Funding search tool

College and Community Innovation Program

The College and Community Innovation (CCI) program is managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and SSHRC. The objective of the CCI program is to increase 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. It supports applied research and collaborations that facilitate commercialization, as well as technology transfer, adaptation and adoption of new technologies. There are nine types of grants in the CCI program, including the College and Community Social Innovation Fund, to support well-defined and focused community innovation projects undertaken by college researchers with their partners from the public, private or not-for-profit sectors.

Contact NSERC at ccsif-fiscc@nserc-crsng.gc.ca or SSHRC at partnerships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

Sport Participation Research Initiative

The Sport Participation Research Initiative is a joint initiative between SSHRC and Sport Canada that supports the objectives of the Canadian Sport Policy. The initiative funds eligible doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and postsecondary institution-affiliated researchers to conduct research on enhancing participation in sport—and its outcomes—in Canada.

Interested students and researchers are invited to apply through the following:

• SSHRC Doctoral Awards
• SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships
• Insight Grants

Learn more about the Sport Participation Research Initiative, including details on its application deadline, eligibility requirements and the application process.

For more information:

Email: research@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Awards to Scholarly Publications Program

Through this program, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences supports books of advanced scholarship in the humanities and social sciences that make an important contribution to knowledge.

Partnership Grants—Stage 2

These grants support new and existing formal research and/or knowledge mobilization partnerships over four to seven years.

Bora Laskin National Fellowship in Human Rights Research

The Bora Laskin National Fellowship in Human Rights Research is a $10,000 supplement awarded yearly to a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship recipient conducting research in the field of human rights.

Eligible candidates must apply through the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships funding opportunity by selecting this supplement in the Application profile section of the application form. They must also provide a maximum one-page justification explaining how their research project aligns with the supplement’s theme.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Toll free: 1-855-275-2861

Jules and Gabrielle Léger Fellowship

The Jules and Gabrielle Léger Fellowship is a $10,000 supplement awarded yearly to a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship recipient conducting research on the historical and contemporary contribution of the Crown to the lives of Canadians.

Eligible candidates must apply through the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships funding opportunity by selecting this supplement in the Application profile section of the application form. They must also provide a maximum one-page justification explaining how their research project aligns with the supplement’s theme.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Toll free: 1-855-275-2861

Canada Graduate Scholarships—Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements

A tri-agency program to support Canadian graduate students build global linkages and international networks through exceptional research experiences at research institutions outside of Canada.

SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships (direct applications)

These fellowships are for students applying to, or registered in, a doctoral program or a combined MA/PhD program in the social sciences or humanities.

Aileen D. Ross Fellowship

The Aileen D. Ross Fellowship is a $10,000 supplement awarded yearly to a SSHRC doctoral award recipient conducting poverty-related research in sociology.

Eligible candidates must apply through the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships funding opportunity by selecting this supplement in the Application profile section of the application form. They must also provide a maximum one-page justification explaining how their research project aligns with the supplement’s theme.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Toll free: 1-855-275-2861

Queen’s Fellowship

The Queen’s Fellowship is a $10,000 supplement awarded yearly to a SSHRC doctoral award recipient entering a program in Canadian studies at a Canadian postsecondary institution.

At time of application, candidates are considered eligible if they intend to enrol in or are registered in the first year of such a program.

Eligible candidates must apply through the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships funding opportunity by selecting this supplement in the Application profile section of the application form. They must also provide a maximum one-page justification explaining how their research project aligns with the supplement’s theme.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Toll free: 1-855-275-2861

Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

These scholarships are to support Canadian and international students undertaking doctoral studies at Canadian universities.

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships

These fellowships support promising new scholars (PhD holders) in the social sciences and humanities.

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships

This program is open to both Canadian and international researchers who have recently completed a PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree

Partnership Development Grants

These grants support the development of partnered research and related activities in the social sciences and humanities.

Insight Grants

These grants support research initiatives of up to five years.

Insight Development Grants

These grants support research in its initial stages.

Partnership Grants—Stage 1

Partnership Grant proposals are expected to respond to the objectives of the Insight research program or the Research partnerships program, or a combination thereof. Proposals exclusively for partnered research training initiatives are expected to respond, instead, to the objectives of the Research training and talent development program.

Connection Grants

These grants support short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization events and activities.

SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships (institution applications)

These fellowships are for students applying to, or registered in, a doctoral program or a combined MA/PhD program in the social sciences or humanities.

Canada Graduate Scholarships—Master’s Program

The Canada Graduate Scholarships—Master’s program provides financial support to high-calibre scholars who are engaged in eligible master’s or, in some cases, doctoral programs in Canada.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council manages this funding opportunity on SSHRC’s behalf.

Belmont Forum

The Belmont Forum aims to enhance co-operation and co-ordination of global environmental change research.

