Science diplomacy: A quiet but powerful counterbalance to current pain points in Canada-US trade relations

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Ted Hewitt, President, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

The early days of any new administration in the United States, our closest neighbour and largest trade partner, can be filled with uncertainty. Governments and industry try to predict what changes are on the horizon and how to best respond to protect and advance the interests of Canadians.

This latest transition, however, has been particularly intense and fraught, especially as the US has imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum and threatens to impose significant tariffs on all Canadian goods. This places the health of the Canada-US relationship seriously at risk. Certainly, in counterpoint, many have pointed to the critical interdependence of the two economies, to our enduring ties of friendship, shared values and global interests.

Much less frequently cited, and of immense importance to our joint future, is our long and productive history of scientific collaboration. Shaped by common interests and challenges this history is a key driver of mutual prosperity and growth.

For example, contributing Canadarm, the first Canadian robotic arm, to NASA's Space Shuttle program in the early 1980s was a catalyst for a long and fruitful Canada-US space collaboration. Longstanding collaborations in vaccine development also came to the fore to drive the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simply stated, the US is Canada’s single biggest partner for research collaborations, while Canada ranks among the top five partners for the US.

Continued collaborations are helping address grand challenges such as climate change, food security, global health and sustainability, as well as leveraging the potential of artificial intelligence and quantum science and technologies to foster mutual economic growth. Moreover, we are steadfastly aligned on how to conduct research, prioritizing the promotion of open science and development of research security standards to protect research ecosystems from foreign interference and exploitation. Such an integrated approach is both the product and continued driver of the productive bond between us.

Collaboration in the social sciences and humanities has played a particularly important role in addressing emerging challenges, providing crucial questions, data and universal insights into human behaviour in Canada and the US. Given the broad similarities between us, this helps both countries to anticipate how collectively we can meet pressing social challenges and respond to change in a fast-moving world. This is a critical element of our partnership, and one that is underscored by the magnitude of shared research projects supported by public funding.

Between 2013 and 2023, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded 2,100 projects with US linkages, accounting for nearly $600 million. This represented over half of our international-focused research grants, and more than 10% of all our grants.

Canadian and US researchers are working together on potentially divisive topics such as migration, border security, defence, governance, trade, economic policies and the environment. Perhaps the evidence produced can help point the way to developing integrated solutions to these complex issues, instead of the knee-jerk piecemeal approaches that have become all too common in this current headline-chasing environment.

Beyond the close established ties of individual investigators, SSHRC has also recently entered into more formal collaborations with US funding agencies. We signed a high-level bilateral memorandum of understanding with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in late 2023 to reinforce the existing relationship and facilitate future collaboration, and with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in June 2024 to advance humanities scholarship and Indigenous research.

SSHRC has also participated in many special funding initiatives for international research collaborations with NSF and others:

• Global Centres: A 2024 call on use-inspired research addressing global challenges through the bioeconomy, and a 2023 call on global climate change and clean energy challenges.
• The New Frontiers in Research Fund International Joint Initiative on Climate Change: A 2023 initiative supporting interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral research on community-based responses to climate change.
• NordForsk-led International Joint Initiative on Sustainable Development of the Arctic: A current initiative addressing challenges and opportunities confronting the Arctic region.
• Trans-Atlantic Platform: An international collaboration that strives to heighten awareness of the role social sciences and humanities play in addressing 21^st century challenges. The most recent call on the theme of Democracy, Governance and Trust was supported by 16 international partners, including SSHRC, the NSF and the NEH.

Taken together, these initiatives demonstrate how joint Canadian and US leadership in research has helped meet the increasing demand for collaborative research across borders that benefits citizens and societies worldwide. Given the challenges confronting the diplomatic relationship at present, there is perhaps no better time to further leverage our strong research partnerships with the US and the valuable findings and outcomes generated.

Research and science offer a firm base for navigating the turbulent waters of bilateral negotiation–a base that is less politically charged and more co-operative, objective and built on trust and mutual benefit.