bryn Williams-Jones (Université de Montréal), and Stefanie Haustein (University of Ottawa) argue that the policy places an undue burden on researchers and institutions. The authors assert that the policy is flawed, as it leaves article processing charges uncapped, which could ultimately divert public funding to private publishers. The authors also note that the policy requires scholars to retain certain rights over their publications, which places the obligation of negotiating with publishers on researchers and universities. As solutions to these issues, the authors provide three recommendations to grant agencies: eliminate or cap article-processing charge coverage, directly fund research infrastructure, and enforce open-access policy compliance.

York University recently experienced a cybersecurity incident that resulted in the theft of personal information. YorkU said that in October, an “unauthorized actor” gained access to online forms that had been in use for a “wide variety of university business” from 2007 to this year. YorkU said that it moved quickly to contain the incident, but that some information was stolen and that affected individuals should be vigilant against suspicious communications. “The University is committed to learning from this incident and will continue to strengthen its cybersecurity posture, incident readiness, and safeguards for personal information,” read a YorkU release.

In a recent piece for University Affairs, X Alvin Yang (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science) discusses the difficulties faced by Canadians who complete graduate studies outside North America. Yang writes that these researchers are often in an awkward position as they are not embedded in Canadian academic networks and did not study at prestigious US institutions. However, international mobility is a strength, explains Yang, and Canada already prioritizes attracting international researchers. The author discusses some reasons why so little attention is paid to Canadians with international experience before highlighting the skill sets developed by researchers who study abroad. “[Reflection on hiring practices should] ask whether we are making full use of one of our most valuable yet often overlooked sources of global talent: Canadians who earned their PhDs outside North America,” concludes Yang.

Cégep du Vieux Montréal and its foundation have officially separated as of the beginning of November. La Presse reports that the cégep had not sent a representative to sit on the foundation’s board of directors since 2024 and that there was a conflict around the purpose of the foundation. Foundation founder Michel Gagné explained that the foundation will no longer include the cégep’s name in its name, but it will continue to support students at the cégep with its funds. Cégep du Vieux Montréal Directrice générale Mylène Boisclair said that the institution is considering options such as the establishment of an internal endowment fund.

The Government of Ontario intends to unfreeze OSAP funding at “lower-risk institutions” first, reports CBC. ON Premier Doug Ford said that the government’s priority will be to review these schools first, but that he does not have a clear timeline for this. ON Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security spokesperson Bianca Giacoboni said that the ministry is “working as quickly as possible to restore integrity to the private postsecondary OSAP system” so that OSAP access can be restored.

A recent article from CBC explores what needs to happen next for Canada to join Erasmus+, Europe’s flagship student exchange program. CBC reporter Sophia LaPorte spoke to several experts who described some of the systemic and financial considerations Canada will need to navigate, such as needing to pay to be eligible for the full array of services and transitioning to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. Several universities told CBC that they would be interested in either joining the Erasmus+ program or expanding their existing participation.

Part-time professors at the University of Ottawa went on strike on Saturday after their union and the university’s administration failed to reach a collective agreement. The Association of Teaching Professors of the University of Ottawa (ATPUO), which represents 2,500 contractual teaching staff, is reportedly focused on key issues such as class sizes, AI, and health benefits. Courses that are taught by ATPUO members are affected, while most internships and practicums are not. ATPUO held a strike kick-off rally yesterday. The Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO) issued a statement of solidarity and urged its members to refuse to take on tasks normally undertaken by ATPUO during the strike.