GOVERNMENT FUNDING & NEWS

Coastal First Nations in British Columbia issued an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, asking him to reject any new proposal for a crude oil pipeline to the northwest coast. The Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative is calling on Carney to uphold Bill C-48, the 2019 Oil Tanker Moratorium Act. “We will never permit oil tanker traffic through the Great Bear Sea,” the letter says. “There is no pipeline and oil tankers project or proponents that would be acceptable to us on the North Coast,” Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative and Chief Councillor of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council, said in a statement. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is pushing for a new private-sector pipeline that would send crude oil to the northern B.C. coast for export to Asia. Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative

Prime Minister Mark Carney told Inuit leaders that his government’s major projects bill “fully respects treaty rights” a week after several Indigenous leaders left a recent meeting with him in a state of frustration, saying their treaties were being undermined. Carney was taking part in a meeting of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, co-hosted by Kanatami Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit, in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, to discuss Bill C-5, known as the One Canadian Economy Act. Carney said the Act fully respects treaty rights, including modern treaties such as those with Inuit treaty organizations. “In fact, those [treaties] will be essential for anything that we move forward,” he said. Carney also promised to put $40 million towards ensuring Indigenous leadership is involved in further discussions, including on the question of which projects should be fast-tracked. National Post

Further upgrading the Port of Churchill’s infrastructure and connected rail facilities to handle much more cargo would meet all the criteria set out by the Government of Canada to make it a nationally designated project, said Chris Avery, CEO of the Arctic Gateway Group, which owns the port and railway. The company, owned by 29 First Nations as well as local governments in Manitoba and Nunavut, has upgraded the rail and port facilities. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe have signed a memorandum of understanding to examine bolstering shipments through Churchill in efforts to establish a northern trade corridor. Avery said Arctic Gateway Group expects to export over 20,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate this summer from the Port of Churchill to global markets in Europe. The Globe and Mail

See also: Port of Churchill is attracting more investment as an option to diversify trade routes amid U.S. tariffs

Ottawa’s proposed spending cuts of 15 percent could result in 57,000 full-time equivalent job losses in the federal public service between 2024 and 2028, according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The Mark Carney government is seeking 15 percent cuts across all federal departments, except the Department of Defence, the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, the Supreme Court and the Parliamentary Budget Office. While the service impacts will be felt across the country, almost half of the job losses will be in the National Capital Region of Ottawa and Gatineau, says the report by David MacDonald, senior economist at the CCPA. Those two cities could lose 24,421 full-time jobs by 2028, representing 45 percent of all lost positions. Excluding Ottawa, the rest of Ontario could face an additional 7,812 lost full-time jobs, 14 percent of the overall losses. Quebec, except for Gatineau, would see an additional 5,926 jobs eliminated – 11 percent of the federal full-time equivalent job cuts. Federal departmental personnel expenditure represents 28 per cent of the cuts envelope. Departments that face the full 15-percent cut will need to slash $6.35 billion from their personnel expenses by 2028-29, MacDonald said. “It’s a stiff price to pay for major military spending and more tax cuts.” CCPA

The federal Auditor-General’s office is planning an audit of the international student program, which has been mired in controversy over a rapid influx of foreign students in recent years. A spokesperson for the office confirmed to The Globe and Mail that there will be an audit, and a report is expected to be tabled in Parliament next year. Universities Canada said in a statement that it would welcome the Auditor General’s review “as an opportunity to strengthen oversight, reinforce integrity and rebuild public confidence.” Universities Canada recommended establishing a ministerial roundtable on talent, skills and immigration. This pan-Canadian forum would bring together federal, provincial and territorial governments, employers and post-secondary institutions to develop a clear, predictable immigration strategy. The government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau was heavily criticized for the rapid increase in immigration after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, driven in part by a sharp rise in the number of international students in the country. There were more than 1 million international students in 2023, about three times the number of permits a decade earlier. The increase in immigration fuelled record population growth that strained the housing market – pushing up both home prices and rents – and put pressure on other services such as health care. The federal government eventually responded to the criticism with a series of changes, including a two-year cap that aimed to cut the number of international study permits it issued by about one-third in the first year. The Globe and Mail, Universities Canada

The Government of Québec’s anti-corruption agency Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC) is investigating fraudulent networks targeting prospective international students from African countries and Quebec universities. CBC reported that the investigation follows cases in the news where fraudsters posed as consultants who said they were able to submit applications on the student’s behalf, charged the student fees, and submitted false documentation to the institutions. Marie-France Audet, interim director of communications and public relations at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi said that UPAC’s investigation is good news, as fraud affects both the student victims and the institutions. UPAC presents the results of its investigations to the director of the criminal and penal prosecutions organization, which can then decide to lay charges against individuals. CBC News

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Our Land for the Future Trust signed a historic grant agreement to launch NWT: Our Land for the Future, one of the largest Indigenous-led land conservation initiatives in the world. Backed by $375 million in new investments, including $300 million from the Government of Canada and $75 million from philanthropic partners, NWT: Our Land for the Future will support Indigenous-led stewardship and conservation across some of the world’s most intact boreal and tundra ecosystems while creating hundreds of good, culturally meaningful jobs across the territory. Indigenous partners to NWT: Our Land for the Future aim to conserve and steward up to 380,000 square kilometres of land and inland water, which is nearly 30 percent of the N.W.T., including the protection and conservation of over two percent of Canada in new terrestrial and freshwater areas. This represents a space almost seven times the size of Nova Scotia. This partnership involves 21 Indigenous governments and organizations, the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and private donors working together to advance Indigenous-led stewardship in the North for the benefit of all Canadians. ECCC

The Government of Alberta is paying out more than $142 million to end one of five lawsuits launched against it over its coal mining policies. A notice published online by Australia-based Atrum Coal said the company has agreed to end its lawsuit and surrender its land back to the province in exchange for the payment. The company's notice says it received just under $137 million last week and will receive another $6 million after it completes some reclamation work. Atrum, which had initially sought more than $3.5 billion from the province, is one of two companies suing the province that announced settlements were reached last month. The other, Evolve Power, has yet to share details and in a notice last month said its settlement had been agreed to in principle and that terms were still being finalized. Atrum and Evolve are among five companies that are suing Alberta for a collective $16 billion. With Atrum's suit settled, Alberta could still be on the hook for over $12 billion. Four of the companies, including Evolve and Atrum, have argued that Alberta effectively expropriated their land when it suddenly reinstated its long-standing coal policy in 2022, halting new coal exploration and development projects across much of the province. CBC News

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) announced a joint investment, with Project Forest, The Carbon Farmer, and FIND Biomass Inc., of over $125 million for four projects that will plant 12 million trees and restore critical habitat for species at risk, such as caribou, throughout Alberta. These investments will help to create and restore biodiverse forests and wildlife habitat and sequester carbon while creating seasonal and full-time jobs for surrounding communities in Alberta. NRCan

[Editor’s Note: Despite tree-planting initiatives, nine of Alberta’s 15 caribou populations are declining, including one (the Narraway herd) that may be near extirpation. Two other populations also are declining and may be near extirpation (the Nipisi and Slave Lake herds). The federal government has not acted on a 2014 recommendation by the federal advisory group, Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, that the status, under the federal Species at Risk Act, of the southern mountain woodland caribou should be changed to “endangered” from “threatened."]

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) announced that the Government of Canada is investing over $14.4 million from the Environmental Damages Fund’s Climate Action and Awareness Fund to support 17 environmental literacy projects across Canada. These projects will develop the tools and skills young Canadians need as they work toward solutions to fight climate change. Indigenous communities and organizations, academia, community organizations, and environmental organizations are leading the projects receiving funding. The projects include creating learning opportunities in parks, holding community outreach events, and developing learning materials for young Canadians and their educators. ECCC

The Government of Alberta is investing up to $49 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction program to support 18 new projects. These projects will create close to 1,600 jobs, inject $233 million into Alberta’s economy and reduce about 3.4 million tonnes of emissions by 2030, the government said. The investment, through Emissions Reduction Alberta, will expand the development of waste management, carbon utilization, critical minerals, energy storage, geothermal, oilsands and more. It will also create Alberta’s first recycling system for agricultural plastics and a facility that turns wood waste from construction, demolition and renovation into valuable building materials. The funding will help businesses such as Pro-Pipe Service and Sales in Nisku create new technology that aims to lower costs and expand the use of geothermal energy projects in Alberta and beyond. Carbonova Corporation in Calgary will also use the funding to develop its process to turn plant-based waste like woodchips and byproducts from oil refining into carbon nanofibers, which are 40 times stronger than steel and used in products like batteries and sports equipment. Govt. of Alberta

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced the awarding of three contracts totalling $14.6 million to advance the development of the new Canadian lunar utility rover. Canada’s utility rover is set to provide critical assistance to astronauts and support operations, including transporting cargo, performing logistics and construction duties on the Moon. Over the next 18 months, Bolton, Ont.-based Canadensys Aerospace Corporation, Brampton, Ont.-based MDA Space and Ottawa-based Mission Control will conduct preparatory studies to assess different options for the rover, including potential capacities depending on different sizes and scope. The total cost of the new rover is expected to be $1.2 billion over 13 years. The utility rover builds on decades of past investments in technology development that helped secure Canada’s expertise in robotics, including rovers, and position the country’s space sector for future opportunities related to lunar surface mobility. CSA

The Government of Ontario is investing more than $7 million to launch a new intake of the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF) to help stimulate investment in critical minerals exploration, mining development, production and processing of domestically sourced critical minerals. With the new call for applications open from July 23, 2025 to October 1, 2025, the fund will accelerate the research, development and commercialization of made-in-Ontario technologies in Ontario’s mining sector by supporting projects in four priority areas:

• Innovative techniques for deep exploration and mining.
• Recovery of minerals.
• Battery supply chain.
• Mining innovation.

