American epidemiologist Sheryl Magzamen has left the University of Colorado for the University of Montreal, citing funding restrictions affecting her research into the links between climate change and health.
Magzamen is among dozens of scientists who have left US-based positions in recent months to take up posts in Canada, which is actively recruiting American researchers, reports AFP.
The decline of academic freedom in the United States was “very hard” to witness, Magzamen told AFP, citing multiple grant withdrawals in a field criticised by President Donald Trump’s administration.
She said the University of Montreal had provided her with “an incredible amount of resources” for long-term research. She has also begun learning French to help her settle in Quebec, Canada’s majority-francophone province.
Since President Trump returned to office last year, several major Canadian institutions have publicly announced plans to recruit leading US-based researchers seeking to relocate.
Last year, Canada’s largest hospital group, the University Health Network, said it would open its doors to foreign experts, specifically targeting American scientists working on vaccines, a field affected by sweeping and controversial policy changes under the Trump administration.
Trump has also intensified his campaign against some American universities, accusing them of having a left-wing bias and promoting priorities he views with suspicion, including climate science.
Amid an escalating and costly trade war with the United States, Canada has launched a CAN$1.7 billion (US$1.23 billion), 12-year programme to recruit researchers from around the world, with the US a primary target.
“While certain countries are cutting research and turning their back on academic freedom, we’re doubling down on science and we’re doubling down on research,” Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said last month.
In another high-profile move, molecular biology professor Phillip Zamore is due to leave the University of Massachusetts in April for McGill University in Montreal.
Describing the current US approach to science as “hostile” and “counterproductive to doing great science”, Zamore said he had decided to move somewhere that continued to value “scientific enterprise”.
Zamore said he previously received two applications a week for postdoctoral positions, but those applications had now completely dried up.
“It is now much more attractive for students to study in Canada than in the United States,” he added.
Dominique Berube, McGill University’s vice-president for research and innovation, described the competition for US talent as “a healthy form of competition” and an opportunity for Canada to attract specialists in fields including artificial intelligence, medicine and aerospace.
Other Canadian institutions are also reporting success.
Laval University in Quebec City has hired 15 researchers from the United States during Trump’s second term. Laval’s rector, Sophie D’Amours, told AFP that recruitment efforts had been helped by what she described as “state control over science” in the US.
Canada is not the only country seeking talent from elite American institutions, which have been a major driver of global innovation for decades.
The European Union has allocated 500 million euros (US$581 million) from 2025 to 2027 to attract US-based researchers.
In May, France announced that it had identified 60 foreign scientists it wanted to recruit, most of whom are based in the United States.
