January 13th, 2026​

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The Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister

The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions

The Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health

The Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Dr. Mona Nemer, Chief Science Advisor

 

Re: Expanding the Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative to displaced researchers

 

Dear Prime Minister Carney, Minister Joly, Minister Michel, Minister Diab, and Dr. Nemer,

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We welcome the launch of Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative and respectfully urge the Government of Canada to extend it to include displaced researchers – both in Canada and overseas.

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Signatories to this letter are researchers and university administrators who have firsthand experience and knowledge of the talents of researchers who have been forcibly displaced from their homes, universities, and labs due to persecution, violence, and human rights abuses.

 

When displaced colleagues cross a border, they do not lose their knowledge and expertise. However, they lose the tools that make research possible—laboratories, libraries, stable affiliations, and access to academic networks. Researchers who came to Canada through programs such as the Scholars at Risk (SAR),  Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF), Science en exil -Fonds de recherche du Québec, Special Response Fund for Trainees (Ukraine), Palestinian Scholars and Students at Risk, and similar programs face time-limited immigration and academic statuses. Many struggle to qualify for permanent residency under Express Entry due to age-based penalties and insufficient points for postgraduate degrees and Canadian work experience, despite years of international contributions.

 

Notwithstanding these structural barriers, displaced researchers continue to advance science and knowledge, a reality recognized by initiatives such as the Royal Society of Canada’s  At-Risk and Displaced Academics and Artists (ARDAA) initiative. 

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We hereby respectfully call on the Government of Canada to recognize and leverage the talents of displaced researchers through:

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1. Establishing a designated permanent residency pathway for displaced scholars currently in Canada, allowing them to regularize their status and fully contribute to Canadian research and innovation;

2. Allocating dedicated funding within each of the four Canada Impact+ streams for displaced researchers; and,

3. Ensuring training for selection committees under the Canada Impact+ initiative to counteract unconscious bias and align evaluation practices with the equity principles outlined in the Tri-Agency Best Practices Guide for Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention.

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As Canada invests in global talent, our academic community will be enriched by these proactive measures to include researchers displaced by war and persecution, and to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to scientific freedom and human rights.

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Yours sincerely,

 

Christina Clark-Kazak, Professor, University of Ottawa

Encieh Erfani, Postdoctoral Fellow, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, and College Member, Royal Society of Canada — Displaced Scholar from Iran