This investment builds on the $20 million invested through the CMIF since its launch in November 2022, supporting more than 29 Ontario-based projects. Govt. of Ontario

The Government of Ontario is investing over $6.2 million in research, innovation and modernization projects in the forest sector in northwestern Ontario. The government’s investment is supporting eight projects related to the use of underused wood and mill byproducts, known as forest biomass. The funding recipients and projects include:

• The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bioeconomy, receiving $5 million to accelerate forest sector growth by developing and commercializing innovative forest-based products, assisting with technology development and fostering cross-industry collaboration.
• Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek, receiving $250,000 to support the development of a community heating system by funding a study of local biomass supply and purchasing equipment to convert forest biomass to fuel.
• Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper, receiving $87,750 to help support the facility’s modernization by funding two studies assessing current technology and designing upgrades to the boiler, fibre recovery and sludge processing systems.

The government said these projects will build strong regional markets for mill byproducts, which will create added demand for the harvesting, hauling and trucking industries, and develop new opportunities for Indigenous communities to participate in the growing forest industry. Govt. of Ontario

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) announced that the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba are investing more than $6 million to help modernize food processing facilities and increase food production capacity across Manitoba under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Nineteen food processors in Manitoba have been approved for funding for equipment upgrades, facility expansions and new technologies that will improve efficiency, production capacity, and environmental performance. AAFC

The Government of Nova Scotia launched the new $4.71-million Nova Scotia Seafood and Agriculture Strategic Investment Fund to support “big, bold projects” in the agriculture and seafood sectors. The Fund will support companies proposing large-scale projects that boost productivity and help their business expand. It could involve adopting new technology, changing how they do business, or finding new markets for their products. The fund will be managed by Perennia, a provincial development agency with a mission to support growth, transformation and economic development in Nova Scotia’s agriculture, seafood and food and beverage sectors. Govt. of Nova Scotia

The Government of Alberta is investing $2 million through the Innovation Catalyst Grant (ICG) to support eight cutting-edge projects from the province’s next generation of innovators. The ICG program is open to recent graduates from masters and doctorate programs in disciplines related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Successful applicants receive $250,000 over two years while they develop and commercialize science-based products and services. In addition to funding, recipients also gain access to lab space to support product research, and business development mentorship to support long-term, sustainable growth. The Alberta government has invested more than $2 million into nine tech startups as part of the first cohort, which was originally announced in 2023. Since then, the first-round companies have all seen considerable growth, creating a combined 58 jobs to date and leveraging the provincial investment to secure an additional $6 million in funding from other ecosystem partners. Govt. of Alberta

Alberta landowner Dwight Popowich, who is dealing with an improperly abandoned “orphan” natural gas well on his property, wants an investigation into an oil industry insider and advisor to Premier Danielle Smith. David Yager led the creation of a controversial strategy that would shift the burdens of oil and gas well clean up from industry to the public, while his website also advertised his services as an industry consultant. Yager is a long-time oil and gas industry insider who has worked as an executive for a handful of oilfield companies, including Tesco Corporation, which he founded. Yager’s business website offers consulting services for the oil and gas service industry. At the same time, he is sitting on the board of the Alberta Energy Regulator and acting as a “special advisor” to Premier Smith. The complaint, filed with  the Ethics Commissioner by Ecojustice on July 22, alleges Yager’s role in the creation of the controversial Mature Asset Strategy violated the Conflict of Interest Act. “In our opinion, it's impossible to represent the interests of a part of the government, an independent regulator, private companies and then the public, all at the same time,” Susanne Calabrese, staff lawyer at Ecojustice, told Canada’s National Observer. Alberta’s Office of the Minister of Energy and Minerals said Yager is compliant with the conflict of interest rules and hasn’t had any clients in the oil and gas industry since he signed a contract with Energy and Minerals in 2023. Canada’s National Observer

See also: Alberta government report recommends new industry-funded insurance fund to clean up old oil and gas wells but critics slam the report (in The Short Report: April 16, 2025).

RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Universities need to change the way they interact with industry by prioritizing partnerships over tech transfers

OPINION

By Richard Gold, Marc Fortin, Evan Henry and Martin Bader

Richard Gold is the director of McGill University’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and chief policy and partnerships officer at Conscience.

Marc Fortin is a Trottier Institute for Science and Public Policy professor of practice at McGill University.

Evan Henry is the associate director of the McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative and was the co-founder and chief science officer of Nectar Technologies.

Martin Bader is the former head of the Competence Centre for Intellectual Property Management at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland and the former vice-president and chief intellectual property officer at Infineon Technologies AG.

Editor’s Note: This op-ed first appeared here, with several more hyperlinks, in Canada’s National Observer. It has been edited slightly for length.

Canada should take advantage of the U.S.-created economic storm to stimulate innovation. Under the Trump administration, constraints put on U.S. universities and cuts to research grants have put US research and innovation at risk.

In light of this, Canadian education leaders need to underscore that investing in higher education will yield economic and societal returns. To do so, we need to change how research and education work with innovators.

Until recently, university leaders argued that government investments in university research directly led to innovation and productivity growth. But universities have adopted policies that encourage the sale of Canadian-funded patents to foreign firms without economic benefits to Canada.

This needs to change. To feed Canada’s innovation capacity and competitiveness, investing in universities is necessary for training skilled workers, developing research assets and creating partnerships between academic institutions, industry and philanthropy. 

Canadian universities have an excellent track record of creating and preserving knowledge, but a poor one for helping innovators to develop products and services.

Universities not only create and preserve knowledge, but also make that knowledge available through databases, articles and digital assets. Further, they play an important brokering role between the public and private sectors in developing high-value goods and services. 

University leaders need to change the way universities interact with industry by prioritizing partnerships over technology transfer; simplifying contractual arrangements with industry around intellectual property; and building knowledge resources to support Canadian innovation. 

Industry-university partnerships not only contribute to local innovation ecosystems but bring in approximately 50 times more revenue to universities ($2.7 billion in 2018: $1.2 billion from for-profit and $1.5 billion from not-for-profits) than does the patenting and licensing of inventions ($54.4 million in 2018). 

Through these partnerships, industry gains insight into cutting-edge technology and companies are better able to anticipate technological problems and opportunities. In the end, the public benefits as these firms not only introduce technology that boosts productivity but also pay higher salaries.

Canadian examples include partnerships in aerospace, structural genomics, artificial intelligence and AI-assisted drug development. 

Canadian universities and industry have been tepid toward partnerships. According to World Bank data, industry-university partnerships in Canada have been declining since 2010. Apart from changing incentives for industry to collaborate, universities and governments need to reward researchers who engage in long-term partnerships with industry. 

Universities also contribute to Canadian productivity by spinning out companies that draw on research. The process has been overly complicated. Universities can simplify this by adopting standard licensing, such as the Simple Agreement for Innovation Licensing, that reduces negotiation time and provides a sound financial basis for companies. 

Another approach is to rely on expertise, rather than patents, to spin out a company. This has been successful at the University of Toronto in engineering and is how STEMCELL, now with 1,500 employees worldwide, got its start.

Another example is Conscience's Critical Assessment of Computational Hit-finding Experiments (CACHE) competitions, which are run out of the Structural Genomics Consortium’s Toronto labs. CACHE puts all data and test molecules in the public domain to assist firms in better designing proprietary AI models. 

Companies need access to knowledge resources and talent along with access to large datasets, materials and models that universities can provide. According to its curator, approximately two-thirds of the users of the Montreal Neurological Institute’s C-BIG repository of cells and data are innovative companies. 

Artificial Intelligence-Ready CHEmiCal Knowledge base (AIRCHECK) is a Canadian-based dataset on which AI companies can train and validate their models.

The Distributed Robot Interaction Dataset (DROID) helps researchers and companies to train AI robots. While these datasets are open to all – subject only to patient privacy – they confer a specific benefit on companies located nearby.

With U.S. research funding in disarray, Canadian universities have an opportunity to support Canadian companies to better compete globally by prioritizing partnerships, simplifying arrangements with industry, and by building critical knowledge resources. It is time to embrace a “dare to change” ethos. Canada’s National Observer

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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) announced $39.4 million in funding from the Government of Canada to advance research on dementia and healthy aging. The funding is part of the CIHR Brain Health and Cognitive Impairment in Aging Research Initiative. An additional $5.4 million is provided by partners, the Azrieli Foundation and its Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, the Brain Canada Foundation, and Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council, bringing the total investment to $44.8 million.

This investment will support the following components:

• Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA): $40.3 million for the CCNA Operations Centre and 16 new research teams from across Canada that will study prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for people with dementia and their caregivers. Two international teams, co-funded by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council, will research dementia in Indigenous populations in Canada and Australia.
• Brain Health Care (BHCare) and Support in Aging Training Platform: $2.4 million to support the BHCare training platform that will foster the development of the next generation of scientists, clinicians, policy leaders, advocates and administrators working in brain health.
• Brain Health Resources and Integrated Diversity (BRAID) Hub: $2.1 million to support the BRAID Hub, a national knowledge mobilization hub that translates evidence-based guidelines into accessible education, tools, and supports.

