Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) mandate is to increase the capability of Canada’s universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research organizations to carry out high-quality research by investing in research infrastructure.

CFI awards are for the institution, with the applicant as the project leader and the Vice President (Research and Innovation) as the project holder.

The Office of the Vice President (Research and Innovation) strongly encourages the creation of shared research spaces, the use of communal equipment, and the adoption of core facilities whenever possible. All applications for funding of new research infrastructure should seek to establish shared research resources or to add new capabilities to existing core facilities. Such applications will be given a higher priority in adjudication decisions involving the Office of the Vice President (Research and Innovation) over applications involving single-users or those with more limited potential for shared use.

The Institutional Projects group within RAS provides full support and guidance throughout the life of the CFI projects.

We will assist and advise researchers throughout the life cycle of the project (application development, award finalization, project activation, infrastructure acquisition/funding management, and project closure) and liaise with CFI when required.

CFI Funding Opportunities

John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF)

The JELF provides funding support for the acquisition or development of research infrastructure for projects with a maximum total eligible cost of $2,000,000.

The CFI has advised that the University of Alberta's total JELF allocation for the period of 2020-2023 is $14,425,000.

Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund provides investments in research infrastructure for projects usually with a minimum total eligible cost of $2,000,000 that:

  • Are of appropriate maturity and offer the best potential for transformative impact.

  • Allow teams and institutions to build on the established capacity to accelerate current research and technology development or to enhance emerging strategic priority areas.

  • Enable teams to fully exploit research infrastructure and drive world-class research.

Cyberinfrastructure Initiative

This program provides funding to support research data infrastructure projects that create tailored, shared, and integrated data resources (e.g. databases and data repositories) capable of enabling leading-edge research on significant scientific, social, and economic questions.

Major Science Initiatives Competition

This program provides funding to support the ongoing operating and maintenance (O&M) needs of national research facilities.