The federal government will invest up to $1.7 billion to recruit over 1,000 highly qualified international researchers to Canada as part of a new International Talent Attraction Strategy.
Budget 2025 provides funding for research chairs, infrastructure support, doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows and assistant professors to strengthen Canada’s research ecosystem and drive innovation in strategic industries.
The initiative aims to position Canada’s immigration system to meet strategic labour market needs while respecting immigration targets. The budget identifies filling critical labour gaps in priority industries where domestic talent is insufficient.
Research chair recruitment
The budget provides $1 billion over 13 years starting in 2025-26 to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canadian Institutes of Health Research to launch an accelerated research chairs initiative.
An additional $400 million over seven years starting in 2025-26 goes to the Canada Foundation for Innovation to establish a complementary stream of research infrastructure support. This ensures recruited chairs have the equipment needed to conduct research in Canada.
The government will provide $133.6 million over three years starting in 2026-27 to enable top international doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows to relocate to Canada.
Up to $120 million over 12 years starting in 2026-27 will support universities’ recruitment of international assistant professors.
Launch timeline
Additional details on recruitment processes will be announced in the coming weeks. The government will also examine whether Canada’s research ecosystem requires further support to retain talent.
The budget commits to implementing the capstone research organization announced in Budget 2024. Work continues on recommendations from the 2023 Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System.
Foreign credential recognition
Alongside international recruitment, Budget 2025 addresses barriers for skilled immigrants already in Canada. The budget provides $97 million over five years starting in 2026-27 to establish the Foreign Credential Recognition Action Fund.
The fund will work with provinces and territories to improve fairness, transparency, timeliness and consistency of foreign credential recognition, focusing on health and construction sectors.
Over half of immigrants with a bachelor’s degree or higher are overqualified for their jobs, costing Canada’s economy billions of dollars annually, according to the budget.
Labour market context
The International Talent Attraction Strategy comes as Canada manages immigration at sustainable levels. The 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan stabilizes permanent resident admission targets at 380,000 annually while increasing the share of economic migrants from 59 per cent to 64 per cent.
The budget notes racialised people make up roughly 80 per cent of newcomers. While newcomers are highly educated with nearly half having at least a bachelor’s degree, they face higher unemployment and overqualification compared to Canadian-born workers.
Improvements to foreign credential recognition are essential to ensure immigration effectively addresses labour shortages, the budget states.
Economic benefits
The measure is expected to benefit all Canadians by driving economic growth. It directly benefits top-performing international researchers and Canadian post-secondary institutions who gain from recruited talent’s research expertise.
The budget notes that top-tier researchers tend to have higher incomes. The initiative aims to advance Canada’s global competitiveness and contribute to the economy of the future.
