The U.S. is cutting billions from science. Canadian researchers say it's time to step up
Social Sharing
Scientists in Canada are scrambling. Over the past few months, the U.S. government has cut billions of dollars in funding from scientific research as part of sweeping cost-cutting measures.
"It's really shocking. It's really like this big cloud over science," Kate Moran, CEO of Ocean Networks Canada, told Quirks & Quarks. Ocean Networks Canada participates in a project called the Argo system, an international program that collects information from on and under the ocean using a fleet of robotic instruments that drift with the ocean currents.
But that program, which is led by researchers in the U.S., could be at risk.
Many Canadian research groups rely heavily on U.S. partners for support and data. But since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, that support has taken a massive hit.
The New York Times reported in March that the administration plans to reduce the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) workforce by up to 20 per cent, which Moran says could have a direct impact on their work. Some of those staffing cuts at the NOAA have already happened.
"Because the U.S. is such a big player, I'm not sure we could step up and be like the U.S.," said Moran.
And cuts are happening across the board. The administration terminated $1 billion US in cuts to the National Institutes of Health, a move ruled "void and illegal" and blocked by a district judge earlier this month. The government has also been in a battle with Harvard University, putting billions of dollars of potential funding in jeopardy. Layoffs across a number of government agencies have been put on hold by a federal judge in California.
In an executive order issued by the White House in May, Trump said that "over the last 5 years, confidence that scientists act in the best interests of the public has fallen significantly."
"My Administration is committed to restoring a gold standard for science to ensure that federally funded research is transparent, rigorous, and impactful, and that Federal decisions are informed by the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence available."
Environment and Climate Change Canada told CBC in a statement it "has a long-standing relationship with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on operational and research activities related to weather, climate, satellites, and water monitoring," and that the "department has not been formally informed of any changes to its collaboration with NOAA."
The trickle-down effect of cuts has left Canadian researchers trying to figure out how to adapt to these uncertain times, while others say it's now Canada's responsibility to step up.
Targeting climate science
Environmental science and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts seem to be a direct target of the Trump administration's cuts. More than 1,000 scientists and other employees are set to be laid-off from the Environmental Protection Agency's research office.
The effects have been felt in Canada. Researchers here filling out forms for U.S. government grants have had to answer questions such as "Can you confirm this is not a climate or 'environmental justice' project or include such elements?" and "Can you confirm that this is no DEI project or DEI elements of the project?"
The political climate has Deborah Wench on edge. She relies heavily on information from long-term monitoring projects to fuel her research into the carbon cycle.
Wench studies how carbon flows between different climates. To do that, she needs long-term data sets collected from satellites. Wench says the U.S. operates a lot of the satellites used in her research.
"I'm not really sure how to express this. It's mostly, for me, a sense of impending doom," said Wench, an associate professor at the University of Toronto.
"It's taken decades and the careers of thousands of people to build up these measurement records, and it looks like it will take months to destroy them."
Though she didn't want to specify which specific instruments she uses, she says she's concerned it's on the chopping block in the U.S., which would mean a loss of long-term monitoring.
Then there's HAWC, a project that will use three Canadian-built instruments to measure the amount of aerosols, water vapour and thin ice clouds in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
The information could be used to improve future climate projects, assuming it continues to receive NASA support.
Trump's 2026 budget, released in May, proposed a $6 billion US funding cut to the space agency, amounting to 24 per cent of NASA's current budget.
WATCH | Canadian scientists trying to keep world's ocean sensors afloat:
Canadian scientists trying to keep world's ocean sensors afloat
12 minutes ago
Duration 1:32
These robot scientists dive deep into the ocean to measure the vital signs of planet Earth. But proposed funding cuts in the U.S. could mean critical climate data is on the chopping block.
"Much of it is just so speculative, right?" said Chris Fletcher, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo.
"We're still kind of on the descent.... So it's unclear yet exactly how all of this will shake out, and it's quite unsettling."
One of the HAWC instruments was supposed to be attached to a NASA satellite. But Fletcher says that's now in question.
"I'm confident from the Canadian side that because of this tremendous investment that Canada has made, that our instruments will fly. The question is about which components of the proposed NASA mission will fly," said Fletcher.
CBC reached out to the Canadian Space Agency, but did not recieve a comment before publication.
