Dear members of the McGill Community,
It is our pleasure to provide you with an update on the recent activities of McGill University’s Board of Governors. You can learn more about the Board’s mandate and membership on its website.
The Board of Governors held the fourth regular meeting on April 24, 2025. The full minutes of the meeting’s open session will be available following approval at the Board’s next meeting on May 22, 2025. In the meantime, we would like to share with you the meeting’s important discussions, decisions, and developments.
Thank you for your interest in the work of the Board of Governors. If you have any questions, ideas, or comments, please write mcgill.president [at] mcgill.ca.
Sincerely,
Deep Saini, President and Vice-Chancellor
Maryse Bertrand, Chair, McGill Board of Governors
Key Updates
The Board of Governors, on the recommendation of the President and Vice-Chancellor, approved the appointment of Professor Salwa Karboune to the position of Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. In this role, Professor Karboune will also hold the position of Associate Vice-President of Macdonald Campus. Professor Karboune’s five-year renewable term will begin on August 1, 2025. Read the full announcement.
On the recommendation of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee (FIC), the Board approved the University’s budget for FY2026, which features a balanced budget and a $10-million contingency, owing to a $45-million budget correction undertaken by the University. Updated budget projections suggest that the University’s operating deficit would reach $30 million in FY2027 and $73 million in FY2028; therefore, additional revenue generating initiatives and expense reduction measures will need to be strategic and recurrent. Read the full report.
As recommended by the Committee on Sustainability and Social Responsibility (CSSR), the Board of Governors approved McGill University’s second Annual Report under the Act to Enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains for submission to the federal government. The report outlines the measures taken by the University, between May 1, 2024 and April 30, 2025, to mitigate the risk of forced labour and child labour in its supply chain.
The Board also reviewed the Annual Progress Report on Key Performance Indicators, presented by the Provost and Executive Vice-President (Academic). McGill’s KPIs are a set of 33 metrics developed by the University to chart its progress on core activities, while allowing the University to set targets and track its progress towards realizing its strategic priorities. For 2025, in addition to historic KPIs, supplementary KPIs that focus on the recent government tuition measures impacting university funding have been added.
The Board of Governors also received as information the 2024 Investment Committee Report on Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), which describes the McGill’s SRI Phase II Commitments, now in place to be achieved by 2029, and the strong progress made over the last year toward meeting these commitments.
The Board was informed of the topic of the next annual Joint Board-Senate meeting, scheduled for November 6, 2025. The focus of the joint meeting will be: “Strategic Transformations: Shaping McGill’s Third Century.”
President Saini provided updates pertaining to a range of recent developments from across McGill.
Government Relations
The President opened his remarks with an overview of the Quebec Budget 2025-2026, which projects a $13.6 billion deficit and outlines a plan to restore fiscal balance by 2029–2030.
For the university sector, the $4.2 billion allocated budget represents a 0.7% ($27 million) decrease compared to 2024–2025, with investments of $37.5 million over five years to train more doctors and $22 million over two years to continue funding Mila.
The President also provided an update on:
- The S&P Global Ratings' decision to lower Quebec's credit rating from 'AA−' to 'A+'. Despite this, S&P affirmed McGill's 'AA−' long-term issuer credit rating and senior unsecured debt ratings, citing the University's operational independence. However, the negative outlook remains, reflecting concerns over potential financial pressures from recent government policy changes.
- The provincial immigration planning, noting that the Government has postponed its multi-year exercise to later in the year. For the first time, planning will include both permanent and temporary immigration, impacting international students and faculty. The University continues to monitor the situation closely and will keep the community informed.
The President also encouraged all eligible members of the McGill community to cast their vote in the federal election, which took place on April 28.
External Relations
From April 9-10, President Saini attended the Universities Canada Spring Meeting in Halifax, which featured discussions on the role of universities in the context of financial challenges and shifting geopolitics, as well as a keynote address by The Honourable Jean Charest entitled, “Securing Canada's Future in an Insecure World.”
From April 22-23, the President and Vice-President (Global Engagement) Anja Geitmann attended the 7th annual U7+ Alliance Summit, hosted by the University of Ottawa. The U7+ Alliance brings together 54 international universities to address the world’s most pressing challenges through education and research. During the Summit, a joint statement on “The Role of Universities in Advancing AI” was formally presented to the Canadian government.
Finally, the President also signaled his participation from April 27-28 at the spring membership meeting of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of 71 leading public and private research universities in the United States and Canada. The spring meeting focused on the complex political climate in the US and its impact on university activities, particularly on research.
Selected Kudos
Finally, the President concluded his remarks by offering his congratulations to a selection of individuals in the McGill community for their recent achievements.
- The Government of Canada announced over $153M in funding for 179 Canada Research Chairs across institutions. McGill University received $8.7M in funding, which supports nine renewed CRCs and one new CRC, including Professors Jeffrey Bergthorson and Xiaonan Lu who were named new Tier 1 Chairs.
- Professor Simon Caron-Huot (Canada Research Chair in High-Energy Physics) was awarded a 2025 Dorothy Killam Fellowship—one of only eight awarded nationally.
- Twenty-eight McGill researchers, including Professors François Corriveau, Brigitte Vachon, and Andreas Warburton, are among the winners of the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their contributions to the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The Board of Governors received the following reports:
- Report of the Committee on Sustainability and Social Responsibility
- Report of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
- Report of Joint Meeting of Executive Committee and Senate Steering
- Report on Strategic Enrolment
- Report from Senate