As of 2022-23, almost 487,000 people aged 65 and older were living with diagnosed dementia in Canada. That number is expected to increase as the population ages. CIHR

The Communications Security Establishment Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council announced the funding of a new research community focusing on exploratory analysis for unstructured data. Professor Benjamin Fung from the School of Information Studies at McGill University and his team of 14 co-applicants and collaborators from 10 Canadian universities were awarded $5.6 million over four years to support a large project titled “ZenithVector: Advanced Vectorization, Embedding, and Cybersecurity Analytics Toolkit for Scalable Intelligence.” The goal of this research community is to develop a comprehensive, multimodal solution for the exploratory analysis of large collections of unstructured data (such as text, code and images). The project integrates advanced techniques to develop the building blocks necessary to understand, explore and visualize collections of unstructured data in a way that makes sense to the human brain. This community was created as part of the NSERC-CSE Research Communities Grants, which aim to fund research on cutting-edge technologies in areas of strategic importance to CSE and the federal government. Communications Security Establishment

Two new training programs led by Simon Fraser University researchers have won multi-year funding from the Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) through its Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program. Totalling $3.3 million in funding, the Biomedical and Environmental Sensor Training (BEST) program and the Whale Habitat and Acoustic Learning for Ecosystem Sustainability (WHALES) program aim to train specialized experts in unique, high-demand fields through deep multi-sector collaborations over the next six years. The BEST program will use its $1.65 million in NSERC CREATE funding to train more sensor scientists and engineers to research and develop new technologies to detect, manage and mitigate rapidly evolving dangers stemming from climate change, infectious diseases and biodiversity loss. Led by SFU’s Peter Unrau, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, BEST addresses a national shortage of sensor scientists and engineers. Bringing together a team of biochemists, chemists, physicists and engineers at SFU and the University of Waterloo, the program will also leverage existing collaborations with biomedical and environmental sensor industrial companies and government agencies. The WHALES program,  led by Ruth Joy, assistant professor and statistical ecologist at SFU’s School of Environmental Science, received $1.65 million to launch Canada’s first national marine bioacoustics training program. The WHALES program brings together local, national and international experts in a range of scientific disciplines including physics, marine biology and statistics. The expansion of the blue economy, driven by ocean activities like shipping, offshore wind and tidal energy infrastructure and port expansions, is raising noise levels in Canada’s ocean habitats, Joy said. Training in marine bioacoustics will be increasingly important for developing solutions that reduce harm to marine mammals – and meet the increasing demand for these skills. Simon Fraser University

A new Indigenous-led research partnership with Alberta’s two largest universities aims to improve health outcomes for children, youth and families in Treaty First Nations across the province. The collaboration was announced with the signing of a memorandum of relational understanding between the First Nations Health Consortium (representing 11 Treaty Nations across Alberta), the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary at the Bison Lodge in Edmonton. The agreement sets out a framework for joint research, knowledge sharing and innovation, with an emphasis on upholding Treaty First Nations data sovereignty, respecting community knowledge and cultivating strengths-based research relationships. The agreement will serve as a roadmap for collaborations on community-led health research to address priorities identified by Treaty First Nations and build capacity for Indigenous students, researchers and health workers. It will also guide efforts to integrate technology to enhance data, service delivery and access, and engage in policy to influence health systems and advance equity. University of Alberta

Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) innovation advisory group, comprised of research and community representatives, has selected 11 projects to receive more than $100,000 in funding to advance community-centred climate research and innovation. Projects selected include work underway that delves into many important climate-related issues, such as heat resilience among older adults, community-scale sustainable agriculture, using AI to advance climate action, and co-designing hydrogen energy systems in remote communities. SFU Climate Innovation was created to advance an SFU strategic research priority: community-centred climate innovation.

The first round of funding is split into three categories.

• Three $20,000 “Amplification” grants were awarded for transdisciplinary research collaborations ready to move toward higher-impact funding proposals.
• Three $15,000 “Catalyst” grants were awarded to interdisciplinary teams co-designing research-for-impact with community partners.
• Five $5,000 “Pollinator” awards support graduate students working with faculty across disciplines and doing community-centred work.

In addition to financial support, the successful projects will receive in-kind training and service supports from 12 collaborating units across the university, ranging from grant writing to co-creation research facilitation, knowledge mobilization and partnerships support, and training in community-engaged research methods. Simon Fraser University

A new research initiative led by the University of Victoria will document the experiences of 1,000 survivors of fires, floods, storms and other climate change impacts around the world and share their wisdom. The project, From Catastrophe to Community: A People’s History of Climate Change, is supported by a six-year, $2.5 million Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant. The project will result in the creation of documentaries with APTN Investigates, news features, an anthology and a travelling museum exhibition that will launch at Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Museum of Vancouver. In the process, the From Catastrophe to Community team will develop new trauma-informed, human-rights-based storytelling practices to support the recovery of communities impacted by climate change and other humanitarian crises. Collaborators in the project include the Museum of Vancouver, Simon Fraser University, Trent University, the University of Denver Colorado, the University of Stirling in the U.K., the Université du Québec à Montréal, and York University. University of Victoria

University researchers are reshaping Canada’s wildfire response with new tools and expertise. At the University of Toronto (U of T) adjunct professor Mike Wotton, a senior research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service, is helping to update the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System, while professor emeritus David Martell, a pioneer in wildfire modelling, has mentored many of today’s leaders in the field. Melanie Wheatley, now a wildland fire scientist for Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources, spent a summer as a U of T doctoral student studying the efficiency of six different water bomber aircraft – research that’s now influencing firefighting tactics. At the University of Alberta, associate professor Jen Beverly and doctoral candidate Air Forbes have developed fireexposuR, an open-source mapping tool that helps municipalities and Indigenous communities plan wildfire defences. These efforts continue to support a growing network of wildfire specialists across Canada. University Affairs

Hamilton, Ont.-based Femtech Canada, a national women’s health innovation network, announced the launch of Women’s Health Medical Pathway (wHealth MedPath), a new program designed to help Canadian femtech startups accelerate commercialization and scale impact. Through partnerships with physician networks/physician investment groups, contract research organizations, and contract design and manufacturing organizations, the program provides project support and expert-led services to validate women’s health innovations and advance them toward market readiness. As the femtech sector gains momentum, this initiative fills a critical gap by offering expert-driven support to help women’s health startups bring their innovations to market, Femtech Canada said. The wHealth MedPath program was established by Femtech Canada in partnership with Innovation Factory and supported in part by funding from the National Research Council of Canada-Industrial Research Assistance Program. Femtech Canada

Vancouver-based Eyam Health and Swiss-based non-profit Medicines for Malaria Venture announced a strategic research partnership to discover and evaluate next-generation monoclonal antibody-based approaches for affordable, long-acting malaria therapies. This collaboration will harness Eyam’s groundbreaking technologies to transform how monoclonal antibodies are developed and delivered. Eyam’s Jennerator platform uses advanced AI to rapidly design next-generation biologics, while the Gemini system enables those therapies to be delivered with unmatched durability, without cold storage, and at a fraction of the traditional cost, Eyam said. Importantly, Gemini can carry multiple antibodies at once in a single dose for less than $1 – making it possible to target multiple stages of the parasite’s lifecycle. A single long-acting injection could protect over 50 million young children and pregnant women for the entire rainy season (typically four to five months) during peak malaria transmission. With almost 600,000 deaths and over 250 million cases annually, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is not just a public health issue; it’s a massive economic strain. The disease primarily affects infants and children, as well as pregnant women and their unborn children. Eyam Health

The Toronto-based Future Skills Centre launched the Resilient Workforce Working Table, a pan-Canadian initiative bringing together skills development experts, employer and labour representatives, and policy leaders to develop actionable, evidence-based solutions and approaches to help Canada’s workforce adapt to growing economic and labour market disruption. Amid geopolitical shifts, demographic pressures and technological advances, the Working Table will explore how Canada can respond to uncertainty – and seize opportunities that emerge through innovation, collaboration and inclusive workforce planning. The Working Table will consider how comprehensive skills training and employment interventions can support workers, employers and communities. The Working Table includes members from key areas of Canada’s economy – such as manufacturing, AI, construction, healthcare and forestry – who will produce practical policy recommendations that respond to real challenges and opportunities in real time. Future Skills Centre

Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL) Canada announced the signing of four strategic contracts with leading research and engagement firms to deliver critical projects aligned with CEWIL’s national mandate to advance work-integrated learning, drive economic innovation, and support workforce readiness across Canada. Following a competitive request for proposals process, CEWIL Canada has selected the following project partners: 

• The Conference Board of Canada for a national economic impact study analyzing iHUB data to quantify the return on investment of government-supported work-integrated learning (WIL) initiatives. 
• NVision Insight Group to lead a landmark project on decolonizing the WIL framework, with a focus on integrating Indigenous knowledge and land-based learning. 
• The Talent Strategy Collective to conduct an environmental scan of industry resources, identifying key gaps and opportunities to support industry, especially SMEs, in engaging with WIL. 
• Academica Group to explore industry perspectives on WIL, gathering sectoral insights to strengthen industry engagement and future policy direction. 

