Departmental Results Report 2021-22: Details on transfer payment programs

2014

Ongoing

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2014-15

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research is internationally competitive

Canada has a pool of diverse and highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Insight Research

The Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) supports Canada’s postsecondary institutions in their efforts to become global research leaders. CFREF helps competitively selected Canadian postsecondary institutions turn their key strengths into world-leading capabilities. This program is administered by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) on behalf of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and SSHRC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

A total of 18 CFREF recipients at 17 Canadian institutions were supported in 2021-22, for a tri-agency investment of $199 million.

Funding supports several areas of strategic relevance to Canada, including environment and agriculture; health and related life sciences; advanced manufacturing; information and communications technology; and natural resources and energy.

The midterm reviews of the remaining five of 13 CFREFs awarded in the second competition were conducted in 2021-22. The reviews demonstrated that CFREF recipients have established strong partnerships and collaborations at the national and international levels; recruited highly qualified personnel and students; hired new faculty; built world-class infrastructures; already achieved significant advancements in their respective fields of research; and leveraged funding that will contribute to the sustainability of these initiatives in the long term.

The third CFREF competition was launched in 2021-22. The application and review process will be carried out in 2022-23. This competition will award up to $1.4 billion over seven years.

The objective of the audit was to provide assurance that an adequate framework was in place to support the launch and ongoing management of the CFREF program. The scope of the audit included management processes and controls.

The CFREF program successfully delivered grants from two competitions in 2015-16 and 2016-17. The audit noted the inherent challenges of launching a grants program and delivering two competitions within a short timeframe, in particular, that the CFREF program had limited time to prioritize, document and effectively conduct certain key activities. The audit identified areas of weakness in the processes and controls intended to ensure that CFREF program management fulfilled its responsibilities for administering the grant competition process, including a framework to manage risk and performance measurement, administration of funding recipient requirements, and management of CFREF program information.

An evaluation of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund is planned to be completed by March 2026.

A variety of engagement initiatives (webinars, midterm reviews, telephone, email, online forums) are used as part of the regular competition cycle in order to give applicants and recipients opportunities to seek and receive information and to provide feedback on service delivery.

2003-04

Ongoing

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2020-21

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research is internationally competitive

Canada has a pool of highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Research Training and Talent Development

SSHRC’s portion of the Canada Graduate Scholarships program provides financial support to high-calibre scholars who are engaged in master’s or doctoral programs in the social sciences and humanities. This is a tri-agency program and is administered by each respective agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC).

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

The Canada Graduate Scholarships program strives to make Canada one of the world’s top countries for research training and development to build an innovative and competitive economy, increase future job opportunities, and, ultimately, generate social, economic and cultural benefits for Canadians. The Canada Graduate Scholarships program offers a total of 3,000 master’s and 3,000 doctoral scholarships every year across all three granting agencies.

In 2021-22, SSHRC invested $80 million in Canada Graduate Scholarships to support research training in the social sciences and humanities.

No audits are planned at this time.

The Canada Graduate Scholarships program is being evaluated as part of a tri-agency evaluation of Research Training and Talent Development. The evaluation was under way in 2021-22 and is expected to be completed by March 2023.

Applicants and recipients are engaged through communication with academic institutions and tri-agency or agency-specific electronic communication.

1978

Ongoing

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2011-12

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research is internationally competitive

Canada has a pool of diverse and highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

Insight Research

Research Training and Talent Development

Research Partnerships

This transfer payment program consists of grants and scholarships awarded for research, talent development and research dissemination activities in the social sciences and humanities.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

In 2021-22, SSHRC’s Grants and Scholarships program funded over 3,160 new grants and awards, and supported over 17,796 students and researchers for a total investment of $341 million.

An important goal of SSHRC’s Grants and Scholarships program is to support students and postdoctoral researchers (collectively referred to as “research trainees”) to develop society’s next generation of researchers and leaders, both within academia and across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. In 2020-21, SSHRC supported 3,050 students and postdoctoral fellows through scholarships and fellowships. In addition, researchers that submitted an end-of-grant report in 2021-22 reported that 4,390 research trainees had been supported through their grants.