While the Belmont Forum does not offer additional or dedicated research funds, SSHRC invites Canadian researchers to develop proposals that involve their international colleagues and partners. They should submit their applications through funding opportunities offered under SSHRC’s Insight research program and Research partnerships program. 

Apply via:

• Insight Development Grants
• Insight Grants
• Partnership Development Grants
• Partnership Grants

For more information, visit the Belmont Forum website or contact SSHRC at:

Email: partnerships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca 

SSHRC Impact Awards

SSHRC Impact Awards are designed to build on and sustain Canada’s research-based knowledge culture in the social sciences and humanities. The awards recognize outstanding researchers and celebrate their achievements in research, research training, knowledge mobilization and outreach activities funded partially or completely by SSHRC.

Alice Wilson Award

Each year, the Royal Society of Canada offers the Alice Wilson Award, in the form of a $1,000 supplement, to three women of outstanding academic qualifications in the arts and humanities, social sciences, or sciences who are entering a career in scholarship or research at the postdoctoral level. The primary criterion for selection is demonstrated excellence in the candidate’s work and research.

Award winners are chosen from the current year’s top-ranked female recipients of postdoctoral fellowships from the three federal research funding agencies—SSHRC, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Applicants do not need to apply for this supplementary award. SSHRC will contact eligible postdoctoral fellowships ward recipients will be contacted in the months following the competition results.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes—SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships Collaboration

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship holders or candidates are invited to connect with the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) to explore the possibility of organizing a residency with one of CHCI’s member centers or institutes.

While not a source of additional or dedicated research funds, this collaboration with CHCI can help SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship holders strengthen their research and secure additional opportunities in research training and career development.

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship holders or candidates can contact any prospective CHCI host organizations before submitting their postdoctoral application to SSHRC, or at any point after receiving notification that they have obtained a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship.

CHCI offers more details on eligibility requirements and participation guidelines for the CHCI-SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships Collaboration.

For more information:

Email: chci@humanities.wisc.edu

Department of National Defence Research Initiative

This joint initiative between SSHRC and Defence Research and Development Canada, an agency of the Department of National Defence, supports social sciences and humanities research and related activities pertaining to Defence Research and Development Canada’s research priorities. Interested researchers should develop proposals related to this focus and submit their applications through the following:

• Insight Development Grants
• Insight Grants

See the relevant funding opportunity description for the application deadline.

Learn more about this joint initiative, including details on its eligibility requirements and application process.

For more information:

Email: research@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Partnership Engage Grants

These grants support short-term partnered research activities involving a postsecondary institution and a single organization from the public, private or not-for-profit sectors.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)-SSHRC Housing Research Training Awards Program

CMHC and SSHRC are partnering to offer postdoctoral fellowships to individuals conducting social sciences and humanities research in areas related to housing. Each fellowship is valued at $45,000 per year and is tenable for 12 or 24 months.

Eligible candidates must apply through SSHRC’s Postdoctoral Fellowships funding opportunity and select the “CMHC-SSHRC Training Awards” option from the drop-down menu in their application form. They must also provide a maximum one-page justification explaining how their research project aligns with one or more of the CMHC National Housing Strategy’s priority areas for action.

Learn more about the CMHC Housing Research Scholarship Program.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Mitacs Elevate

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship applicants working with Canadian businesses and/or eligible not-for-profit organizations are invited to apply for Mitacs Elevate. The Mitacs website provides additional information on eligible partner organizations and eligible research.

To be considered for this fellowship, eligible applicants must make the selection from the drop-down menu in their application form for a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship. They must also complete an abridged Mitacs Elevate application form and upload it to their SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship application. To access the Elevate form, they must contact a Mitacs advisor.

When completing the “Tenure location” and the “Secondary tenure location” sections of their SSHRC application form, applicants must identify their host university as their primary institution of affiliation and the partner organization for their Mitacs Elevate application as their secondary institution of affiliation. In addition, they must include the required institutional affiliation justification, as outlined in the “Program of work” section of the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship application instructions.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Mitacs Accelerate

Applicants working with for-profit corporations, eligible not-for-profit corporations, municipalities and hospitals in Canada that have training of students and/or postdoctoral researchers as a component of their SSHRC application are invited to apply for internship co-funding through the Mitacs Accelerate program at the same time they apply to SSHRC. Applicants in the following funding opportunities can apply for Mitacs Accelerate internships when submitting their SSHRC application:

• Insight Grants
• Partnership Development Grants
• Partnership Engage Grants
• Partnership Grants—Stage 2

Applicants interested in the Mitacs Accelerate joint initiative must submit a completed Mitacs Accelerate application form to Mitacs within one week of the application deadline of the SSHRC funding opportunity to which they are applying. Consult the Accelerate eligibility requirements before starting your application. To access the Accelerate application form, contact a Mitacs business development representative.

