Postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) are newly qualified researchers with PhD and/or MD backgrounds. They are a critical piece in the framework of research that is done at research focused academic institutions in Canada and around the globe.

However, it is widely acknowledged that the current diffuse organization of postdoctoral training leaves this class of highly qualified personnel in an especially vulnerable position. Not graduate students, not faculty members, postdocs have so far slipped between the cracks of the recognized workforce of the scientific community and represent a heterogeneous group of poorly defined ‘apprentice’ scientists. As such, postdocs generally do not have well defined expectations of employment, appropriate employment rights and responsibilities, commensurate or even normalized pay scales, performance evaluations, employment benefits such as proper health care, pensions, occupational health insurance, or procedures for resolving conflict. To date, the treatment of postdocs within Canada is inconsistent at best, and largely ignored, at worst.