CEWIL said that together, these projects will: 

• Demonstrate the measurable economic impact of over 47,000 WIL experiences supported through iHUB.
• Reframe CEWIL Canada's WIL typology through an Indigenous lens and acknowledge land-based learning within national standards.
• Identify and address critical barriers to WIL participation for industry, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Build actionable knowledge to inform public policy, post-secondary practice, and industry engagement through WIL. CEWIL Canada

The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) awarded more than $1.2 million to 13 foodtech projects through its Innovation Booster Program. Industry partners will match these funds, resulting in a total investment of more than $2.4 million. CFIN’s Innovation Booster Program provides funding and support to SMEs to help them accelerate product development, overcome innovation hurdles, and validate market fit. The funded projects span a wide cross-section of food innovation priorities as Canadian innovators increasingly translate emerging technologies and research into practical solutions for a changing food sector. AI was a key theme of this funding round. Companies like Vancouver’s Stocky AI are building an AI-powered ordering and pricing platform that helps independent food retailers manage procurement more efficiently and stay competitive with larger chains. Ingredient innovation also featured prominently. In Quebec, PULR Technologies is pairing biopeptide chemistry with machine learning to predict food freshness in real time to develop a faster, more precise way to assess bacterial load and reduce food waste. CFIN

Calgary-based PlasCred Circular Innovations Inc., a cleantech company focused on advanced plastic recycling, was awarded $5 million in non-dilutive funding from the Alberta government through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) to support the development of the company’s first commercial-scale facility, Neos. PlasCred has already demonstrated proof-of-concept success with patent-pending Primus, its pilot-scale unit, which has been operational since May 2023. Primus has served as a foundational testing platform, validating the conversion of waste plastics into high-value Renewable Green Condensate™, a low-sulphur, low-carbon circular naphtha used as feedstock for the production of virgin plastic. PlasCred has secured a five-year offtake agreement with a global commodities company for 100 percent of production from Neos at a fixed price of $120 per barrel, inclusive of freight terms. Neos will be located in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland in Fort Saskatchewan just northeast of Edmonton. PlasCred

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) expects a recession (two consecutive quarters of negative growth) in Canada this year. The CFIB, in its latest Main Street Quarterly report, said the Canadian economy is expected to see negative growth in Q2 and Q3 of 2025. CFIB’s estimates and forecasts in partnership with AppEco suggest the Canadian economy fell 0.8 percent in Q2 and will further contract by 0.8 percent in Q3. After contracting in Q1, private investment is estimated to nosedive by 13 percent in Q2 and further drop by 6.9 percent in Q3. A special analysis on the impact of tariffs on supply chains highlights that most businesses expect long-term supply disruptions, both abroad and domestically. More firms have been affected by supply chain challenges since March 2025, with the wholesale and manufacturing sectors most impacted by Canada-U.S. border delays. The quarterly sectoral profile reveals that the lack of optimism in the wholesale industry reflects the significant decrease in the number of wholesale businesses with employees and also the steep decline in self-employed people over the past decade. CFIB

Enbridge, Shell and Norway’s Aker BP have all quit the expert advisory group of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) a six-year-long attempt to define a net-zero emissions strategy, after being told that such a standard would require them to stop developing new oil and natural gas fields. The SBTi, a leading assessor of company climate goals, confirmed it has paused development of the oil and gas standard due to "significant, resource-intensive development" the standard still requires. In March, the SBTi had proposed new rules to better help companies set high-quality emissions-reduction plans. The companies quit the initiative as draft standards stated that the companies should not develop "new oil and gas fields" once they submitted a climate plan, or from the end of 2027, whichever was sooner. Reuters

Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. announced it has reached a final investment decision on Clear Fork, a US$900-million, 600-megawatt solar project located near San Antonio, Texas. Construction is underway and the facility is expected to be in service during the summer of 2027. Meta Platforms Inc. has signed a long-term contract for 100 percent of the renewable output of the project, to supply a Meta data centre. Enbridge

U.K.-based energy giant BP Plc will exit its role in a massive green hydrogen production facility planned in Australia as the British oil major refocuses on the fossil fuels that drive its profits. The company told its partners in the Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) that it plans to leave the project as both operator and equity holder, according to a statement from a BP spokesperson. It’s the latest setback for green hydrogen, a fuel once touted as a key way for Big Oil to profit from the energy transition but that has so far proved too costly for mass production and consumption. Fortescue Ltd. said it would abandon plans for a $550-million Arizona Hydrogen Project in the U.S. Also, Woodside Energy Group Ltd. reported a profit hit after ditching a major hydrogen project in the U.S. Financial Post

The Canadian Climate Institute (CCI) is recommending that the federal government drop its planned cap on oil and gas sector emissions – but only if both Ottawa and the provincial governments commit to strengthening Canada’s existing carbon pricing system for heavy industrial emitters, The Globe and Mail reported. The Alberta government and the fossil fuel industry have strongly opposed the emissions cap since it was first put forward under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, claiming that it would effectively be a production cap. The CCI suggests that prioritizing a bolstered industrial pricing system over the emissions cap would in fact be a more efficient pathway toward Canada’s international emissions-reduction commitments than trying to maintain both policies. The CCI’s analysis, which involves modelling by Navius Research Inc., found that either implementing the sectoral cap or strengthening the pricing system would result in approximately 25 megatonnes (Mt) in annual emissions cuts by 2030. That’s roughly 10 percent of the total reduction from current levels needed to achieve Canada’s climate commitments. Together, however, the two initiatives would achieve only about 32 Mt – marginally more than just doing one of them. That inefficiency would stem from both systems incentivizing the same oil and gas producers to decarbonize, which the CCI warns could also disincentivize other heavy-emitting sectors covered by the industrial pricing regime – such as cement and chemicals – from doing so. The pricing system is already underperforming somewhat in achieving emissions reductions, largely owing to weak, oversupplied credit markets. So, the CCI calls for a series of measures aimed at strengthening those markets. The simplest would involve recommitments to a steadily rising headline price (the amount that companies pay per excess tonne of emissions if they don’t purchase credits for a cheaper price), which is currently $95 per tonne. More complex would be to increase the system’s stringency, particularly by raising the share of industrial sites’ emissions (above an allowable level) that are priced. Other changes would include harmonizing and, ideally, linking the carbon markets of multiple provinces – which mostly have their own industrial pricing systems, under equivalency agreements with Ottawa – to create bigger, more robust carbon credit markets. The Globe and Mail

Toronto-based AI developer Cohere announced its intention to sign the EU AI Act Code of Practice for General Purpose AI Models. The Code of Practice is a voluntary framework that aims to provide clarity for how providers of general purpose AI models can comply with specific articles of the EU’s AI Act. Cohere said its decision reflects the company’s commitment to working with governments on their goals for responsible AI development and to Cohere’s customers in the EU. Several members of Cohere’s leadership team are based in Europe and the company has steadily expanded its team and business presence in the region. Cohere said its expertise in data security, on-premises deployments and customization allows it to develop strong collaborations with government and business partners in Europe and beyond, and uniquely positions Cohere to support their sovereign AI goals. Cohere said ongoing dialogue around the Code will be necessary to ensure it reflects emerging scientific consensus and ensures a level playing field for small and large companies. Cohere

Microsoft hired around two dozen employees from Alphabet’s Google DeepMind artificial intelligence research lab in recent months, CNBC reported. Amar Subramanya, who worked at Google for 16 years, most recently as a vice-president of engineering developing the Gemini assistant, said on LinkedIn that he has joined Microsoft AI as a corporate vice-president. The Microsoft group works on the consumer-oriented Copilot assistant, as well as the Bing search engine. In June, Adam Sadovsky, with nearly 18 years of experience at Google, most recently as a distinguished software engineer and senior director at DeepMind, decamped to Microsoft. He’s now a corporate vice-president at Microsoft AI. Earlier this month, Sonal Gupta, a Google DeepMind engineering lead, said on her LinkedIn profile that she’s now a member of technical staff on Mustafa Suleyman’s Microsoft AI team. CNBC

U.S. President Donald Trump released the Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan, which outlines sweeping ambitions for U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence. The plan calls for accelerating AI innovation and infrastructure while reducing what it labels as burdensome regulation. The plan includes over 90 federal policy actions across three policy pillars – “Accelerating Innovation,” “Building American AI Infrastructure,” and “Leading in International Diplomacy and Security” – that will be rolled out over time. The pillars focus on exporting American AI; promoting the rapid buildout of data centers; removing “onerous” federal regulations that hinder AI development and deployment; and updating federal procurement guidelines to ensure that artificial intelligence models procured by the government prioritize truthfulness and ideological neutrality. The plan endorses withholding federal money from states with “burdensome” AI regulations and calls for stripping references to “misinformation,” “diversity, equity and inclusion,” and “climate change” from the country’s official AI standards. It also seeks to fast-track permitting for new data centres — some of which, like Elon Musk’s, have drawn controversy and civil rights lawsuits over their tendency to pollute local communities and strain their resources. The New York Times described the action plan as “opening the door for companies to develop the technology unfettered from oversight and safeguards,” while assuring that AI be free of “partisan bias.” At the same time, Trump signed three executive orders: one bans the federal government from buying AI tools seen as politically biased; another speeds up AI infrastructure projects; and the third controls exports of American AI products. Forbes

OpenAI and the Government of the United Kingdom announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence and help deliver on the goals of the U.K.’s AI Opportunities Action Plan and its ambition to deploy AI for shared prosperity. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Peter Kyle, U.K. Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, signed a memorandum of understanding focused on unlocking the economic and societal benefits of AI. The MOU will include collaboration to explore adoption across both public services and the private sector, infrastructure development and technical information exchange to drive AI-fueled growth in the U.K. OpenAI said the U.K. is a top-three market globally for paid subscribers and API developers. OpenAI’s first international office was opened in London in 2023. The team has since grown to over 100 staff in roles including research and engineering – contributing to the development of OpenAI’s frontier models – and go-to-market functions to support U.K. businesses, developers and startups in applying AI tools to drive growth. The U.K. government has already built an AI chatbot using OpenAI’s artificial intelligence programming that allows thousands of small businesses to more easily get advice from GOV.UK information on business rules and support. OpenAI

Lucid Group Inc., Nuro Inc., and Uber Technologies Inc. announced a partnership to develop a robotaxi platform for Uber’s ride-hailing service. Uber aims to deploy 20,000 or more autonomous Lucid vehicles equipped with the Nuro Driver™ over six years. Expected to launch later next year in a major U.S. city, the new robotaxi service combines the software-defined vehicle architecture of the Lucid Gravity, the scalability and proven capability of the Nuro Driver™ Level 4 autonomy system, and Uber's vast global network and dynamic fleet management, the partners said. The vehicles will be owned and operated by Uber or its third-party fleet partners and made available to riders exclusively via the Uber platform. Nuro will lead the development and validation of a comprehensive safety case across dozens of categories using simulations, closed course testing and supervised on-road testing to verify that the robotaxi will operate safely. Lucid