Open Research Area

SSHRC is partnering with the Agence nationale de la recherche (France), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany) and the Economic and Social Research Council (United Kingdom) to launch the eighth Open Research Area (ORA 8) call for proposals. The funding opportunity supports joint international research projects, to strengthen international cooperation and fund high-quality scientific research. The ORA 8 scheme will provide funding for integrated projects by researchers coming from at least three of the four subscribing countries (Canada, France, Germany and the UK).

For more information, see Open Research Area, or contact:

Email: ORA8@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Department of National Defence MINDS Scholarship Initiative

This initiative offers research training awards to master’s and doctoral students and to postdoctoral researchers in the social sciences and humanities whose work is related to one or more of the Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) Policy Challenges, and/or Canada’s defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged.

• Eligible applicants seeking master’s-level funding must apply through the Canada Graduate Scholarships—Master’s program.
• Eligible applicants seeking doctoral-level funding must apply through the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships.
• Eligible applicants seeking postdoctoral-level funding must apply through the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships.

See the relevant funding opportunity description for the application deadline.

Learn more about the MINDS Scholarship Initiative, including details on its eligibility requirements and application process.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Joint Initiative for Digital Citizen Research

This joint initiative between Canadian Heritage and SSHRC supports the goals of Canada’s approach to protecting democracy by offering grants and supplementary funding to individuals conducting research or related activities on online disinformation and its impacts.

Interested students and researchers are invited to apply through the following funding opportunities:

• SSHRC Doctoral Awards
• SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships
• Connection Grants

See the relevant funding opportunity description for the application deadline.

Details on eligibility requirements and the application process are available through the Joint Initiative for Digital Citizen Research page.

For more information on Doctoral Award and Postdoctoral Fellowship supplements:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

For more information on Connection Grants:

Email: connection@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Mitacs Training

As part of a joint initiative with Mitacs, SSHRC offers access to unique courses through Mitacs Training for SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship and SSHRC Doctoral Award holders. The curriculum is designed to build competencies in five key areas recognized as vital to professional success:

• professional and career fundamentals
• interpersonal skills
• communication
• leadership and management
• intrapreneuralism

This professional development opportunity consists of course bundles that include synchronous and asynchronous components. The synchronous courses are offered in an interactive learning environment facilitated by leading business and industry professionals.

SSHRC award holders will be provided instructions regarding how to access Mitacs Training as part of their results package.

For more information:

Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Canada Graduate Scholarships—Doctoral Program

The Canada Graduate Scholarships—Doctoral program is a federal program of scholarships awarded through national competitions by the granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and SSHRC.

The program supports high-calibre students engaged in doctoral programs in all academic disciplines. This support allows scholars to fully concentrate on their doctoral studies, to seek out the best research mentors in their chosen fields and to contribute to the Canadian research ecosystem during and beyond the tenure of their awards.

Research Data Management Capacity Building Initiative

To continue helping the Canadian social sciences and humanities research community better understand data management and incorporate data management considerations into research practices, SSHRC’s Research Data Management Capacity Building Initiative will fund at least 10 meritorious Connection Grants proposals per competition to support the research community’s development, adoption and dissemination of research data management standards, practices, tools and skills appropriate to their field.

John R. Evans Leaders Fund

The John R. Evans Leaders Fund of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) offers infrastructure funding to support research and/or research-related partnership activities. Interested applicants must submit separate proposals to SSHRC and the CFI. They must apply through:

• Insight Grants 
• Partnership Grants

For more information, contact the CFI liaison officer at your institution, or contact SSHRC at:

Email: partnershipgrants@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Aid to Scholarly Journals

These grants are meant to increase access to, and readership of, original research results in the social sciences and humanities through Canadian scholarly journals.

Race, Gender and Diversity Initiative

The goal of the Race, Gender and Diversity Initiative is to support community-based and community-led research partnerships with postsecondary institutions that are grounded in the lived experience of underrepresented or disadvantaged groups and that analyze the causes and persistence of systemic racism and discrimination. Leadership by people from underrepresented or disadvantaged groups in research projects about race, gender and diversity is important to help ensure the research is grounded in the complexities of the lived experiences and histories of diverse groups and individuals, and to inform more rigorous and relevant policy and program design. The ultimate purpose of this initiative is to support partnership research and related activities to meet the needs of organizations working toward removing barriers and disparities for women; First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples; Black, Asian and other racialized peoples; people living with disabilities (both visible and invisible); LGBTQ2+ people; religious minorities; and others marginalized on the basis of their ethnicity and other identity factors.

