Canada Lures Top Talent with $541M Initiative

Canada is bolstering its position as a global leader in science and innovation through a $541-million federal initiative to draw top international talent. The Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs of Canada program will support 64 chairs over eight years, with six leading researchers already joining the University of Toronto.

The researchers, who are at the forefront of advances in human health, technology, and natural sciences, have been named to various faculty departments across U of T. They include MRI scientist Adrienne Campbell-Washburn, computer science engineer Tanya Berger-Wolf, biostatistician Shu (Joy) Jiang, chemical biologist Michelle Arkin, economist Raymond Fisman, and astrophysicist Sara Seager.

According to Mélanie Joly, Canada's minister of industry and minister responsible for Canada economic development for Quebec regions, attracting top talent will deliver breakthroughs that improve Canadians' lives and advance Canada's position as a global leader in science and innovation. 'By expanding Canada's talent pipeline and research capacity in areas vital to our prosperity and sovereignty, we are helping build the strongest economy in the G7,' she said.

The initiative is part of Ottawa's $1.7-billion Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative, which aims to give Canada a global competitive edge by investing in researchers driving discoveries that will shape the future. U of T President Melanie Woodin notes that this vital government support is helping build an extraordinary foundation of research excellence amid an uncertain international landscape.

The six research chairs add to a growing roster of world-leading scholars who have joined the university in recent years, including historians Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore, philosopher Jason Stanley, economist Mark Duggan, and innovation scholar Jacquelyn Pless. U of T has a long history of drawing researchers from abroad to do career-defining work in Canada.