What happens next
Canada's Department of Innovation, Science and Industry did not provide an interview or comment to CBC about how Canada plans to respond to funding cuts in the U.S.
Frédéric Bouchard says the turmoil in the U.S. means a greater responsibility for Canada to assert its scientific sovereignty. He was part of the federally funded Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System, which, in 2023, took a deep dive into how Canada could better support scientific research.
"It's our own responsibility to make sure that we have a strong and generous science capacity so we have access to the experts we need, when we need them," said Bouchard, a philosopher of science and dean of the faculty of arts and sciences at the Université de Montréal.
"We shouldn't wait for other countries to do all the hard work and hope that we can benefit from it."
He says that as American scientists leave the United States, Canada could welcome some of those researchers.
He also said it will be important to invest in the future, including support for graduate students both in Canada and abroad in the United States, to make sure they're able to continue work in their field.
Even so, Bouchard says, what's happening in the U.S. is going to have an impact — there's no stopping that.
"What's happening is destabilizing science across the world," said Bouchard.
"We need to make sure we play a larger role and that we build our own muscle mass, if you will, to be able to withstand more of the disruption."
Moran says Ocean Networks Canada, and other organizations like it, are ready to do so. She says they are prepared to do simple things, such as download data to protect the long-term data sets.
And if there are more cuts in the U.S., she says she's prepared to make the case to the Canadian government and request more funding.
"We're talking about what we could do to fill those gaps," said Moran. "Canada has all the skills and knowledge and scientists."
Politically-driven chaos is disrupting U.S. scientific institutions and creating challenges for science in Canada. Science is a global endeavour and collaborations with the U.S. are routine. In this special episode of Quirks & Quarks, we explore what Canadian scientists are doing to preserve their work to assert scientific sovereignty in the face of this unprecedented destabilization. Canadian climate scientists brace for cuts to climate science infrastructure and data U.S. President Donald Trump's attacks on climate science are putting our Earth observing systems, in the oceans and in orbit, at risk. Canadian scientists who rely on U.S. led climate data infrastructure worry about losing long-term data that would affect our ability to understand our changing climate. With: Kate Moran, the president and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada and Emeritus Professor of Oceanography at the University of Victoria Debra Wunch, Physicist at the University of TorontoChris Fletcher, Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo U.S. cuts to Great Lakes science and monitoring threaten our shared freshwater resourceU.S. budget and staffing cuts are jeopardizing the long-standing collaboration with our southern neighbour to maintain the health of the Great Lakes, our shared resource and the largest freshwater system in the world. With: Jérôme Marty, executive director of the International Association for Great Lakes Research and part-time professor at the University of OttawaGreg McClinchey, policy and legislative director with the Great Lakes Fishery CommissionMichael Wilkie, Biologist at Wilfred Laurier UniversityBrittney Borowiec, research associate in the Wilkie Lab at Wilfred Laurier UniversityAaron Fisk, Ecologist and Canada Research Chair at the University of Windsor Unexpected ways U.S. culture war policies are affecting Canadian scientists One of the first things President Trump did after taking office was to sign an executive order eliminating all DEI policies in the federal government. This is having far-reaching consequences for Canadian scientists as they navigate the new reality of our frequent research partner's hostility against so-called 'woke science.'With:Dr. Sofia Ahmed, Clinician scientist, and academic lead for the Women and Children's Health Research Institute at the University of Alberta Angela Kaida, professor of health sciences and Canada Research Chair at Simon Fraser University in VancouverDawn Bowdish, professor of immunology, the executive director of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health and Canada Research Chair at McMaster UniversityKevin Zhao, MD/PhD student in immunology in the Bowdish Lab at McMaster UniversityJérôme Marty, executive director of the International Association for Great Lakes Research Canada has a 'responsibility' to step up and assert scientific sovereigntyA 2023 report on how to strengthen our federal research support system could be our roadmap to more robust scientific sovereignty. The Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System made recommendations to the federal government for how we could reform our funding landscape. The intent was to allow us to quickly respond to national research priorities and to make Canada a more enticing research partner in world science. With: Frédéric Bouchard, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and professor of philosophy of science at the Université de Montreal. Chair of the Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Vance blames California Dems for violent immigration protests and calls U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla ‘Jose'