Canadian Research Data Centre Network Directed Grant

SSHRC and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research have identified support for access to relevant and highly sought-after Statistics Canada microdata as a priority strategic investment through a directed grant to the Canadian Research Data Centre Network. The network includes 32 secure computer laboratories (research data centres) on university campuses across Canada, providing the only secure access to Statistics Canada microdata.

Partnership Engage Grants—Residential Schools Joint Initiative

This NCTR-SSHRC initiative is taking the form of a one-time funding opportunity, the Partnership Engage Grants—Residential Schools Joint Initiative. The PEG RSJI will support projects responding to a community’s need for planning, discussions, archival work or storytelling prior to, or in addition to, excavations or identifications on residential school sites in Canada. Projects can also focus on ground exploration, identification of sites and remains, repatriation of missing children from residential schools in Canada, or mapping and preservation of these sites, as judged appropriate by the community.

Special Response Fund for Trainees (Ukraine)

Recognizing how the crisis in Ukraine may affect the research landscape, this additional funding for grant holders will support trainees, defined as graduate students or postdoctoral researchers, through salaries and stipends.

Knowledge Synthesis Grants: gender-based violence

This Knowledge Synthesis Grants competition aims to mobilize social sciences and humanities research to examine and synthesize existing knowledge on gender-based violence in order to inform and guide policy-makers and service providers who contribute to ensuring a violence-free Canadian society and identify potential new research questions.

Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative

The Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative is a joint initiative between Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) and SSHRC. WAGE and SSHRC will co-fund approximately five Partnership Grants, each valued at up to $700,000 over four years.

This initiative will support research partnerships between postsecondary institutions and partners from all sectors, including community-based organizations, to advance knowledge on and analyze the causes and persistence of gender-based violence in Canada.

For more information:

Email: partnerships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Toll-free: 1-855-275-2861

Research partnership grants to assess longitudinal housing outcomes

CMHC’s National Housing Strategy Longitudinal Outcomes Research is a funding opportunity to support research and related activities that examines the:

• long-term health, socio-economic, and climate change outcomes of investments in affordable housing
• links between housing, health, socio-economic, and environmental factors at the household and community levels

This grant is for multi-disciplinary research teams to examine areas holistically, using gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) analytical lens. These teams would contain academic community members belonging to social sciences (SSHRC), life (CIHR) and natural sciences and engineering (NSERC).

Indigenous Scholars Awards and Supplements Pilot Initiative

The Indigenous Scholars Awards and Supplements Pilot Initiative provides support to meritorious Indigenous students who have applied to the Canada Graduate Scholars—Master’s program.

The Indigenous Scholars Award is valued at $17,500 over 12 months.

The Indigenous Scholars Supplement is valued at $5,000 over 12 months.

Knowledge Synthesis Grants: Shifting Dynamics of Privilege and Marginalization

SSHRC is launching this Knowledge Synthesis Grants competition to foster a deeper understanding of the state of knowledge about the shifting dynamics of privilege and marginalization, with additional funding from Genome Canada to support knowledge syntheses involving key issues related to genomics.

Reconciliation Network in Response to Call to Action 65

This joint initiative between the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) and SSHRC supports establishment of a national research program with multiyear funding to advance collective understanding of reconciliation.

Undergraduate Student Research Awards

The Undergraduate Student Research Awards provide financial support to students who wish to gain research work experience in an academic setting to complement their studies.

The scholarships are awarded through Canada’s three research granting agencies: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and SSHRC.

Currently, CIHR and SSHRC exclusively designate these awards for Black students.

Applications must be completed and submitted through NSERC’s online system.

Imagining Canada’s Future Ideas Lab: Global Health and Wellness for the 21st Century

The Imagining Canada’s Future Ideas Lab is pilot funding opportunity designed to encourage innovative research partnerships and projects. Ideas Labs help to break down methodological barriers and empower participants to explore new approaches to research. The Public Health Agency of Canada and Genome Canada have joined SSHRC as funding partners to explore the future challenge of Global Health and Wellness for the 21st Century.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Network on Sustainable Agriculture in a Net-Zero Economy

This joint initiative between SSHRC and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada supports the establishment of a research network to maximize learning outcomes in the social sciences and humanities for research in the area of agriculture, climate and the environment as it relates to a net-zero future.

Trans-Atlantic Platform: Democracy, Governance and Trust

SSHRC is partnering with national and international funding agencies from both sides of the Atlantic to launch the fourth Trans-Atlantic Platform Call for Proposals. The call aims to enhance the ability of funders, research organizations and researchers to engage in transnational dialogue and collaboration around the themes of democracy, governance and trust by supporting international and interdisciplinary research teams.

For more information, visit the Trans-Atlantic Platform for Social Sciences and Humanities or contact:

Email: partnerships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Knowledge Synthesis Grants: Evolving Narratives of Cultures and Histories

These grants are meant to mobilize, examine and synthesize social sciences and humanities research on Evolving Narratives of Cultures and Histories.