Meeting the moment together

Joy Johnson began her term as chair of the board of directors of Universities Canada on October 30, 2025. She is the 10th President and Vice-Chancellor of Simon Fraser University. A professor in the faculty of Health Sciences and former scientific director with the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Dr. Johnson is credited with shaping the Canadian research landscape to ensure gender is considered in health research. She is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. University Affairs sat down with Dr. Johnson to discuss her priorities to help reposition Canada’s post-secondary education sector. 

UA: Congratulations on becoming Chair of the Board of Universities Canada. What do you hope to accomplish in the role?

Dr. Johnson: Anyone who works in a university knows it’s a challenging time across the sector. Budgets are strained and support for universities and trust in universities have also declined. In taking on this role, I really see an exciting opportunity because I think there are a few things that we need to do. We need to support one another as university presidents and institutions and come together with one voice about the importance of the role that universities play. We need to be rethinking and reimagining universities so that we can be as responsive as possible to the needs of society because we have obligations to the public, and we need to think about what those obligations are. And then there’s a role to play in terms of advocacy—helping the public, government and industry partners understand the value of a university education and the value that we bring in terms of innovation, research and development. We have been a bit complacent in assuming that people understand that value and we need to work harder on that. So while it’s a time of difficulty, it’s also a time of opportunity, and I really would like us to seize that opportunity right now. My colleagues across Canada are doing that, but if we can do that together, that is how we’re going to meet this moment. And I think that’s incredibly powerful.

UA: Looking at the next few years, what are the immediate priorities to position universities to achieve those goals? 

Dr. Johnson: First, financial instability is something that we are going to have to be paying attention to and thinking about more. There is advocacy work to be done on that front, including talking about the importance of top-quality international students, what they bring to our universities and what they bring in terms of talent to Canada. Another priority is around research funding for universities. We are innovation hubs and the work that we do is well recognized. But you can’t do that work if there’s no gas in the tank, and researchers need funds to continue to do this incredible work because investments in the granting councils have not really kept pace with other OECD countries. And finally, I think there’s a broader conversation around how, while universities have been built on hundreds of years of tradition, we can’t let that tradition be an obstacle to our future. And so we need to be thinking very clearly about how we can be responsive to the moment and what things about our institutions need to change. We need to all be having those conversations together, hearing one another and learning from one another. 

UA: How worried are you that Canada is losing the ability to catch up, both in terms of global competitiveness and research innovation?

Dr. Johnson: I am very concerned. We know that the Canada brand has been damaged, that there are countries out there who believe that Canada is closed, that we’re not welcoming in the way we used to be and as a result we are no longer a top pick for international students. We need to ensure that we can attract top talent to Canada because if we don’t, we will fall further behind. Research funding is a slightly different issue. Again there though, if we don’t have the appropriate amount of research dollars, if there’s not that infrastructure in place, we won’t be able to attract the top talent to be competitive. To be clear, we have a fantastic post-secondary system in Canada. It is the envy of the world, and we have invested incredibly in the public post-secondary system, but now we need to protect that investment. The prime minister has talked a lot about the need for big projects and big opportunities to protect Canada’s economic future. But that economic future will not be protected unless we have the talent. And universities are going to have to be an important part of that. So I really look forward to inserting ourselves into that conversation in a much bigger way.

UA: Across the country, more and more universities are facing increasing restrictions on their governance from provincial governments. How can institutions reassert their autonomy? 

Dr. Johnson: First and foremost, I do believe that universities need to be autonomous and make decisions about their course offerings, for example, or about how they can meet the needs of our students. At the same time, we also have to be responsive to the needs of our communities. So while I understand the concern about government intervention in universities, I think that we, as university leaders, need to understand the needs of our communities, where the markets are going and how to prepare our students for that future. We often see a big reach in from government when we’re not perceived as being responsive. The answer is having a conversation with government directly about where they see the needs. Being very frank about what gaps we can fill and what we believe is part of the mission of our universities to fill those gaps. It is really important to also think about how we can be responsive to industry directly so that our students better understand what the demands of a job market might be as they graduate. The answer is not simply to say to government, “Get out of my business,” but to understand: why is it that they want in? We all want what’s best for our economy and society, while at the same time developing knowledge and driving innovation as well. I think we can have it all, but we need to think about how to get there. 

UA: How does your background as both a public health promotion expert and as a female leader inform your perspective and leadership style that you will bring to this role?

Dr. Johnson: It’s interesting because my first career was in nursing, and then I became an academic. But I lean on that background on a regular basis, both in terms of problem solving and listening, and trying to be empathetic to different audiences. I think those are qualities that I bring to the role, in part cultivated through my professional experience but also as a result of my leadership. I would also add that it’s important for women to be assuming these types of leadership roles at this moment. To step up and be seen to be taking on those roles, signaling the importance of women assuming presidential roles in universities.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.