Canadian universities are hoping to attract more graduate students from the US, with several reopening application processes given the “turmoil” in universities caused by Donald Trump.

The move is the latest indication of the impact that Trump has had on US higher education in just over 100 days in office – on top of record US student interest in the UK and a rise in academics looking to move abroad.

The Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, part of Wilfrid Laurier University, interested in beginning or continuing their studies in September 2025 – even offering “expedited admissions decisions”.

“The recent turmoil in the US, including examples of students being unable to continue in their programmes, has created an opportunity for Canadian schools to attract grad students who would otherwise have chosen an American programme,” Kyle Murray, dean of the school, told Times Higher Education.

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“We are more than happy to welcome these outstanding students to our programmes. Having strong graduate students is critically important to our research mission and we are willing to invest in that opportunity.”

The University of British Columbia Originally a one-week application window, the offering was extended on several of the programmes due to “high interest”.

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Although it is a much more involved and lengthy process, Murray said Lazaridis is also interested in hiring researchers, professors and tenured staff given the “unique opportunity…that did not exist six months ago”.

Meric Gertler, the outgoing president of the University of Toronto, recently told THE that one of the “silver linings” of the Trump administration was a rise in US student applications of 23 per cent. Toronto was also able to hire three Yale University professors

Murray said Canadian universities have been quite active in recruiting from the US in the past couple of months, though not all are in the financial position to prioritise recruitment.

“At Lazaridis, we see a unique opportunity to add to our graduate programmes and our faculty complement, so we have been moving quickly to capitalise on the moment.”

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Recently elected prime minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party recently spoke of its aims to welcome researchers “squeezed out” by the US federal funding cuts.

Christine Neill, associate professor of economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, said they should also think about the role international students, especially graduate students, can play.

“It’s not just about poaching current top researchers but building for the future with students…what we’re doing at Laurier is a drop in the bucket, but lots of drops add up.

“We really need to support the institutions and researchers who will be the drivers of our economy in the future – and one of the most important things that the federal government can do on that is simply to let institutions bring the talent in, by making the visa process less cumbersome.”

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com