Focusing on our strengths in 2026-27

Dear Concordians,

Welcome to the 2026-27 academic year! I hope everyone had a relaxing and rejuvenating summer.

With an election campaign happening in Quebec, unprecedented political and economic challenges in the Canada-US relationship, and ongoing uncertainty around international student mobility, there are many moving parts to closely monitor as we return to campus life.

In this context, our best approach is to continue focusing on what we can control as we work together to advance Concordia’s mission while supporting our individual and community goals.

Changing education for a changing world

I’m excited by and grateful for the efforts of so many people across the university to expand opportunities for students inside the classroom and out.

Three examples deserve highlighting. Over the past few months, Concordia has introduced several undergraduate microprograms, launched the Co-op, Experiential Learning and Career Centre, and created the Recognition of Prior Learning initiative, which supports degree completion for individuals who have unique career experience.

Late last spring, as part of our continued commitment to support the protection and promotion of French in Quebec and beyond, we reached an agreement with the government to bolster French-language learning. We also established new academic exchanges with leading French institutions and completed the inaugural residency for Fine Arts students with the Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul.

Financial progress, but a long road ahead

On the financial front, thanks to university-wide efforts, we closed the last fiscal year having once again met the obligations of our plan de redressement. Although we continue to operate in a constraining financial context with more compressions to come, we’ve passed the halfway point on the path to restore budget equilibrium. A full financial report will follow later in the year.

In the meantime, I’m heartened by the spirit of partnership shown by the academic and professional unions that have agreed to rollover their existing collective agreements. Their decisions will have a positive material impact on our budget. Equally important, they have demonstrated a shared willingness to lay the groundwork for Concordia’s future success.

In terms of student registrations, it’s premature to draw too many conclusions at this point as we will not have final fall numbers until October. Nevertheless, we are cautiously optimistic that the enrolment trend is more positive than during the last three years. Although registrations remain well below what we experienced at the beginning of this decade, if we can avoid further government disruption to our core funding and to study permit processes, there is hope the conditions for recruitment and retention will finally begin to stabilize.

Summer of successes

For many Concordians, the summer was a period of big accomplishments.

Congratulations to Max Bergholz on winning the Dan David Prize, which is one of the world’s most prestigious awards for historians.

In partnership with the International Political Science Association (IPSA), the Henry Habib Diplomacy Accelerator hosted Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, the Honourable David Lametti, at the IPSA-Concordia Summer Institute in Applied Diplomacy.

At the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK, the university, represented by Volt-Age and the Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation, announced new collaboration agreements with L’Aéroport de Montréal and Volatus Aerospace, which aim to accelerate research and development in cleaner, smarter air mobility.

Kudos to Antoine Boulanger, a Film Production student, whose black comedy, La Pichenotte, won the 2026 Student Academy Award. After having screened his film at the Fantasia Festival, which Concordia hosted in July, Antoine will receive his Academy Award at the Toronto International Film Festival next week.

Congratulations to former Stingers star Mauro Biello, who served as an assistant coach for the Canadian men’s national soccer team during its historic run at the FIFA World Cup.

It has also been an exciting week for current Stingers athlete Megan Allard, who played for Team Canada at the recently completed FISU World University Championship Rugby Sevens tournament in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

And finally, bravo to Stingers Sara Parker, Laura Molimard and Caroline Moquin-Joubert, who were part of the Canadian Women’s Flag Football team that won the World Championships in Düsseldorf, Germany. Led by Sara — the team captain, quarterback and tournament’s Most Valuable Player — the Canadian team has now qualified for the next summer Olympic games in Los Angeles in 2028.

Contribute to your community

As always, the start of a new academic year brings fresh opportunities to get involved in community-building activities on our campuses.

I encourage you to check out the newly completed Indigenous-designed mural and accompanying bronze medallion on the terrace behind the Hall Building. Those public artworks will be unveiled officially on September 30 as part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Likewise, I hope many of you will join me and hundreds of other Concordians on September 25 for Shuffle, our annual walkathon from the downtown campus to Loyola raising funds for scholarships, bursaries and student services.

Even sooner, Homecoming begins on September 17 with activities on both campuses, including the football game at Loyola against crosstown rivals McGill on Saturday, September 19.

Finally, as an anchor institution in Montreal, we will launch our yearly Centraide Campaign to raise funds and awareness on behalf of individuals and organizations across the city who are working to break the cycle of poverty. Our fundraising efforts will kick off with Hospitality Concordia’s popular “Taste of a Good Cause” event on September 29.

Have a wonderful fall term!

It’s great to get going on yet another exciting year for our university.

In tough times, our community has shown it can work together to be bold, resourceful, resilient and driven. We owe it to ourselves, to our students and alumni, and to Montreal, Quebec and Canada to continue beating the odds and being the best we can.

Graham Carr
President and Vice-Chancellor