VC, PRIVATE INVESTMENT & ACQUISITIONS

Quebec-based public pension fund manager La Caisse (previously CDPQ), announced its commitment to invest up to £1.7 billion (Cdn$3.2 billion) in Sizewell C, a 3.2-gigawatt nuclear power station located in the East of England. The investment, which represents a 20-percent stake in the project, will leverage La Caisse’s proven track record in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects globally and support the U.K.’s transition to clean power and progress to net zero. The estimated costs of the Sizewell C project have reached as high as US$49 billion. Sizewell C is expected to provide electricity for 6 million homes upon completion in the mid-2030s. The power station will provide over 60 years of clean, reliable power to the U.K. grid, helping to boost the U.K.’s economy, strengthen energy security and help reduce reliance on hydrocarbon sources, avoiding 9 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually. The investment will be made alongside the U.K. Government, experienced operator EDF, British multinational energy and services company Centrica and investment partner Amber Infrastructure. The project is structured under the U.K. government’s Regulated Asset Base model, which helps fund large-scale projects by offering predictability to investors while ensuring value for consumers over the long term. La Caisse said it intends to invest around £8 billion in the U.K. over the next five years, increasing its asset allocation to the British market by nearly 50 percent. La Caisse

Toronto-based Northleaf Capital raised close to $910 million for its fourth fund dedicated to secondary investment [called “secondaries”], which involves buying equity stakes in a company from early investors and employees. At least 22 investors have contributed to the fund, financial disclosures filed in the U.S. and Canada show, with the vast majority of capital – nearly $670 million at least – from Canadian backers. Amid a lack of distributions from initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions, secondaries have become an increasingly popular means of generating liquidity. Global secondary volume hit a new high of US$103 billion during the first half of 2025, according to the latest semi-annual review of the secondary market released by the global investment bank Jefferies. This is an “unprecedented” 51 percent higher than the prior record of $68 billion, set in the first six months of 2024, and puts 2025 on pace to be “a landmark year” for secondaries, the report says. BetaKit

Toronto-based Radical Ventures and San Francisco-based Forerunner Ventures co-led a Series A extension funding round for New York City-based Slingshot AI, bringing the total capital raised to US$93 million. Previous investors a16z, Felicis, and Menlo participated in the funding round. Slingshot AI also launched “Ash,” an AI designed for therapy and deeply personalized mental health support, that’s now available as a free iOS and Android app to anyone with a phone. Unlike general-purpose AI assistants designed to tell users what they want to hear, Ash is built on a special-purpose foundation model for psychology that Slingshot developed over the last 18 months. Slingshot AI also announced the formation of its Expert & Clinical Advisory Board, comprising globally respected mental health experts, to ensure Ash’s safety, efficacy and clinical grounding. BusinessWire

Salmon Arm, B.C.-based 4AG Robotics raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by Astanor and Cibus Capital, with support from new investor Voyager Capital and existing investors InBC, Emmertech, BDC Industrial Innovation Fund, Jim Richardson Family Office, Stray Dog Capital and Seraph Group. 4AG's system uses AI-powered computer vision, precision suction grippers, and advanced motion control to autonomously harvest, trim and pack mushrooms 24/7 – without manual labor. The robots enable consistent quality, reduced labour costs, and real-time operational data for growers. The company said the funding positions 4AG to meet surging global demand for its robotic harvesting platform, already in use across Canada, Ireland, and Australia, with new deployments soon to be underway in the Netherlands and the United States. 4AG Robotics

Vancouver-based cryptocurrency miner Bitzero announced it secured $25 million in funding to drive immediate revenue growth and further its mission of setting a new global standard for clean, community-centred mining operations. The company didn’t disclose who invested in the funding round. Bitzero said it will use some of the money to buy 2,900 crypto mining machines, which it said will generate about US$10 million in additional annual revenue. Bitzero has four sites in three countries, which are powered by renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar and wind, as well as some natural gas and energy grid sources in North Dakota. Bitzero

Cayman Islands-based AI crypto treasure firm xTAO, founded by Karia Samaroo, the founder and former CEO of Toronto crypto company WonderFi, raised US$22.8 million in the form of subscription receipts, which let investors receive shares contingent on a transaction. The funding came from Animoca Brands, Arca, Arche Capital, Borderless Capital, DCG, FalconX, Hypersphere Ventures, Off the Chain Capital, Republic and Stratos. xTAO’s TSX Venture listing was set to go live on July 22. TAO is the native token of the US$3.9-billion Bittensor blockchain. Fintech Finance News

Vancouver venture-capital firm Version One Ventures led a US$5.5 million seed round for California-based TRIC Robotics, which makes an automated agricultural non-chemical pesticide treatment alternative. The company’s robot, Luna, uses ultraviolet light and automation to treat pests and disease – without chemicals. TRIC said the robot has already been deployed in over 1,000 acres of open-field strawberries, helping farmers grow healthier crops while protecting workers, consumers and the environment. TRIC Robotics on LinkedIn

TD Bank Group announced it has finalized a strategic relationship with Wisconsin-based Fiserv, a global provider of payments and financial services technology. TD Merchant Solutions (TDMS) will provide Fiserv's advanced Clover product offering, payment processing and servicing to its clients. The transition for clients will be seamless as they will continue to have access to merchant solutions enabling them to accept credit and debit payments. As part of this new strategic relationship, TD and Fiserv are also entering into a purchase agreement, which will include Fiserv acquiring a part of the TD merchant processing business relating to a select portfolio of approximately 3,400 TDMS merchant group contracts with 30,000 merchant locations. TD Bank Group

Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm Carlyle announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Toronto- and Prague-headquartered IT consultancy firm Adastra. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but Carlyle European and Asian funds will provide the equity for the deal. Adastra has more than 2,000 employees globally and offers customers a data management platform that helps companies grow revenue, improve IT infrastructure and improve customer experience using AI, data analytics and cloud solutions. In a partnership with Adastra’s founders, Carlyle will support the business in growing its leading data, cloud and AI offerings, supporting existing and new customers, as well as expanding its international presence via organic investments and targeted mergers and acquisitions. Carlyle

Toronto-based market research firm Dig Insights acquired OneCliq, a Toronto-based artificial intelligence-enabled startup that mines social media to help brands better understand consumer sentiment. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. OneCliq aims to automate qualitative research by aggregating consumer sentiment from posts, comments and other content on social media platforms, including Instagram, Reddit and TikTok. OneCliq’s technology will become part of Dig’s product offerings, which include the market research platform Upsiide. Dig Insights

REPORTS & POLICIES

A trade “deal” with the U.S. that includes so-called less severe tariffs would have profound negative impacts

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “glass-half-full” optimism on reaching a trade deal with the U.S. that includes less severe tariffs “is unjustified and dangerous,” according to a new report by the Vancouver-based Centre for Future Work.

Because Canada’s economy is uniquely dependent on exports to the U.S. (equivalent to over 25 percent of Canadian GDP), even tariffs that seem relatively favourable (compared to other countries) will still cause disproportionate and unprecedented damage to Canada, says the report by economist Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work.

Even under favourable assumptions (regarding the continuation of tariff exemptions for Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement-compliant products, for example), Canada would still be among the handful of worst-hit countries, he says.

If “effective” tariffs are defined and measured with respect to economic output of the exporting country, Trump’s tariffs could be equivalent to three percent of Canadian GDP – higher than almost any other country, and much larger than similarly-measured effective tariffs facing China, the EU, and other major trading nations, Stanford notes.

This deal would increase U.S. tariffs by a factor of 10 or more, inevitably sparking a major recession in Canada and doing lasting damage to our industrial capacity and several vital industries, he says. “It is dangerously misleading to characterize a deal like this as a ‘victory.’”

According to his report, signing onto a trade “deal” that codifies Canada’s acceptance of significant tariffs on Canadian exports – reversing a generation of continental economic integration – would constitute a very damaging retreat by Canada, with profound and complex long-run consequences:

• Trump can and likely will change current trade “deals” in the future, since they are non-binding and non-ratifiable. Trump has demonstrated he will ignore formal and legally binding trade agreements, whenever it suits his economic and political calculations. These informal memoranda are even more fragile. Hence whatever concessions Canada makes to reach a “deal” now are likely to be wasted.
• Accepting that large U.S. tariffs are a “new normal” in continental trade will accelerate the relocation of investment away from Canada, as companies conclude they cannot competitively serve U.S. customers from here.
• Any deal with Trump will limit Canada’s ability to respond to existing or future U.S. attacks with counter-measures. It would thus amount to unilateral disarmament, against an adversary who is still armed and actively fighting.
• The sectors targeted by sector-specific tariffs have disproportionate and strategic importance to Canada’s value-added economy. The industries targeted by Trump’s sector-specific tariffs and investigations constitute the bulk of Canada’s higher technology value-added manufacturing capability: autos, aerospace, semiconductors, refined critical minerals and more. Permanent U.S. tariffs on these sectors will have a qualitative as well as a quantitative impact on Canada’s economy, setting back our historical effort to become more than a “hewer of wood, drawer of water.” A trade deal with Trump would likely also constrain our ability to support those same industries with other policy tools (through broader industrial development strategies). Accepting these tariffs as part of a mutual trade “deal” would reinforce our relegation as a raw materials supplier to our more advanced and diversified neighbour to the south.
• Accepting an unfavourable deal would short-circuit the possibility of developing a stronger coordinated response to Trump’s attacks from other countries (including the EU, Mexico, and others).
• Accepting a deal now foregoes future leverage from deteriorating economic, financial, and political conditions in the U.S. Economists are virtually unanimous that Trump’s tariffs will inflict significant damage on U.S. businesses and consumers; they reject his claim that tariffs will attract more investment in U.S. manufacturing and other industries.
• For various reasons, this is the most fragile political moment in Trump’s second presidency. Giving him a “win” in the form of an apparent deal with America’s largest trading partner would dissipate the growing economic, financial and political pressure which is the only force capable of reining in his excesses.

