The academic community heaved a sigh of relief when the federal budget was unveiled in November 2025. While almost every federal department was asked to cut 15 per cent of its operating expenses by 2030, the budgets of research granting agencies were cut by only two per cent.
Amid this relief, the potential effects on university research of the cuts to scientific departments such as Innovation, Science and Economic Development; Fisheries and Oceans; and Environment and Climate Change passed largely unremarked.
Universities in wait-and-see' mode
The information about the cutbacks that has emerged so far (see box below) suggests they could affect research programs and infrastructure; access to data; and cultural services.
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