OTTAWA, ON (July 16, 2025):
A new paper from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute lays bare a growing crisis in Canada’s higher education system: universities that once stood as “bastions of open inquiry and free expression” are now enforcing ideological conformity, stifling speech, and discriminating in hiring.
In Crisis of Conformity: The urgent need to restore open inquiry and free expression in Canada’s universities, author Lindsay Shepherd documents how the rise of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) orthodoxy has transformed Canadian campuses into echo chambers.
Shepherd shows that 73 per cent of social science and humanities faculty identify as left-wing, while just 4 per cent identify as right-wing. Among Canadian professors overall, 88 per cent vote for left-wing parties.
“The post-secondary education system, once a bastion of open inquiry and debate, is increasingly dominated by ideological conformity,” writes Shepherd. Free speech is stifled, and critical thinking is losing ground.
The paper reveals that faculty are now expected to affirm DEI values in the hiring process and throughout their employment. Meanwhile, research grants increasingly demand ideological alignment – with one example being a $446,000 grant for “Queering Leadership, Indigenizing Governance.”
Shepherd makes clear that the rot runs deep and internal reform is unlikely. “Change will not come from within,” she argues, offering five major reforms to break the ideological monopoly:
♦ Enforceable free speech legislation modelled after the UK’s Office for Students.
♦ Elimination of DEI requirements from federal research funding.
♦ Creation of alternative educational institutions.
♦ Establishment of civics and humanities centres within existing universities.
♦ Strategic government takeovers of failing institutions.
The paper concludes with a stark warning: “Without immediate action, even the kinds of moderate reforms we see in the United States will remain distant for Canada.”
To learn more, read the full paper here:
For further information, media are invited to contact:
Dagny Pawlak-Loerchner
Senior Communications Officer
613-482-8327 x113
dagny.pawlak-loerchner@macdonaldlaurier.ca
