Beyond songs, dances, and samosas: Canada needs a strategy for India built on talent and innovation
Canada's relationship with India is often discussed through the lens of cultural diplomacy or immigration. In reality, one of its most important strategic assets lies beyond either of these dimensions: the Canada-India talent and innovation corridor built through universities, research partnerships, and the movement of highly skilled people. That corridor has proven remarkably resilient through diplomatic tensions, but it is now under growing strain from domestic policy choices in both countries.
The Canada-India relationship has never followed a straight line. It has moved through periods of expansion and recalibration shaped by immigration policy, labour market needs, institutional capacity, and diplomatic friction. Yet, beneath these cycles lies a deeper reality: education, talent mobility, research, and innovation have become increasingly interconnected. Political tensions may interrupt co-operation, but they have not fundamentally altered the systems that connect the two countries.
The policy challenge is that Canada and India have built a deeply interconnected system without developing a corresponding strategy to manage it.
At the centre of this relationship is what can best be described as the Canada-India talent and innovation corridor. It connects post-secondary education, skilled migration, research collaboration, entrepreneurship, and long-term labour market participation into a single ecosystem. It is not simply a migration pathway; it is an innovation ecosystem. Decisions affecting one part of the corridor inevitably reshape the others. Changes to international student intake, permanent residency pathways, housing capacity, and labour market demand are interconnected policy choices, not separate issues.
Universities and colleges have become part of Canada's strategic infrastructure because they sit at the intersection of talent formation, research capacity, and international partnerships. They educate future workers, generate research, attract global talent, commercialize innovation, and anchor Canada's international engagement. They are also among Canada's most durable instruments of science diplomacy, connecting Canadian and Indian researchers through joint research programs, graduate training, institutional partnerships, and innovation collaborations in areas such as artificial intelligence, health sciences, engineering, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing.
These institutional relationships often outlast political cycles. Drawing on my experience as a former international student and now as a research and innovation leader, I have seen firsthand that universities frequently sustain collaboration when formal diplomatic engagement becomes more difficult. The long-term strength of Canada-India relations rests not only on government-to-government relations, but also on the trust embedded in institutions, researchers, students, and professional networks.
The same is true of the Indian diaspora. Often understood primarily through cultural expression, the diaspora has become part of Canada's economic and institutional infrastructure. Indian-origin Canadians contribute across health care, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship, and post-secondary education, strengthening knowledge exchange, investment, and innovation between the two countries. The policy question is not simply how to celebrate diaspora contributions, but how to better leverage the expertise, networks, and global connections they represent.
However, this infrastructure is not automatically resilient. Housing pressures, barriers to credential recognition, labour market mismatches, and abrupt policy changes can weaken the transitions that connect education to employment and permanent residency. The greatest risk is not the collapse of Canada-India relations, but rather fragmentation across the pathways that sustain them. When one part of the system becomes misaligned, the consequences are felt across universities, employers, communities, and immigration programs.
The policy challenge is, therefore, not to eliminate cycles of adjustment, but to manage them strategically.
First, federal and provincial governments should treat post-secondary institutions as strategic partners in talent policy, not simply as delivery channels for immigration decisions. Immigration settings, institutional capacity, housing realities, and workforce needs must be considered together.
Second, Canada and India should build sustained networks of research excellence rather than rely primarily on short-term, transactional collaborations. Long-term partnerships among universities, research institutes, industry, and government create trust, preserve research capacity, and maintain innovation momentum during periods of diplomatic uncertainty.
Third, policy attention should focus not only on managing individual flows, but also on improving transitions across the system—particularly the movement from study permits to post-graduation employment, and from temporary status to permanent residency. These transitions determine whether Canada successfully retains highly skilled talent or loses it to competing jurisdictions.
Canada does not need a relationship with India built only around diplomacy, trade, or cultural connection. It needs a strategy that recognizes education, talent mobility, research, and innovation as interconnected pillars of national competitiveness.
Diplomatic tensions will continue. Immigration policies will evolve. Domestic pressures will change. But weakening the institutional foundations built through universities, research partnerships, and highly skilled talent would undermine one of Canada's most important long-term advantages.
Festivals strengthen communities. Universities build talent. Research creates innovation. Immigration connects economies. If Canada wants a durable strategy for India, it must invest in the systems that connect these dimensions, not only the symbols that represent them. The future of Canada-India relations will depend not on avoiding cycles of change, but on building institutions and policy frameworks strong enough to withstand them.
Shanthi Johnson is professor and vice-president, research and innovation, at the University of Windsor; an Indo-Canadian academic leader; and former international student with experience across research, higher education, and global partnerships.
The Hill Times