Through its regular programming and joint initiatives, SSHRC is helping build stronger relationships across sectors. In 2021-22, the amount of funding leveraged from partners on SSHRC-funded research projects exceeded $62 million.

No audits are planned at this time.

An evaluation of Collaborative Health Research Projects (CHRP), a joint initiative of CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC, was completed in February 2022. Key findings include the following:

• Based on policies and priorities of the Government of Canada and the research community, there is an ongoing need to fund interdisciplinary research that fosters collaboration among health and natural sciences and engineering researchers, and that facilitates translation and commercialization of research to improve the Canadian health system and related services.
• The CHRP program continues to facilitate collaborations, both new and existing, between CIHR and NSERC researchers. The program has also provided training opportunities for highly qualified personnel (research staff, students), and has enabled students to develop the skills and knowledge required to find employment.
• There is some evidence that CHRP-supported research has resulted in innovations, efficiencies, technologies, and/or improved health systems and services. The majority of grants either developed or improved a product/service or process/treatment, or contributed to policies, guidelines or regulations. Some grants have resulted in patents, but there is limited evidence that CHRP-funded research has resulted in economic and health benefits for Canadians.
• The involvement of knowledge/technology users (organizations that could benefit from the research results) in CHRP-funded projects varied. It was found that these users facilitated the translation, application and/or commercialization of scalable new technology to a moderate extent.
• The majority of research projects funded by the CHRP program are not technology ready. Using the technology-readiness level scale, 69% of projects started at the lower end, and 64% of projects reported an increase in technology readiness, with an average increase of two levels.
• The findings suggest that some design and delivery elements of the program could be limiting the achievement of expected results, in particular, those related to the knowledge/technology user requirement, three-year funding period, and expected translation and commercialization of research results.

An evaluation of the Canada Research Chairs was under way in 2021-22 and is expected to be completed by March 2023.

An evaluation of Research Training and Talent Development was under way in 2021-22 and is expected to be completed by March 2023.

A Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships evaluation was under way in 2021-22. This evaluation is being led by CIHR, with an expected completion date of March 2023.

A variety of engagement initiatives (webinars, site visits, telephone, email, online forums) are used as part of the regular competition cycle in order to give applicants and recipients opportunities to seek and receive information and to provide feedback on service delivery.

1997

2024-25

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2014-15

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research is internationally competitive

Canada has a pool of diverse and highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

Research Partnerships

The Networks of Centres of Excellence program supports large-scale academically led research networks that harness the creativity and inventiveness of Canadian health, natural and social scientists, and engineers. Partners from industry, government and not-for-profit organizations contribute additional expertise and bring cash and in-kind support. This program is a tri-agency program administered by NSERC on behalf of CIHR, SSHRC and NSERC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

The Networks of Centres of Excellence program continued to mobilize multidisciplinary research teams from across the country to help find solutions to major social, economic or health issues for Canada and to train the next generation of highly qualified personnel. The gradual transition of program funding to the New Frontiers in Research Fund will continue over the next few years with a complete wind-down of the Networks of Centres of Excellence suite of programs by 2024-25. During the transition period, networks will continue to be supported until the end of their funding agreement.

No audits are planned at this time.

There are no plans to evaluate this program, as the Networks of Centres of Excellence is no longer an ongoing program and its funds will be gradually transferred to the New Frontiers in Research Fund. This program has been evaluated regularly (i.e., every five years) since its inception (as a sunset program) in 1985. Given the solid evaluation history, there are few lessons to be learned from an evaluation at this time.

No further competitions are planned under this program. Existing recipients are supported by direct contact and engagement through their assigned Networks of Centres of Excellence staff liaison, who sits as an observer on the Board of Directors.

2018

Ongoing

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2018-19

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research is internationally competitive

Canada has a pool of diverse and highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

New Frontiers in Research Fund

The New Frontiers in Research Fund transfer payment program supports research that is international, interdisciplinary, fast breaking and high risk / high reward. It supports projects not easily supported through existing tri-agency and agency-specific mechanisms, and contributes to enhancing Canada’s competitiveness in the global, knowledge-based economy. This program is administered by SSHRC on behalf of CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

Grants to researchers from the program’s Exploration stream equalled $25 million in 2021-22 to support high-risk/ high-reward and interdisciplinary research. Of over 400 applications submitted to the 2021 Exploration competition, 102 projects received awards, 36% of these were led by early career researchers, and 58% were awarded to teams where at least half of the team were individuals from underrepresented groups: women, members of Indigenous Peoples, members of visible minorities or persons with disabilities.

