U.S. students look north as Trump freezes funding to American universities

By Canadian Press on April 17, 2025.

VANCOUVER — The University of British Columbia has briefly reopened admissions for its graduate programs to take applications from U.S. citizens in what is a growing trend for Canadian institutions as the American president denigrates higher learning.

Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., and the University of Toronto are also reporting a spike in student applicants from the United States.

University of B.C. provost and vice-president, academic Gage Averill says they have seen a 27-per-cent increase, which is a “very significant spike” in applications from U.S. students since last year.

To accommodate the surging interest, the university has reopened applications to graduate programs for U.S. citizens for a brief window.

Averill says several factors may come into play for the U.S. student interest, including that Canada is a “stable and progressive country,” the Canadian dollar makes tuition less expensive and there’s been a round of closures of graduate programs in universities in the U.S.

Numerous institutions in the United States have had their federal funding targeted by the government in an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to push them to make policy changes.

Averill says it takes generations to build a top university, and it’s heartbreaking to see attacks on such educational institutions.

He says they don’t want to take advantage of “American university misery” right now, but on the other hand, those students need options, and it’s important for Canadian institutions to provide them.

Simon Fraser University says its faculty of graduate studies also saw a 23-per-cent increase in applications from U.S. citizens compared with last year.

The University of Toronto says it too is seeing a “meaningful increase” in applications from American students compared with previous years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2025.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press