Canada needs a national strategy to protect scholars at risk

Canada has long been recognized as a country that welcomes newcomers. It is also one of the world’s leading destinations for research and innovation. As a G7 nation, Canada invests heavily in science, attracts researchers from around the world and promotes international scientific collaboration. Yet when it comes to supporting scholars forced into exile by war, political repression, or threats to academic freedom, Canada is missing an opportunity to demonstrate global leadership. 

Across the G7, countries have developed long-term mechanisms to protect scholars at risk. Germany’s Philipp Schwartz Initiative has become an international model for supporting displaced researchers. France’s Programme d’Accueil en Urgence des Scientifiques et des Artistes en Exil (PAUSE) program provides nationally coordinated fellowships for scholars in exile. In the United Kingdom, the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) has supported displaced academics for nearly a century. In the United States, organizations such as Scholars At Risk (SAR) and the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) have built extensive networks that place threatened scholars in universities across the country and worldwide. Europe has also established numerous fellowship programs that help researchers continue their work in safety. 

Canada certainly contributes to these global efforts. Canadian universities host scholars through SAR and IIE-SRF, while initiatives such as the Science en Exil program of the Fonds de recherche du Québec and the Royal Society of Canada‘s At-Risk and Displaced Academics and Artists (ARDAA) program provide important support. These efforts demonstrate remarkable commitment from universities, research institutes, and individual researchers. 

What Canada lacks, however, is a coordinated long-term federal strategy. 

This gap is becoming increasingly apparent. 

In 2025, the federal government launched the Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative, recognizing that attracting outstanding researchers is essential to Canada’s future competitiveness. The initiative aims to recruit world-class talent to Canadian universities and research institutions. This is an important investment in Canada’s research ecosystem. 

But what about highly qualified researchers who are already here? 

Among those already contributing to Canadian science are scholars who escaped war, authoritarian repression, political persecution, or threats to academic freedom. Many arrived through international rescue programs or temporary research appointments. They supervise students, publish papers, establish collaborations, secure research funding, and contribute to Canada’s scientific community. Yet many discover that when their fellowships or contracts end, there is no realistic pathway to remain in Canada. 

This contradiction deserves greater attention. 

Until 2025, the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) provided one possible route for a small number of displaced scholars to immigrate to Canada, allowing them to obtain permanent residence before arrival if they secured an academic position. Although valuable, the EMPP was not designed specifically for researchers, served relatively few scholars, and has since ended. Today, even fewer pathways exist. 

Many assume that Express Entry provides an alternative. In reality, it often does not. 

The current system is poorly aligned with academic careers. Many displaced scholars arrive after spending years building research careers in their home countries and therefore receive fewer points because of their age. Most have no Canadian relatives, reducing their Comprehensive Ranking System score even further. Although they often integrate rapidly into Canadian society through their universities, speak English or French at a professional level, and possess advanced degrees, these strengths do not always compensate for the points they lose elsewhere. 

Recent expansions of Express Entry to include university professors and teaching and research assistants are welcome, but they still exclude many postdoctoral fellows, research associates, and research fellows because their positions fall under different occupational classifications. Since many fellowships last only two or three years, scholars may reach the end of their appointments before obtaining permanent residence. 

The consequence is more than an immigration problem. 

For many displaced scholars, returning home is not an option. Some left countries affected by war. Others face imprisonment, political persecution, or restrictions on academic freedom because of their research or public engagement. Others belong to groups targeted because of their ethnicity, religion, gender, or human rights advocacy. 

When a fellowship ends without a pathway to remain, displacement does not end—it simply begins again. 

There is another challenge that receives far less attention. 

Even after Canadian universities offer fellowships, many scholars struggle to obtain visas. Researchers fleeing conflict often come from countries where diplomatic relations with Canada are limited or where Canadian visa services are unavailable. Some no longer have access to passports, university records, employment certificates, or other documents normally required during immigration processes because these documents were lost, destroyed, or left behind while escaping conflict. Long processing times can delay arrivals by months or prevent scholars from taking up fellowships altogether. 

Canadian universities work extraordinarily hard to host scholars at risk, but they cannot solve these problems alone. 

Universities can provide laboratories, offices, salaries, mentorship, and welcoming academic communities. They cannot redesign immigration policy, accelerate visa processing, or create permanent residence pathways. 

This is where national coordination becomes essential. 

Encouragingly, this conversation is already beginning. Earlier this year, an open letter (English/French) co-authored by the author and Prof. Christina Clark-Kazak (University of Ottawa), and supported by researchers and academic leaders across Canada, called for stronger federal support for at-risk and displaced scholars, including dedicated immigration pathways and long-term policy coordination. The growing engagement of universities, researchers, and policymakers suggests that the foundation for a national strategy already exists. 

Canada does not lack expertise. It has universities committed to academic freedom, organizations supporting displaced scholars, government departments promoting research excellence, and policymakers who recognize the value of global scientific talent. What remains missing is a coordinated framework connecting these efforts. 

Such a strategy should include dedicated immigration pathways for at-risk scholars already contributing to Canadian institutions; better alignment between researcher recruitment initiatives and immigration policy; improved visa processes for scholars fleeing conflict; stronger coordination among universities, governments, and organizations supporting displaced researchers; and systematic collection of national data to better understand both needs and outcomes. 

These measures would benefit more than displaced scholars. 

Canada is competing internationally for research talent. Researchers forced into exile are often highly accomplished scientists, engineers, physicians, and scholars whose careers have been interrupted by circumstances beyond their control rather than by lack of ability. Supporting them is both a humanitarian responsibility and a strategic investment in Canada’s research and innovation ecosystem. 

Throughout history, scholars forced into exile have enriched the countries that welcomed them. Canada has already demonstrated compassion by offering temporary refuge. It now has an opportunity to become a global leader by ensuring that temporary refuge can become lasting opportunity. 

As global conflicts continue to displace researchers and threaten academic freedom, Canada has all the ingredients to lead: outstanding universities, world-class research institutions, an immigration tradition, and a commitment to international collaboration. What it needs now is a national strategy that brings these strengths together.