LOS ANGELES — U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of encouraging violent immigration protests as he used his appearance in Los Angeles to rebut criticism from state and local officials that the Trump administration fueled the unrest by sending in federal officers. Vance also referred to U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, the state's first Latino senator, as 'Jose Padilla,' a week after the Democrat was forcibly taken to the ground by officers and handcuffed after speaking out during a Los Angeles news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on immigration raids. 'I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question,' Vance said, in an apparent reference to the altercation at Noem's event. 'I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't a theater. And that's all it is.' 'They want to be able to go back to their far-left groups and to say, 'Look, me, I stood up against border enforcement. I stood up against Donald Trump,'' Vance added. A spokesperson for Padilla, Tess Oswald, noted in a social media post that Padilla and Vance were formerly colleagues in the Senate and said that Vance should know better. 'He should be more focused on demilitarizing our city than taking cheap shots,' Oswald said. Vance's visit to Los Angeles to tour a multiagency U.S. Federal Joint Operations Center and a mobile command center came as demonstrations calmed down in the city and a curfew was lifted this week. That followed over a week of sometimes-violent clashes between protesters and police and outbreaks of vandalism and looting that followed immigration raids across Southern California. Trump's dispatching of his top emissary to Los Angeles at a time of turmoil surrounding the Israel-Iran war and the U.S.'s future role in it signals the political importance Trump places on his hard-line immigration policies. Vance echoed the president's harsh rhetoric toward California Democrats as he sought to blame them for the protests in the city. 'Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass, by treating the city as a sanctuary city, have basically said that this is open season on federal law enforcement,' Vance said after he toured federal immigration enforcement offices. 'What happened here was a tragedy,' Vance added. 'You had people who were doing the simple job of enforcing the law and they had rioters egged on by the governor and the mayor, making it harder for them to do their job. That is disgraceful. And it is why the president has responded so forcefully.' Newsom's spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement, 'The Vice President's claim is categorically false. The governor has consistently condemned violence and has made his stance clear.' Speaking at City Hall, Bass said Vance was 'spewing lies and utter nonsense.' She said hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted by the federal government on a 'stunt.' 'How dare you say that city officials encourage violence? We kept the peace,' Bass said. In a statement on X, Newsom responded to Vance's reference to 'Jose Padilla,' saying the comment was no accident. Jose Padilla also is the name of a convicted al-Qaida terrorism plotter during U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, who was sentenced to two decades in prison. Padilla was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport during the tense months after the 9/11 attacks and accused of the 'dirty bomb' mission. It later emerged through U.S. interrogation of other al-Qaida suspects that the 'mission' was only a sketchy idea, and those claims never surfaced in the South Florida terrorism case. Responding to the outrage, Taylor Van Kirk, a spokesperson for Vance, said of the vice president: 'He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.' Federal immigration authorities have been ramping up arrests across the country to fulfill Trump's promise of mass deportations. Todd Lyons, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has defended his tactics against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed. The friction in Los Angeles began June 6, when federal agents conducted a series of immigration sweeps in the region that have continued since. Amid the protests and over the objections of state and local officials, Trump ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the second-largest U.S. city, home to 3.8 million people. Trump has said that without the military's involvement, Los Angeles 'would be a crime scene like we haven't seen in years.' Newsom has depicted the military intervention as the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation's democracy. Earlier Friday, Newsom urged Vance to visit victims of the deadly January wildfires while in Southern California and talk with Trump, who earlier this week suggested his feud with the governor might influence his consideration of $40 billion in federal wildfire aid for California. 'I hope we get that back on track,' Newsom wrote on X. 'We are counting on you, Mr. Vice President.' Vance did not mention either request during his appearance on Friday. Associated Press writers Julie Watson and Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles and Tran Nguyen in Sacramento contributed to this report. Michael R. Blood, The Associated Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
First Nations youth say they're ‘starting a movement' against major projects bills
