Canada headhunts top scientists

Canada has successfully headhunted 19 top scientists from across the world.

In news that is likely to be of interest to executives working in the country's life sciences sector, the Canada Excellence Research Chair scheme set up the government has persuaded the researchers to move to the country.

Derek Burney, head of the selection board for the programme, told the Globe and Mail that he hoped the headhunting process would lead to more top figures from the world of science deciding to move to Canada.

"We were told we were trying to recruit Nobel Laureate-stature people to Canada because good people attract good people," he explained.

"That's axiomatic. That was the objective."

Earlier this month, Michaelle Jean, the governor general of Canada, stated that organisations in the country can benefit from employing a diverse range of employees for a number of reasons.

She said this range from increased international contacts to helping to build greater creativity and innovation within an enterprise.