Espionage Threat Prompts Call for National Security Checks in Sensitive Academic Fields

David Vigneault has defended the introduction of national security evaluations for academic programs receiving government funding in sensitive fields. He argued that the threat landscape justifies these precautions.
He noted that some researchers have criticized the measures as too restrictive, fearing they may hinder academic exchange. However, Vigneault said the stakes are too high to ignore vulnerabilities.
Foreign intelligence services, he explained, actively target projects that involve defence applications, emerging technologies or vital infrastructure research. The risk of exploitation is real and growing.
National security checks, he said, help ensure that individuals with access to critical innovations do not have hidden connections to adversarial states or suspicious intermediaries.
At the same time, he emphasized the need to apply these checks with fairness and transparency, ensuring that they protect national interests without compromising academic freedom.