OTTAWA, ON (February 25, 2026):
Canadians expect our medical and law schools to admit the best and brightest applicants, selecting them on merit, not identity.
Unfortunately, Canadian universities are already steadily shifting away from merit-based criteria, with many publicly funded institutions now using racial disclosure to influence admissions.
Author David Wand sounds the alarm in Discrimination by design?: Race-based admissions in Canadian medical and law schools. The new Macdonald-Laurier Institute paper exposes how race-segregated admissions categories produce unequal outcomes and undermine the principles of academic merit.
“[P]ublic debate has reinforced the need for solid empirical analysis of race-based admissions outcomes so the debate can move beyond ideology and into data-driven evaluation,” explains Wand.
Wand’s analysis, using data from six law schools and eight medical schools in Canada, reveals a consistent pattern where academically stronger applicants are rejected while weaker applicants from preferred racial categories are admitted.
Equally concerning, many medical and law schools chose to withhold all information about race-based admissions, raising questions about transparency.
Wand calls on provincial governments to take decisive action by prohibiting the use of race as an admissions criterion, and urging schools to rely exclusively on objective measures such as the MCAT, LSAT, and required prerequisite coursework.
“Ultimately, the evidence shows that race-based admissions policies replicate racial discrimination while doing little to remedy the systemic educational barriers,” concludes Wand.
“Unless governments act to end race-based admissions and demand full transparency, these discriminatory practices will continue unchecked.”
To learn more, read the full paper here:
David Wand is a statistics tutor and evaluation consultant with extensive experience assessing international development and foreign aid programs.
For further information, media are invited to contact:
Skander Belouizdad
Communications Officer
(613) 482-8327 x111
Skander.belouizdad@macdonaldlaurier.ca