The inaugural competition of the New Frontiers in Research Fund Transformation stream was completed in 2021-22. The objective of this stream is to build strength and leadership in interdisciplinary and transformative research. The competition resulted in seven grants being awarded in August 2021, valued at a total of $144 million over six years. Approximately 43% of these grants were awarded to teams with women as the nominated principal investigator. In September 2021, NFRF launched a second competition with an award date scheduled for March 2023.

The 2020 Horizon Global Platform competition was launched in January 2020 under the International stream to support Canadian researchers partnering on projects funded through Horizon 2020. The competition awarded 12 grants that together amounted to $5.5 million in 2021.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Frontiers in Research Fund launched a special call in 2021-22: Innovative Approaches to Research in the Pandemic Context. A total of 90 grants were awarded, with a value of $20.46 million. When the grants awarded are broken down by an application’s nominated principal investigator, this competition had a 100% success rate for nominated principal investigators who identify as Indigenous, 75% success rate for persons with disabilities, 64% for women and 54% for members of a visible minority group.

No audits are planned at this time.

An evaluation of the New Frontiers in Research Fund is planned to be completed by March 2024.

A variety of engagement initiatives (webinars, site visits, telephone, email, online forums) are used as part of the regular competition cycle in order to give applicants and recipients opportunities to seek and receive information and to provide feedback on service delivery.

2003

Ongoing

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2014-15

Canada’s university and college research environments are strong

Research Support Fund

The Research Support Fund (RSF) transfer payment program supports a portion of the indirect costs associated with the conduct of academic research in institutions that receive research grant funds from any of the three federal research granting agencies. Grants are awarded to eligible institutions using a progressive funding formula based on the average revenues from research grants received from CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC. SSHRC manages this tri-agency program on behalf of CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

The RSF invested $427 million in 2021-22, of which $369.4 million supported 146 institutions through the base program allocation and $58.2 million supported 31 institutions through the Incremental Project Grants stream. This stream provides additional support to eligible institutions for the indirect costs of research, by funding proposed projects that focus on a set of priorities that cut across the RSF’s five existing categories of eligible expenses. Applications to the 2021-22 RSF grant cycle, including the Incremental Project Grants stream, can be broken down by the intended use of funds across these five eligible expenditure categories as follows: management and administration of the institution’s research enterprise, 34%; research facilities, 30%; research resources, 21%; regulatory requirements and accreditation, 10%; and intellectual property and knowledge mobilization, 5%.

Applications to the 2021-22 Incremental Project Grants stream reflected the following distribution across the stream’s four eligible priority areas: facilities renewal, 32%; information resources, 30%; innovation and commercialization activities, 22%; and equity, diversity and faculty renewal (in the context of EDI), 16%.

No audits are planned at this time.

An evaluation of the Research Support Fund is planned to be completed by March 2026.

A variety of engagement initiatives (webinars, telephone, email, online forums) are used as part of the regular competition cycle in order to give applicants and recipients opportunities to seek and receive information and to provide feedback on service delivery.

2008-09

Ongoing

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2014-15

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research is internationally competitive

Canada has a pool of diverse and highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

Research Training and Talent Development

The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program is a tri-agency program designed to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by offering them a significant financial award. This financial award assists students during their studies at Canadian universities. Vanier scholars demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health-related fields. This program is administered by CIHR on behalf of CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

Through the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program, the Government of Canada invests up to $25 million annually, divided among the budgets of CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC, to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and establish Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning. Up to 166 scholarships are awarded annually to Canadian and international doctoral students studying at Canadian universities who demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and/or engineering, and health.

In 2021-22, SSHRC invested $8.3 million through the Vanier Canada Scholarships Program to support research training in areas related to the social sciences and humanities.

No audits are planned at this time.

An evaluation of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship is planned to be completed by March 2026.

