Cover of the Maclean's magazine issue containing the 'Too Asian?' article.

November 10, 2010, Maclean's magazine published an article in its Guide to Canadian Universities, initially titled 'Too Asian: Some frosh don't want to study at an Asian university.' The article sparked immediate and widespread controversy, with accusations of racism and perpetuating harmful stereotypes about Asian Canadian students. Critics argued the piece implied that the high presence of Asian students was a negative phenomenon and hinted at concerns mirroring U.S. discussions about limiting Asian enrolment in top universities. Maclean's later retitled the article 'Too Asian?' and then 'The enrolment controversy: Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrolment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada.' The incident ignited a national debate about race, multiculturalism, and representation in Canadian higher education, significantly impacting Chinese and other Asian Canadian communities who felt targeted and misrepresented. Following the controversy, Senator Vivienne Poy, in a letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, suggested that magazines like Maclean's, which publish offensive content, could be deemed ineligible for federal support. 'It has offended large portions of the Canadian population through its divisive journalism, which is increasingly unprofessional,' she stated. 'As such, given Maclean's propensity for speculation, editorializing and courting controversy for the sake of publicity it should no longer be deemed worthy of public funding by Canadian Heritage.'