Ramon Kataquapit, youth councillor for Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation, sings before speaking at a news conference on C-5 in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang OTTAWA — First Nations youth leaders are warning Canadians can expect a long, tense summer of protests as governments push forward with plans to fast-track major projects — and young people will be leading the charge. 'You will see us in your cities, your city's hubs,' said Ramon Kataquapit, a youth councillor with the Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation and a member of Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario. The federal Liberal government's Bill C-5, which passed through the House of Commons Friday night, allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines. It sailed through a Commons committee in the early hours of Thursday with support from the Conservatives. And in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford's Conservatives have passed legislation allowing his government to designate 'special economic zones' where the provincial cabinet can exempt companies or projects from having to comply with any provincial law, provincial regulation or municipal bylaw. Both pieces of legislation have met with fierce resistance from First Nations leaders who accuse Ottawa and Queen's Park of trampling on their rights and failing to consult with them in good faith. Kataquapit said First Nations youth are 'starting a movement' to protect their cultures and lands from what they see as increasing encroachment by governments looking to build major projects in a hurry. He compared both pieces of legislation to a rock falling off a mountain. 'You don't know how much momentum it's going to build,' he said. 'It might cause a mudslide and turn into something like an avalanche. 'This can turn into something much bigger, and a lot of our people — a lot of the youth — we see that.' While chiefs have been the most prominent First Nations voices in news coverage of the legislation, Kataquapit said young people were the driving force behind recent rallies against the fast-track bills in northern Ontario, at Queen's Park and on Parliament Hill. He said they draw inspiration from the Anishinaabe Seven Fires Prophecy, which speaks of a 'seventh fire' generation that will bring back traditional knowledge and ways of living after a period of cultural dislocation. 'We were raised to be the seventh generation,' Kataquapit said. 'What I've been taught was that it's my role to wake people up and to really show just how much colonization has affected us, but (also) how much strength we have in our traditional identity, culture … 'The seven fires are ready to take the steps that our leadership are falling back on because they fought a good fight for their entire lives. It's just nature that you grow tired, scarred, traumatized.' Terra Roy, another youth councillor with Chiefs of Ontario, said First Nations youth can do more than just protest — they can engage with the land and with traditional knowledge as an act of resistance. 'We have young people in Attawapiskat taking the rivers,' Roy said. 'I'm happy that we're returning to the land and continuing to occupy it.' Roy, who works as a liaison between Beausoleil First Nation and the private sector, spoke to The Canadian Press while attending a project management training session in Edmonton. Roy said the federal and provincial legislation makes their own work seem almost futile. 'I was like, 'Well, what the heck did I just get hired for then if (governments are) just going to bulldoze over everything I say?'' Roy said. 'I'm here trying to create a whole department for my community so that we can have a greater say in our treaty area and then (governments) are like, 'Oh, just kidding.' 'I'm angry. I'm frustrated, heartbroken, annoyed.' Much of that frustration comes from a sense of déjà vu. First Nations say they've been in this position before, when legislation introduced by the Stephen Harper government to allow governments and businesses to push through projects without strict environmental assessment triggered the countrywide protest movement known as Idle No More. Roy vividly remembers sitting with their mother as a child as they took part in an Idle No More protest at a mall. 'It's frustrating that at 11 years old I was doing that, and now again at 23,' Roy said. 'If I'm tired of having to fight this again, I can only imagine how my grandmother feels.' Hanna Sewell, a nurse and a member of Batchewana First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., said young people have to lead this fight because they're the ones who will have to live with the impacts of accelerated development. 'If the land is sick, we're going to be sick as well,' she said. 'We don't want this bill, and we are the future generations that are going to govern this land and save it.' Pierre Debassige, a member of M'Chigeeng First Nation and youth councillor for Anishinabek Nation, said First Nations won't be the only ones to experience those impacts. 'If they start development in the Ring of Fire in the Far North, all those lakes, rivers all come down to the Great Lakes,' he said. 'If there's that contamination that comes down from the North, it's going to affect not only their communities, but here in southern Ontario.' Debassige said it's his generation's turn to step up. 'United we stand and we conquer, but divided we fall one by one,' he said. 'I'm always thinking of that seven generations behind me (and) what my great-great-great-great grandchildren are going to be doing. Maybe they'll see the work that I've done as a young person, (that I) fought for all of this.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2025. Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Ottawa considering ‘combination of approaches' to 20% military pay hike