Canada should continue to resist Trump’s attacks, both at the negotiating table and through countervailing actions, Stanford says.

There are many strategies the federal and provincial governments could follow to impose counteracting harm on the U.S. side, and thus enhance Canada’s bargaining position:

• Targeted counter-tariffs, designed to exert maximum pain on U.S. businesses and maximum political impact in U.S. society, while minimizing damage to Canadians (for example, by avoiding most tariffs on imported inputs to Canadian businesses).
• Non-tariff measures to cause impacts on U.S. supply chains, including export taxes or quantitative limits on strategic exports (including all forms of energy, strategic materials like aluminum, and critical minerals).
• Direct restrictions on access by U.S. businesses to Canadian regulated markets, public procurement and military purchasers.
• Restoring the Digital Services Tax for U.S.-based digital suppliers only.
• Considering restrictions on U.S. foreign direct investment in Canadian energy, critical minerals, banking and other strategic (and lucrative) sectors of Canada’s economy.

“Contrary to Trump’s empty boasts, Canada holds plenty of cards in this negotiation,” Stanford says.

“At this point, we need to show we are willing to play them. If we are indeed ready to get our elbows up, there are plenty of options for how to do that.”

Stanford says surviving Trump’s attacks, and building a more viable and independent economy in the future, will require a multidimensional plan:

• Standing strong in trade negotiations with the U.S., instead of accepting a bad deal in hopes it will stop Trump’s madness. All of the tariff and non-tariff measures listed above should be mobilized in this effort.
• Dragging out trade talks with the U.S., rather than rushing into a quick but negative deal. This allows domestic economic, financial and political pressures on Trump to build, and gives more time for Canada to join other countries in a coordinated response.
• Accelerate investments in Canadian industry, infrastructure, housing and services – both to mitigate the immediate impacts of Trump’s attacks on GDP and employment, and to lay the groundwork for the longer-run reorientation of Canada’s economy away from reliance on exports to the U.S.
• Provide emergency assistance to businesses and workers in sectors directly affected by Trump’s actions, including expanded access to income support for displaced workers, and emergency funding to keep exporters viable until a better trade regime is achieved.
• Stockpile inventories of strategic Canadian-produced minerals and other (nonperishable) materials to support the continued viability of those industries in Canada until the trade policy regime stabilizes. This will also intensify pressure on U.S. supply chains.
• Acting powerfully and decisively to prevent relocation of capital and productive assets away from Canada in response to Trump’s actions, including unconventional measures (such as targeted taxes and penalties, limitations on market access, or even nationalization) to maintain Canada’s foothold in strategic industries.
• Join with other countries in preparing and mobilizing a joint response to Trump, that rejects his tariffs and other attacks as a legitimate feature of the global trade regime, and amplifies consequences for U.S. businesses, financial markets, and consumers.

As the arbitrary August 1 deadline to accept Trump’s “deal” approaches, the federal government must reaffirm its understanding of the profound threat Canada faces and be active in preparing for a longer, harder, but necessary effort to affirm Canadian sovereignty and prosperity, Stanford says.

“Accepting a bad ‘deal’ from Trump, that locks in the logic and the economic reality of his illegal and destructive actions, would set back that overarching and ultimately more important effort considerably.” Centre for Future Work

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Align strategic, local workforce development with Canada’s major projects to improve communities’ resilience

Strategic workforce development aligned with Canada’s major “national interest” projects holds immense potential to improve the resilience of communities where the projects will be built, according to a commentary in Policy Options.

These communities face potential disruption from a range of factors, including the global energy transition and U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other threats to Canada, says the commentary.

The commentary was co-authored by Abigail Jackson, research associate at the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP); Rachel Samson, vice-president of research at the IRPP; and Ricardo Chejfec, research director at the IRPP).

The Community Transformations Project at the IRPP has identified 68 communities across Canada that are susceptible to workforce disruption related to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – with 19 of them simultaneously vulnerable to Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs because of their dependence on exports to the U.S.

Of the 150 projects with geocoordinates in Natural Resources Canada’s major projects inventory, 50 are located in communities susceptible to disruption from the net-zero clean energy transition.

Yet, while the federal government promises to reduce approval times to two years for major projects designated to be in the national interest, many of the rural and remote communities that will host these nation-building projects lack the infrastructure and investments necessary to benefit from them.

These communities are more likely to face challenges in attracting skilled labour and the people who live there are more likely to face barriers to training and education, the authors point out.

When job opportunities aren’t available locally, workers may seek them elsewhere, leading to major stress in communities left to navigate an economic transformation with a dwindling workforce.

Major projects offer Canada an opportunity to get ahead of these challenges proactively, the authors say.

For example, Nova Scotia’s Wind West proposal would include enough offshore wind turbines to supply more than one-quarter of Canada’s electricity needs.

Cape Breton, one of the communities profiled by the IRPP, is a prime example of an area that could benefit from a major offshore wind project – but only if local skills development is incorporated into Wind West from the outset, the authors say.

Many communities in the region are still recovering from past industrial transitions in coal, steel and fishing, leaving Cape Breton with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and persistently high child-poverty rates.

Yet, these legacy industries could provide a crucial foundation for the technical skills and infrastructure knowledge that offshore wind development requires, the authors say.

For example, Cape Breton’s manufacturing sector could be revived with a shift to fabricating and assembling structures and components for offshore wind projects. Maritime workers familiar with ocean conditions could transition to jobs in offshore installation and maintenance.

These homegrown skills are assets that can serve as a foundation for a thriving offshore wind hub, with the potential to attract other investments to the region, such as a proposed deepwater port and logistics hub that would build on these skills and create more job opportunities.

“Governments must do more to ensure that susceptible communities stand to benefit the most from the coming wave of nation-building projects,” the authors say.

This means creating accessible, local pathways for workers to build on existing skills, linking economic and workforce efforts and facilitating partnerships between local learning institutions, employers and other stakeholders.

In a policy brief, the authors recommend three steps to take a proactive, coordinated and place-based approach to skills development in susceptible communities:

• First, governments should offer flexible funding that enables skills programming tailored to the challenges and opportunities of susceptible communities – whether that’s renewable-energy installation, critical minerals processing or advanced manufacturing.

Instead of restricting funding to predetermined sectors or types of applicants, let local partnerships between employers, unions, colleges and community organizations propose innovative solutions aligned with local economic-development plans.

• Second, the federally funded Community Futures organizations, which already exist in and around many susceptible communities, can be leveraged to coordinate economic and skills development.

These organizations are governed locally, which means they are attuned to the needs and opportunities in their communities. Many of them have established relationships with government programs and local employers that could be the base for further action.

With expanded mandates and resources, these organizations would be well-placed to ensure that local skills training aligns with economic development planning.

• Third, when major projects move forward, governments at all levels should proactively facilitate partnerships between local companies, unions, learning institutions and other relevant players who can then work together to close skills gaps before construction begins, not after skilled worker shortages emerge.

“Canada’s nation-building moment offers an unprecedented opportunity for communities” the authors say.

As the government prepares to unleash a period of big projects, it should embed skills-development considerations into project approvals, they say. Every mine, energy project and transmission line should come with a commitment to develop local skills.

“It’s time we treat skills as essential infrastructure that is every bit as important as the roads, ports and power lines that will define Canada’s economic future.” Policy Options

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Connecting regional electricity grids should be at the top of nationally designated major projects: Canadian Climate Institute

Clean electricity infrastructure and connecting regional grids should be at the top of the federal government’s list of nationally designated projects, according to a commentary from the Canadian Climate Institute (CCI).

The commentary co-authored by Rick Smith, president of the CCI, and Peter Nicholson, chair of the CCI, first appeared here with many more hyperlinks.

Electricity infrastructure will strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience and security, they say.  Despite Canada’s wealth of diverse electricity resources, Canada’s distribution systems are generally oriented north to south, not east to west. Provinces trade more electricity with the United States than they do with each other.

“Building a strong Canadian electricity market through new infrastructure that increases interprovincial electricity trade will therefore create new domestic commercial options and strengthen our energy independence,” the authors say.

Crucially, interties that enable instantaneous trade between provincial grids make Canadian electricity systems more reliable and resilient, not just to geopolitical shocks, but also to system-stressing events such as droughts, cold snaps, heat waves and outages, they note.  

Second, interties will deliver economic benefits to Canada, they say. In the global context, clean, renewable sources of power are taking the lead “simply because they are both the most secure and cost-efficient, looking forward.”

As electricity demand accelerates – from data centres, to home heat pumps, to electric vehicles, to an expanding array of industrial uses – Canada is uniquely positioned to benefit economically from a wealth of new and complementary electricity resources, the authors say.

Solar and wind potential in the Prairies is effectively unbounded. Offshore wind in the Atlantic could both give new momentum to the regional economy and offer a massive untapped source of electricity for the nation. Established hydropower resources in B.C., Manitoba, Quebec and Labrador are the perfect complements to act as giant, stable “batteries” to balance increasingly inexpensive renewable power in other provinces. 

“Those benefits only materialize, however, if power markets are connected. In short, integration would provide reliable supply, decrease electricity rates, attract investment and grow the Canadian economy.”

Third, electricity interties have a growing likelihood of successful execution, the authors say.

In the past, provinces have been content to live in silos, focused on domestic, regional power markets and institutions.

But now, given rapidly growing electricity demand, every province is exploring ways of generating new power, whether through calls for power, building new nuclear plants, or even (ill-advisedly, given the health and climate costs, the authors point out) extending the life of coal plants, the authors say.

Flexibility – the ability to balance electricity supply and demand over time – is just as valuable as more supply. More flexibility means utilities have to build less and charge less for power. “Interties create inter-provincial flexibility, providing benefits not just for Canada but for individual provinces as well.”

Fourth, electricity infrastructure, if done right, will also advance the interests of Indigenous Peoples, the authors say. That’s especially true if Indigenous communities have an ownership stake.

