The U.S. government is asking Canadian grant recipients questions that threaten their academic independence, according to an advocacy group, including whether their work is connected to diversity, equity and inclusion, is an “environmental justice” project or whether it protects women from “gender ideology.”

A list of approximately 30 questions was sent earlier this month to Canadian researchers working on projects funded by U.S. agencies. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget is scrutinizing grants to institutions outside the U.S. as part of a broader effort to cut what the White House has characterized as wasteful spending.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers says the questions being asked infringe on academic independence.

“This is a real political and ideological litmus test that’s being applied to research,” said David Robinson, executive director of CAUT, the national body that represents Canadian faculty. “It’s essentially asking researchers to prove how their work is aligning with the political and partisan priorities of the Trump administration.”

The upshot, Mr. Robinson said, is that Canadian researchers can no longer count on partnerships that involve American funders under the administration of President Donald Trump.

“I think the Canadian government is going to have to step in and decide how it’s going to support these research projects that are vitally important but are probably at risk now of losing their funding,” he said.

The foundations of U.S. science and research have been shaken in the last several weeks by major funding cuts as well as layoffs at the National Institutes of Health, which provided nearly $60-million in funds to Canadian researchers in the last fiscal year, and the National Science Foundation, among others.

Executive orders have targeted diversity initiatives and climate research. And the administration has applied pressure to universities by warning it could withhold federal funding in cases in which it asserts schools failed to adequately protect Jewish students during campus protests last year. Students active in the protests have also been targeted for deportation.

The survey sent to Canadian researchers is similar to one recently sent to scientists in Australia, according to Mr. Robinson. In that case, the Australian Academy of Science said it required urgent attention from government.

The questions cover a wide range. Most concerning to Mr. Robinson are those that ask whether the project is related to DEI or has DEI elements, whether it’s about climate and environmental justice, and whether it takes “appropriate measures to protect women and to defend against gender ideology.”

Although the consequences of a yes or no answer are not spelled out, Mr. Robinson said the implications seem clear: Projects not compatible with the views of the U.S. government may lose their funding.

“This is one of the first I’ve seen that’s actually indicating that if you don’t follow our ideological views on diversity, equity, inclusion or gender ideology or a whole number of things, we’re not going to support your research,” he said.

Gabriel Miller, president of Universities Canada, said he is aware that researchers at “several” Canadian schools have received the survey from a U.S. funding agency but it’s not clear how many.

He said his organization’s role at this point is to gather information and co-ordinate between universities, the federal government and the tri-council research funding agencies. It will then be up to universities individually to respond, he said.

“This is worrisome,” Mr. Miller said. “Worse than that, it puts one of the most important engines for scientific progress at risk, which is international collaboration.”

Sarah Laframboise, executive director of Evidence for Democracy, an independent Canadian science advocacy group, said the survey itself and the broader direction of research policy in the U.S. are “incredibly concerning.”

“We’ve been tracking the changes in the U.S. over the last month and what we’ve been seeing is unprecedented,” she said. “This will impact Canadians a lot more than we think.”

Canadian and U.S. scientists collaborate on a huge range of projects, so if those ties are significantly affected the impact will be felt across the research spectrum.

Mr. Robinson called on Ottawa to make up for any research funding lost as a result of the shift in U.S. policy.