Applicants and recipients are engaged through communication with academic institutions and directed tri-agency or agency-specific electronic communication, as well as through the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships website.

2007

2023-24

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2012-13

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

Research Partnerships

The Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence program funds large-scale collaborative research networks that bring a wide range of research expertise to bear on specific challenges identified by an industrial sector. This tri-agency program is administered by NSERC on behalf of SSHRC, CIHR and NSERC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

In 2021-22, the Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence and the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research programs continued to help connect businesses to Canada’s world-class research enterprise. The responsibility for these Networks of Centres of Excellence-funded programs will be gradually transferred to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, ensuring that the programs continue to support the sunsetting programs’ networks and centres, until the end of the funding agreements.

No audits are planned at this time.

There are no plans to evaluate this program as the Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence was transferred to the Strategic Innovation Fund, managed by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and will be evaluated as part of the Strategic Innovation Fund. The Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence has been evaluated regularly (i.e., every five years) since its inception in 2007. Given the solid evaluation history, there are few lessons to be learned from an evaluation at this time.

No further competitions are planned under this program. Existing recipients are supported by direct contact and engagement through their assigned Networks of Centres of Excellence Secretariat staff liaison, who sits as an observer on the Board of Directors.

2017

2025-26

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2017-18

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research is internationally competitive

Canada has a pool of diverse and highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Insight Research

The Canada 150 Research Chairs Program provides Canadian universities with a one-time investment to attract top-tier, internationally based scholars and researchers (including Canadian expatriates) to Canada. This program is administered by SSHRC on behalf of CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

In 2021-22, the Canada 150 Research Chairs program invested a total of $14.1 million to support 24 Canada 150 Research Chairs, including six (25%) that align with SSHRC’s mandate.

Of the 24 chairholders, about 60% are women and 42% are Canadian researchers choosing to return to Canada to carry out their ambitious research programs. Each chairholder has the opportunity to recruit students from Canada and beyond who will help further their work in disciplines such as chemistry, microbiology, evolutionary genomics, gender and African politics, global governance, neurosciences, epigenetics, public health, and psychology.

No audits are planned at this time.

There is no evaluation planned for this program. The program ends in 2025-26 and has been evaluated within the five-year period since its establishment.

A variety of engagement initiatives (webinars, site visits, telephone, email, online forums) are used as part of the regular competition cycle in order to give applicants and recipients opportunities to seek and receive information and to provide feedback on service delivery.

2008

Ongoing

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2021-22

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research is internationally competitive

Canada has a pool of diverse and highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

Insight Research

The Canada Excellence Research Chairs program is a tri-agency initiative that supports Canadian universities in their efforts to build on Canada’s growing reputation as a global leader in research and innovation. The program awards funding to world-renowned researchers and their teams to establish ambitious research programs at Canadian universities. This program is administered by SSHRC on behalf of CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

In 2021-22, the program supported 20 Canada Excellence Research Chairs with a total budget of $19.6 million, including six grants that align with CIHR’s mandate, 12 grants that align with NSERC’s mandate and two grants that align with SSHRC’s mandate.

One Canada Excellence Research Chair midterm review was completed in 2021-22. This review demonstrated that the chairholder is building a competitive research environment that is both attracting top talent into the Canadian research ecosystem and building a critical mass of expertise in the country’s priority areas.

Seven women hold active Canada Excellence Research Chairs, representing 35% of the total awards for this fiscal year.

To ensure the program continues to meet its objectives, it was redesigned in 2021, and a fourth competition was launched in November 2021. The deadline to submit applications was extended to account for the delays in the publication of the Science, Technology and Innovation priorities for the Canada Excellence Research Chairs and Canada First Research Excellence Fund programs and for the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two maximum award values will be considered in the review process ($1 million or $500,000 per year) with a total initial budget envelope of approximately $190 million over eight years starting in 2023-24.

No audits are planned at this time.

An evaluation of the Canada Excellence Research Chairs is planned to be completed by March 2026.

A variety of engagement initiatives (webinars, site visits, telephone, email, online forums) are used as part of the regular competition cycle in order to give applicants and recipients opportunities to seek and receive information and to provide feedback on service delivery.

