Top American scientists just lost their jobs. Canada is rolling out the welcome mat

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Many top scientists in the U.S. are now out of a job.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is aiming to cut 20,000 jobs at agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Not all of them are scientists, but Canada could have a role to play in making sure American scientists are able to continue their research, say researchers on both sides of the border. 

Anecdotally, Canadian academics say they're hearing daily from American colleagues looking for job opportunities in Canada. 

One example: Dr. Madhukar Pai, the director of the McGill global health programs, told CBC News he's expecting a record number of applicants for a new tenure-track job in his department, opening in the coming weeks. It's a field hit especially hard amid sweeping cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development that are slashing life-saving programs across the world tackling diseases like HIV and malaria. 

Scientists overseeing cancer research, vaccine and drug approvals, public health and tobacco regulations are also among 10,000 already laid off. Public health experts say the mass firings could have catastrophic impacts for the U.S. and the world. 

"Some of the top public health experts in the world just lost their jobs," said former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden.

Without the CDC, more people will get sick with infectious diseases, and potentially die, in the U.S. and around the world — including Canada, he said. "There are risks to Canada — and possibilities for Canada to step up."

Kevin Griffis, a former CDC communications director, resigned in protest two weeks ago after three years at the agency. He said the mass firings were widely felt and could have unanticipated consequences.

If the agency needed to hold a press conference today about a major public health threat, "there's no one who even knows how to run the sound anymore. Because they fired the studio team," he said.

Cuts to U.S. research funding will also create gaps in evidence because there'll be less research being funded and conducted overall, says Kirsten Patrick, the editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). That's why it's all the more important for Canada to step up its research funding, she says. 

"If we have a situation where, down south, research is not being as well funded as it should be and some research isn't even being done, then we need to have a strong research system in Canada," she said.

Canadian provinces are already trying to attract American health experts suddenly out of a job.