University of Toronto. Photo by Bill Badzo/Flickr.

In the United States, the Trump administration has launched an assault on colleges and universities. In addition to cutting billions in federal research funding, the US government has taken other steps to undermine universities financially, like revoking their tax-exempt status. In its budget proposal for 2026, the government also indicated its plans to reduce the amounts of annual Pell Grants for low-income students, and to cut by over 80 percent federal funding provided for work-study programs. Meanwhile, non-American academics and students who have criticized the Trump administration, or simply expressed opinions that it disagrees with, have been denied entry to the US or deported.

This opposition to higher education is ideological. Speaking in 2021 at the National Conservatism Conference, Vice President J.D. Vance stated plainly that “the professors are the enemy,” and that “we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.” Universities are seen by American conservatives as unacceptably secular, progressive, and unreflective of their values. Coming at a time when many colleges and universities were already facing financial pressure from declining enrolment and decreased state support, the recent federal cuts are especially damaging.

This attack on American colleges and universities is a disaster for the advancement of knowledge, but an opportunity for Canada. Canadian institutions have long lived in the shadow of their British and American........

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