Transmission between provinces will be built on Indigenous lands, requiring free, prior and informed consent from the affected communities.

At the same time, Indigenous-owned transmission projects could generate local economic benefits ranging from jobs for community members to assets that generate a stable financial return, making it a good asset for a community’s long-term diversification and independence.

Finally, electricity infrastructure is essential for Canada’s clean growth and for meeting Canada’s climate objectives, the authors say.

Clean electrification is the backbone of Canada’s pathway to net zero. More clean power can drive the switch to heat pumps, electric vehicles, electric arc furnaces and beyond.

And more transmission lowers the costs of achieving deep emissions reductions, thereby accelerating that transformation. It makes other policies, such as industrial carbon pricing, work better.     

In short, electricity infrastructure projects can drive economic, environmental, security and reconciliation benefits, the authors say. “They can help build a stronger, more unified national economy by linking Canada’s regions and magnifying their strengths.” Canadian Climate Institute

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Scientific integrity in Canada and the U.S. is eroding, in different ways in each country: Evidence for Democracy

Canada has a more standardized approach to scientific integrity at the federal level compared with the United States, according to a new report by the not-for-profit Evidence for Democracy (E4D).

“The United States is experiencing significant erosion of its existing infrastructure, driven by political interference that compromises both transparency and accountability, while Canada struggles with training and public trust, strongly impacted by enforcement challenges, ongoing interference, and departmental decentralization,” the report says.

The report’s authors – all at E4D – are Enrique Carbone, graduate research assistant, Trevor Potts, director of research and policy, and Félix Proulx-Giraldeau, interim executive director.

Their report compared the state of scientific integrity in Canada and the U.S. as of July 2025. They assessed six key dimensions: Transparency, Accountability, Monitoring, Training, Commitment, and Public Trust. Each dimension was scored using the authors’ scientific integrity rubric, and letter grades were assigned using a standardized scale.

The relatively rapid expansion of scientific integrity policies across Canadian federal departments and agencies – effectively started only in 2018 – has led to strong implementation but also significant gaps, the report says.

Eighteen of 25 federal departments still do not have any monitoring system in place to track progress and only a handful of departments actively implement training and clear communication with the public.

The fact that the main advisory and oversight body, the Office of the Chief Science Advisor, has not been permanently established in legislation also leaves recent gains vulnerable to political change.

“The U.S. presents a more fractured picture that is rapidly crumbling,” the report says.

Historically, scientific integrity has been established in the U.S. since the late 1970s; however, recent political shifts have severely impacted its well-established systems.

“Recent moves by the Trump administration are significantly compromising research standards, legal protections for scientists, and the autonomy of science agencies,” the report says.

The result: a system where oversight exists, but the evidence base it’s meant to protect is being politically constrained.

The report’s key findings are:

• Both Canada and the U.S. received an overall average grade of C-, although Canada’s strengths and weaknesses are more evenly spread, without extreme highs or lows, than those of the U.S. “A fragmented system is more vulnerable to targeted disruption, while a more balanced, even if imperfect, system may offer greater institutional resilience.”
• Canada shows more consistent results across all dimensions, earning C grades across four of six dimensions.
• The U.S. shows greater variation with its scientific integrity scores, earning high scores in Monitoring (B-), while scoring poorly in Transparency (D-) and Accountability (D). Higher monitoring scores are supported by stronger infrastructure, including central coordination by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, legal protections and internal review bodies. However, recent political developments, including the 2025 Restoring Gold Standard Science executive order, have undermined these safeguards and accelerated institutional erosion. The Restoring Gold Standard Science executive order, “which includes potential loopholes to weaponize open science language to discredit politically inconvenient research, is a prime example of erosion masquerading as reform.”
• Lowest-scoring dimensions varied significantly by country, with the U.S. earning D grades in Transparency and Accountability, while Canada scored lowest in Training and Public Trust. Public Trust and Commitment remain underdeveloped for both countries. Although agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Office of the Chief Science Advisor provide encouraging models, their efforts are not widespread or coordinated enough to overcome systemic gaps or restore consistent public confidence in evidence-informed governance.

Erosion of scientific integrity is occurring in both Canada and the U.S., according to the report.

In Canada, a well-established network of policies and protections is slowly being worn down by select funding cuts, ongoing censorship of scientists, and opaque decision-making.

In the U.S., once solid frameworks are actively being chipped away, not by overt rejection, but through the redefinition and redirection of scientific integrity itself. “What is being eroded is not just policy – it is the scaffolding that holds science accountable to the public.”

The report noted that last year alone, Canadian researchers were awarded $58 million in research funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Scientific collaboration is essential to this relationship, and that collaboration relies heavily on shared standards of integrity, the report says. “But in recent years, those standards are now misaligned.”

Significant science funding cuts, crackdowns on research proposals for politically inconvenient terms, and suppression of key evidence and datasets all threaten Canada’s research community, according to the report.

The loss of NIH funding not only puts current and future research initiatives at risk but also limits access to vital U.S. data sources, such as those from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which are crucial for tracking climate trends and public health.

The restrictions could lead to a decline in the competitiveness and global integration of Canadian science, potentially driving talent and innovation elsewhere, the report warns.

“This situation echoes past periods of political interference in Canadian science, underscoring the need for vigilance and advocacy to protect research integrity and international collaboration.”

Scientific integrity doesn’t fail all at once, the report notes. It erodes over time in a thousand ways, such as through funding cuts, suppression of evidence, undermining what qualifies as research, and other actions. 

To turn this around, E4D’s report recommends:

• Enforceable policies that aren’t vulnerable to political shifts.
• Independent offices and stable funding to support integrity efforts.
• Public engagement to rebuild trust and protect science in the public interest.

Ultimately, scientific integrity is not sustained by policy alone – it depends on enforcement, public trust and cultural resilience, the report says.

E4D says its consultations with experts emphasized that the most dangerous attacks on science today are not overt; they are buried in footnotes, procedural revisions and subtle bureaucratic reshuffling that collectively reshape the standards of what counts as credible science.

Going forward, Canada and the U.S. must ensure their frameworks are not only aspirational but durable – protected from partisan swings, reinforced by institutional leadership, and grounded in transparency, E4D says.

“Without legal codification of scientific integrity protections, each administration will continue to erode decades of progress.” Evidence for Democracy

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Advice for improving U.K.’s innovation economy could be applied to Canada’s innovation ecosystem

A U.K. inquiry looking for ways to improve the country’s innovation economy has turned to foreign experts for advice.

Witnesses from Germany, Sweden and Singapore appeared before the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, sharing their experience and the occasional blunt criticism of the U.K. approach.

For Patrick Rose, innovation manager at Sprind, the German federal agency for breakthrough innovation, the challenge is to be selective.

“We will not get involved in projects where we believe that the market or investors will actually push this technology forward,” Rose told the committee.

This clarity enables Sprind to move swiftly, bridging the “valley of death” between innovation and exploitation with targeted injections of public capital.

Sprind’s model is considered a success, with the result that its funding is rising. Initially given €1 billion over 10 years, it currently has €250 million this year, with “expectations to go up next year because of our execution power,” Rose said.

This, he said, was where the U.K. often fell short. “While your planning and your strategies are bar none across Europe, your execution power is rubbish,” he told the committee. “That is the key aspect: being able to go to companies and enable them to drive technologies and scale them.”

[Editor’s Note: The ability of Canada’s federal government to execute on its innovation initiatives and programs is an often-heard criticism, as is the lack of support for scaling companies.]

Darja Isaksson, director general of Swedish innovation agency Vinnova, agreed and added a need to embrace failure to the advice she would give the U.K.

“When it comes to failure being celebrated, it is not because it is necessary but because this is proven to be the best and most efficient way to success,” she said. “That is just a reminder of why this investment in risk taking is so important.”

[Editor’s Note: See also: Canada’s research and innovation ecosystem needs to embrace failure and experiment with new ways of funding.]

Asked about Sweden’s own success in exploiting innovation, Isaksson cited its status as the European leader, per capita, in producing unicorns, startups that grow to a valuation above $1 billion. 

“The reasons for this, looking back, are some good early decisions on investments in infrastructure, early capital market development, and making sure that both Nasdaq Stockholm and Swedish pension funds have gradually expanded allocations to venture and private equity,” Isaksson said.

[Editor’s Note: The lack of unicorns and “anchor companies” is also a problem in Canada. See: The hard pivot: anchoring a world-leading Canadian life sciences industry].

Funding was also the chief concern of Aftab Mathur, managing director for innovation investments and emerging technologies investments at Temasek, a Singapore-based investment company. 

“We had to ensure that the funding was going to the right places in the market,” he told the committee.

The “valley of death” for Singapore was not between innovation and exploitation, but later, between the series A and B funding rounds, Mathur said. “We had a lot of incubators and accelerators, but we did not have the funding for A and B. We stepped in and capitalized the entire VC ecosystem by funding seven or eight funds to do that.”

[Editor’s Note: Canada also has multiple challenges in scaling up startups, with the No. 1 challenge being capital and access to capital. See: Businesses trying to scale up in Canada face multiple challenges with no “silver bullet” solutions.]

The next step for Singapore was to set up other pools of capital, not just equity but debt and mezzanine financing.

“We set up other things that would help the innovation startup ecosystem, not just the equity part,” he said. “You need the other parts as well to function, as has happened in the U.S. Then we set up growth funds and pre-IPO [initial public offering] funds and capitalized the entire ecosystem to get to the liquidity events that we wanted.”

