When U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration began threatening the American research community with deep funding cuts and political interference last year, many observers saw a historic opportunity to persuade U.S.-based scientists to cross the border and take up academic positions in Canada.

University presidents, funding organizations and other research advocates were among those urging Ottawa to seize the moment and support a once-in-a-generation recruitment push.

As a result of those efforts, last December, the federal government announced a $1.7-billion allocation over 12 years to fund 100 new research chairs at Canadian universities.

Behind the scenes, one influential voice who urged Ottawa to act belonged to Eddie Goldenberg, a Liberal Party insider and former chief of staff to prime minister Jean Chrétien.

Now Mr. Goldenberg, who died earlier this month, is to be memorialized by having the program he championed named after him.

An announcement of the newly renamed Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs of Canada is expected Friday from Industry Minister Mélanie Joly.

Over the past year, Mr. Goldenberg, together with former governor-general David Johnston and Alan Bernstein, a past president of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, lobbied for the research chair program as a way to bring top Canadian scholars home, along with researchers of other nationalities who are open to moving their work to Canada.

All three were friends who had held prominent positions in the public service, but it was Mr. Goldenberg – a lawyer rather than a scientist by profession – who had the political expertise to get the idea off the ground.

“The question was who do we speak to, and that’s where Eddie kicked in,” Dr. Bernstein said. “He said, we’ve got to speak to the Prime Minister, to people in the Prime Minister’s Office, the minister’s staff. He just got on the phone and on e-mail, and doors opened.”

Mr. Goldenberg had a history of involvement with launching key elements in Canada’s research support machinery. During his tenure with Mr. Chrétien, the government launched the Canada Research Chairs program, which has funded more than 2,000 academics at institutions across the country, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, which supports infrastructure.

Together with individual grants, these are now regarded as key federal support mechanisms for research at Canadian universities, which otherwise fall under provincial jurisdiction.

“His commitment to strengthening Canada’s research ecosystem helped inspire the ideas and collaborations that continue to attract exceptional talent to Canada today,” Ms. Joly said in a statement.

More recently, Canada has made efforts to bring in more established scientists with programs such as the Canada Excellence Research Chairs and the Canada 150 Research Chairs, both of which committed millions of dollars for each chairholder.

Several of the scientists who have come to Canada by this route have had a significant impact in their fields and on the broader Canadian research landscape. Examples include Alán Aspuru-Guzik, a scientist working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and materials research at the University of Toronto, and Caroline Colijn, a mathematician and epidemiologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

Others moved on once their initial funding expired or left early when they did not find a good fit, either personally or professionally, with their Canadian home base. In one case, a chair recipient based at McMaster University was found to have fabricated data and later left his position.

But successful or not, the high-profile chairs only went to a handful of scientists. In contrast, the Goldenberg chairs – formerly known as the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs – are expected to have a larger and potentially transformational footprint through sheer numbers.

“Talent attracts talent,” said Robert Asselin, chief executive officer of the U15 group, which advocates for Canada’s top research universities. “You want to have homegrown talent and make sure that people who have been educated here come into your ranks and become the stars, but you also need to attract foreign talent – a bit like investments."

In recent months, Canadian universities have made overtures to researchers abroad, in some cases before the new program was fully unveiled.

The first intake of new recruits hired through the program is expected to be announced late next month. The deadline has just passed for universities to access funding for a second round.

Dr. Asselin said universities he has been in contact with have been very pleased with their results. The challenge, he added, will be for the federal government to maintain a consistent future level of support and funding, otherwise the new chairs will simply increase the pool of researchers competing for slices of a shrinking pie.

Dr. Bernstein agreed that the program was a good move and a worthy tribute to Mr. Goldenberg’s vision. But with many countries now courting scientists away from the U.S., Canada will need to do more to ensure it can both attract and retain top talent.

“The chairs program is a great first step,” he said. “But it’s just the first step.”