Canada has announced that it is finalising plans to create a pathway to attract highly skilled researchers from around the world, including current H-1 B visa holders from the United States, amid the ongoing restrictions on immigration by the Trump administration.

Mélanie Joly, Canada’s industry minister, stated on Tuesday that the government will spend more than $1 billion over the next few years to attract and retain the best scientists worldwide through an accelerated pathway.

“As other countries constrain academic freedoms and undermine cutting-edge research, Canada is investing, and doubling down, on science,” Ms Joly said in written comments to the press, without explicitly mentioning the United States.

According to the New York Times, the Canadian government initiated the process to capitalise on the uncertainty about the future of H-1B visa holders in the United States, who may be seeking other options as the Trump administration tightens immigration.

“For decades, Canada has had a brain drain issue, and now we are in a brain gain mode. My message to Canadians around the world is, it’s time to come home,” Ms Joly told the Times in an interview on Tuesday.

She added, “If you want to live in the best country on earth, that is also the safest, and the one that will actually respect your work and offer you the right environment to flourish, well, come to Canada.”