Mathur also stressed the need for accountability, with technological milestones often necessary to track the progress of investments in businesses unable to make a quick financial return. “Holding them accountable to those metrics was very important to make sure that we had that flywheel effect from the capital side,” he said. Lola Laws, writing in Science|Business

See also: Canada’s innovation ecosystem lacks key elements for success implemented in other countries

THE GRAPEVINE – News about people, institutions and communities

Dr. Maydianne Andrade, PhD, was appointed as dean of York University’s Faculty of Science for a five-year term starting January 1, 2026, following a national and international search process.  Andrade joins York University from the University of Toronto (U of T), where she is a University Professor in Biological Sciences. At the U of T Scarborough, she has also held the roles of special advisor to the dean on inclusive recruitment and equity education, vice-dean faculty affairs and equity, acting vice-principal academic and dean, and served two terms as Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology. Andrade is also chair of the Council of Canadian Academies’ Scientific Advisory Committee. York University

Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed Virginia Mearns, who is Inuk and has held prominent positions with Inuit organizations, as Canada's Arctic ambassador. Mearns, who lives in Iqaluit, currently serves as senior director of Inuit relations at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and has previously held senior positions with the government of Nunavut, including as the deputy minister of executive and intergovernmental affairs. Mearns has also spent over a decade in various roles with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Mearns' appointment is the latest development in Canada's new Arctic foreign policy released last December. Ottawa has also committed to opening new consulates in Alaska and Greenland, supporting science and research in the Arctic and discussing Arctic security with foreign ministers in other northern countries. CBC News

Brampton, Ont.-based MDA Space announced the appointment of Rabindra (Rob) Singh as vice-president, strategic solutions, effective immediately. He is a distinguished leader in the space industry with more than 30 years of experience defining and delivering complex space solutions and service strategies for customers. Reporting to CEO Mike Greenley in this newly created role, Singh joins the MDA Space executive team with responsibility for defining strategic customer solutions that leverage the company’s full global portfolio and partnering with corporate development on strategic growth opportunities. MDA Space

Calgary-based Wagepoint, a provider of payroll and human resources software for small businesses across Canada, announced the appointment of Ben Richmond as president and CEO, effective August 18, 2025. Richmond will also join the company's board of directors and will report to the board. He brings over 15 years of leadership experience in global fintech and software-as-a-service, with a strong focus on serving small and medium-sized businesses. Most recently, he was the managing director for North America at Xero, where he was responsible for driving growth and operations across the U.S. and Canadian markets. Wagepoint

U.K.-based energy giant BP Plc appointed Albert Manifold to succeed Helge Lund as chair of the company. Manifold will join the company’s board on September 1, 2025 as non-executive director and chair-elect, and will take over as chair on October 1. At that point, Lund will step down as chair and as a director of the BP board. Manifold was the CEO of CRH Plc from January 2014 until December 2024. BP, which is slashing planned renewable energy spending, said Manifold has a strong track record of strategic leadership and operational delivery with a focus on cost efficiency, disciplined capital allocation and cash flow generation. BP

Michael Yang stepped down as head of OMERS Ventures as the pension fund makes a strategic shift to refocus its investment activities within Canada. Saar Pikar is now the managing director and head of ventures and growth, with Laura Lenz being promoted to managing director. This strategic refocusing follows a review of OMERS’s private equity business, with the aim of increasing Canadian investments while selectively pursuing opportunities in the U.S. through direct investments and strategic partnerships. OMERS Ventures, the early-stage venture capital arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, is emphasizing its leadership as the first Canadian pension plan to invest directly in early-stage technology. Startup Ecosystem Canada

Languages Canada said that over 13 percent of Canada’s accredited language education programs were shut down in the first quarter of 2025, reducing the number of accredited official language programs to its lowest since 2011. The sector has seen a dramatic decline in recent years, Languages Canada reported. In 2019, it generated $6.7 billion in economic activity and supported over 75,000 jobs. In 2024, those numbers shrank to $3.7 billion and 35,000 jobs, despite Canada's global reputation for quality language education and its recognition as a top destination for English and French language learning. The closures follow a series of changes to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s International Student Program that, while aimed at addressing broader issues like housing, have disproportionately impacted official language programs. Languages Canada said the remaining programs are facing reduced enrolment and financial instability, despite their positive impact on international student success. Languages Canada

Ontario’s universities are facing an “intractable financial situation” that requires a politically viable solution, said Jeffrey Casello, professor of planning and engineering at the University of Waterloo. In an op-ed in The Globe and Mail, Casello pointed out that tuition cuts and stagnant government grants have reduced Ontario university revenues by 25 percent over the past decade, leaving some institutions with budget deficits ranging from 10 percent to 20 percent and at risk of failure. To rebuild public trust and show accountability, Casello proposed institution-level measures such as self-imposed faculty pay cuts, as well as sector-level measures and a review of redundancies between universities (there are 11 English-language universities within about a 200-kilometre radius from the University of Toronto). With such proactive actions, he said the provincial government may then turn its focus to reforms, such as those suggested by its blue ribbon panel, that would re-establish the sector’s viability. The Globe and Mail

The Government of Ontario is reportedly planning to revise core college and university funding as soon as next spring. A memo from Ontario Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn states that the review will help align programs with labour market needs, ensuring regional priorities are taken into account, improving outcomes for students, and ensuring institutions are on solid ground financially with “fair, predictable, and transparent funding.” Quinn explained that the review will ensure that investments in post-secondary institutions align with the needs of “students, communities, industry, and our economy” and address “the long-term sustainability of the postsecondary education sector.” Separate from the review of core funding for the sector, the Toronto Star reported that an anonymous source indicated the Ontario government may also consider lifting the seven-year-old tuition freeze. Toronto Star

Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. declared eight full-time support staff positions redundant, with written notice of reassignment provided to affected employees, CTV News reported. Staphanie Pagnucco, director of communications and stakeholder relations at Sault College, told The Sault Star that up to six workers could be laid off when the cuts take effect in 90 days, but the final number will be determined after the layoff and bumping process. In a recent statement, the college attributed the decision to “unprecedented financial constraints,” including a projected $5.6-million deficit for 2025–26, reduced international enrolment, frozen provincial tuition and grants, and rising operational costs. Prior cost-saving measures included voluntary departures, hiring and salary freezes, and the suspension of approximately 20 programs. CTV News

Brandon, Man.-based Assiniboine College announced a new micro-credential to help mid-career trades professionals gain in-demand skills in the renewable energy sector. The 16-week, part-time Renewable Energy Solar Systems and Installation program will be delivered remotely to support flexible learning. Well-suited for electricians and contractors, the program covers solar photovoltaic system concepts and safe installation practices, and provides students with hands-on experience with solar infrastructure. The first intake is scheduled for September 1, 2025. The program is part of Upskilling for the Innovation Economy, a national program led by Colleges and Institutes Canada and funded by Upskill Canada, powered by Palette Skills, and the Government of Canada. Assiniboine College

Kitchener, Ont.-based Conestoga College and the Grand Erie District School Board partnered to develop an AI micro-credential for the school board’s employees. The online course, which the Brantford Expositor reported is the first AI micro-credential in Ontario’s public education sector, will teach participants about the basics of AI, tools and responsible use, ethics and custom AI pathways. This micro-credential is offered in an asynchronous format and takes 10 hours to complete. Those who complete the course will receive a certificate from the school board and Conestoga. Brantford Expositor

Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. and Enabled Talent have signed an MOU to co-develop an AI-powered workplace accessibility tool for blind and low-vision professionals. The two-year collaboration will focus on the development of Eynable, a tool that uses voice commands, smart descriptions and task automation to help blind and low-vision professionals complete everyday workplace tasks without changing existing software or websites. Eynable supports activities like form submissions, scheduling, document handling and customer service. Development of the tool will also be guided by insights from disability advocacy organizations and supported through partnerships with major employers, including TD, RBC, and CBC. Algoma University

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Persistent belief that men and women are biologically interested in different kinds of work limits career opportunities for women

Despite decades of progress, women remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.

New research by University of British Columbia psychology professor Dr. Toni Schmader and her team offers insight into one key reason why: the persistent belief that men and women are “naturally” interested in different kinds of work.

Even when discrimination isn’t overt, this belief subtly shapes which opportunities women are offered and which they aren’t.

“There’s this idea that men are inherently more interested in things or systems, and women are more drawn to people and social interactions. While there is some evidence that such differences exist, what matters is why people think they exist: Are they biologically hardwired, or shaped by life experience?” Schmader said.

Her team’s research found that people who think those differences are biological were more likely to act on them in ways that limit women’s exposure to career-building experiences.

In two studies, the researchers asked people working in STEM to imagine they were managers at a tech company running an internship program. They were given applicant profiles equal in qualifications but differing by gender and asked to assign interns to project teams.

Some of the project teams were client-facing, and others were back-end, system-focused roles. Participants tended to assign women to the people-oriented teams and men to the system-oriented ones, even though no applicants had relevant experience.

This bias was stronger among participants who believed that gender differences in interests are biologically based. When researchers had these managers read an article explaining that gender differences in career interest are shaped by sociocultural experiences, that bias diminished.

In a third study, researchers asked undergraduate women to imagine they were entering the same internship program and showed them roles recommended by their hypothetical manager. Some saw balanced suggestions, others received options skewed toward client-facing roles.

Women who got the biased recommendations – who weren’t offered back-end roles – reported less interest in those roles even when asked independently.

“So not only were their choices limited, but their interests shifted accordingly. That was troubling. Being denied an opportunity made women less likely to see themselves as interested in that type of work,” Schmader said.

“So it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy: The beliefs that managers hold, especially when they think women ‘naturally’ prefer people-focused work, shape the opportunities they offer. That in turn shapes what women become interested in. It’s a powerful cycle.”

Schmader said for schools, employers and parents, the research points to being aware that the opportunities they provide shape not just skills, but interests. “If you want to support girls in exploring all careers, you need to offer them real, unbiased experiences.”

“And for managers, it’s a reminder that your assumptions matter. You might think you’re matching people to what they’re good at, but you might just be steering them away from growth opportunities.” UBC

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