Amid upheaval abroad, Quebec universities urge province, Ottawa to invest in attracting talent

Four major Quebec universities are proposing initiatives to make the province a landing spot for high-level researchers and urged the federal and provincial government to step up at a unique moment to attract talent from around the globe.

“As political and social tensions weaken the global research ecosystem, Quebec and Canada have a unique opportunity to position themselves as havens for rigorous and independent research,” the group, calling themselves Polaris, said in a statement released Saturday that highlights a number of moves, including co-ordinated steps at the provincial and national level to attract talent.

The four universities — Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal and Université de Sherbrooke — hope to leverage political and social tensions affecting researchers around the world to lure them to Canadian schools.

The group of universities have put together a series of proposed options and opportunities under the Polaris platform and argue both Quebec and Ottawa have a role to play in making them happen.