The Canadian flag is seen on a soldier's shoulder during an interview in Calgary on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward OTTAWA — Defence Minister David McGuinty's office says it's considering a 'combination of approaches' to boosting pay for armed service members, including introducing retention bonuses for 'stress trades.' 'This investment represents an almost 20 per cent increase to the overall CAF compensation envelope,' McGuinty's spokesperson Laurent de Casanove said in an email statement to The Canadian Press. 'The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are actively working on how best to implement this investment — looking at options that include a combination of approaches such as retention bonuses for stress trades, increased starting salaries for junior members, and a broad-based salary increase.' While McGuinty's recent public commitment to grant the Canadian Armed Forces a '20 per cent pay increase' won praise within the defence community, it has also led to confusion — and some experts are saying they want to read the fine print. Military pay scales are complicated and are based on rank, profession, deployment and other conditions. There are many ways to roll out a boost in compensation. Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said she thinks this will not amount to an across-the-board pay hike. 'What is clear to me from this statement is that they are looking at all the options,' she said. 'We're still in that big question about what it looks like because a pay raise versus specialty pay versus an adaptation of the compensation package overall — not in salary — are not the same thing.' She said the way the pay pledge was communicated initially was 'risky' since the details were not readily available, and that has led to confusion among military members and expectations of a blanket pay hike. Gary Walbourne, former ombudsman for the Department of National Defence, called McGuinty's promise 'vague at best.' 'There's nothing clear in this message,' he said. 'A 20 per cent increase overall to CAF compensation envelope, what does that mean? Is it coming in benefits? … Is it going be on a cyclical basis? What's the percentage increase? Is it based on seniority, rank, merit?' The former watchdog for military personnel said it sounds like the Liberal government wants to implement a pay boost quickly, but 'the mechanisms that they apply to it is going to complicate it and once the bureaucrats get their hands on it, well, I can see a slowdown coming.' If CAF members don't see a 20 per cent pay bump after the minister's announcement, he said, it will be 'déjà vu all over again' for military personnel who have been let down in the past by lofty promises followed by implementation that 'sucks big time.' The federal government has multiple policy options for addressing the cost of living for CAF members, such as lowering rent for on- or near-base housing or boosting allowances, such as danger pay. Duval-Lantoine suggested Ottawa should focus on specialty trades that 'do not get nearly the attraction that they need to have.' The military has long struggled with shortages of professionals who are hard to recruit and retain — people in the technical trades and logistics, pilots, medical specialists and middle management. The Navy has found it hard to attract and keep maritime technicians, while people working in maintenance trades such as plumbers and electricians can be paid better in the private sector. Walbourne suggested Ottawa look at direct pay, focus on the lower ranks and address regional disparities in the cost of living. Andrew Leslie, a retired lieutenant-general and former Liberal MP who has called for higher wages in the armed forces, hailed the minister's pledge as long overdue. 'They need it because the last 10 years, there hasn't been a lot of love shown to the Canadian Armed Forces by the government of Canada,' Leslie said. 'Quite frankly, a 20 per cent pay increase is outstanding and I compliment the leaders who made that decision. I firmly believe they're going to pay a 20 per cent pay increase to everybody in the Canadian Forces.' Gaëlle Rivard Piché, head of the Conference of Defence Associations and the CDA Institute, called the promised pay hike a 'great first step' and something that could be achieved 'quite easily' compared to other challenges facing the armed forces. 'It was long overdue,' she said. 'We know that the Canadian Armed Forces have been dealing with both a recruitment and a retention problem, and an increase in salary will certainly help to make Canadian Armed Forces positions and employment more attractive.' Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed during the recent federal election that he would rebuild and rearm the military and increase military pay. Some of the largest earmarks in his election platform go toward national defence. He recently announced a cash injection of $9 billion into national defence this fiscal year, as Canada looks to finally meet its NATO defence spending commitment. Then-defence minister Bill Blair last year described the state of military recruitment as a 'death spiral' and Canada is still short some 13,000 regular and primary reserve personnel, according to the Department of National Defence. 'There's been generally some delays in terms of receiving basic training, but also trade-related training, which makes people less inclined to finish their training and then become an actual serving member,' said Rivard Piché. Leslie also said housing and base conditions remain abysmal in some areas and need to be quickly addressed. 'Black mould exists in a variety of national defence buildings. There are some bases that don't have drinking water. There's buildings and houses for families that are 60, 70, 80 years old in dire need of repair,' he said. 'As well, you've got to make sure that you have money for equipment, money for training, money to create the stockpiles of stuff you're going to need should the worst happen — i.e., war.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2025. Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