2007

2023-24

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2012-13

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

Research Partnerships

The Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program bridges the challenging gap between innovation and commercialization. The program matches clusters of research expertise with the business community to share the knowledge and resources that bring innovations to market faster. Centres advance research and facilitate commercialization within four priority areas: the environment; natural resources and energy; health and life sciences; and information and communications technologies. This program is administered by NSERC on behalf of CIHR, SSHRC and NSERC.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

In 2021-22, the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research and the Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence programs continued to help connect businesses to Canada’s world-class research enterprise. The responsibility for these Networks of Centres of Excellence-funded programs will be gradually transferred to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, ensuring that the programs continue to support the sunsetting programs’ networks and centres, until the end of the funding agreements.

No audits are planned at this time.

There are no plans to evaluate this program as the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research was transferred to the Strategic Innovation Fund, managed by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and will be evaluated as part of the Strategic Innovation Fund. The Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research has been evaluated three times since its inception in 2007. Given the solid evaluation history, there are few lessons to be learned from an evaluation at this time.

No further competitions are planned under this program. Existing recipients are supported by direct contact and engagement through their assigned Networks of Centres of Excellence Secretariat staff liaison, who sits as an observer on the Board of Directors.

2007

Ongoing

Grant

Appropriated annually through Estimates

2018-19

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

Research Partnerships

The College and Community Innovation Program is managed by NSERC in collaboration with CIHR and SSHRC. The program increases innovation at the community and/or regional level by enabling Canadian colleges to increase their capacity to work with local companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, in areas of the natural and social sciences, engineering, the humanities and/or health. It supports applied research and collaborations that facilitate commercialization, as well as technology transfer and the adaptation and adoption of new technologies, in areas of strategic importance to Canada.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

The College and Community Innovation program invests approximately $86 million annually. In addition to this amount, Budget 2021 announced new funding of $46.9 million over two years for the program to support Canada’s economic recovery. Over summer 2021, a new funding opportunity was launched: the Applied Research and Technology Partnership grant. This grant allows colleges, cégeps and polytechnics to help small and medium-sized enterprises seize new opportunities by applying innovative research and technologies or developing them into useful new products and services.

In 2021-22, SSHRC funded 18 new projects through the College and Community Social Innovation Fund, for a total investment of $6.2 million over three years.

No audits are planned at this time.

An evaluation of the College and Community Innovation program is planned to be completed by March 2024.

A variety of engagement initiatives (webinars, site visits, telephone, email, online forums) are used as part of the regular competition cycle in order to give applicants and recipients opportunities to seek and receive information and to provide feedback on service delivery.

2018

2024-25

Grant

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

2018-19

Canada has a pool of diverse and highly skilled people in the social sciences and humanities

Canada’s social sciences and humanities research knowledge is used

Research Training and Talent Development

Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) is a Department of National Defence (DND) initiative, part of which is administered by SSHRC on behalf of DND. The objective of the MINDS initiative is to strengthen the Canadian knowledge base in contemporary defence and security issues through supporting research training and fostering capacity building in defence and security-related areas across disciplines.

SSHRC is responsible for providing this financial support on behalf of DND to students at the master’s and doctoral level and to postdoctoral fellows who are pursuing research related to defence and security, thereby helping to foster the next generation of defence and security experts.

This transfer payment program does not have repayable contributions.

Through the MINDS Scholarship Initiative, DND and SSHRC foster the next generation of security and defence scholars in the Canadian academic community. By supporting research in areas related to one or more of the MINDS Policy Challenges and/or Canada’s defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, DND and SSHRC encourage the development of a strong Canadian knowledge base in contemporary defence and security issues.

In 2021-22, the MINDS Scholarship Initiative offered 22 new and five ongoing awards to 26 students/researchers at the master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral levels through four streams of funding:

• three MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students
• eight MINDS Initiative Doctoral Awards
• three MINDS Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowships
• 13 MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements

No audits are planned at this time.

There is no evaluation planned for this initiative. Expenditures are below the requirement for evaluation.

A variety of engagement initiatives (webinars, site visits, telephone, email, online forums) are used as part of the regular competition cycle in order to give applicants and recipients opportunities to seek and receive information and to provide feedback on service delivery.