Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent, not-for-profit corporation, established by the Government of Canada in 1997 through the Budget Implementation Act, 1997 (Bill C-93), that funds research infrastructure — the facilities, laboratories, major equipment, computing hardware, software, and databases a research project needs — at Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions. It is a corporation without share capital that operates at arm’s length from government, within the framework of its funding agreements with the Government of Canada, and is governed by its own Board of Directors rather than run as a federal department. CFI does not fund the ongoing costs of doing research itself — salaries, stipends, travel, or the day-to-day operating costs of a research program — which is what makes it operationally distinct from Canada’s three federal granting agencies.

Not to be confused with: CFI is often discussed in the same breath as the Canada Research Chairs Program and the federal granting agencies, because Canadian institutions frequently pursue CFI infrastructure funding and Tri-Agency operating or personnel funding for the same research program in parallel. They are not the same thing and are not administered by the same body — see the comparison below.

What CFI actually funds

Per CFI’s own mandate, its purpose 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.” As a general funding model, CFI typically contributes up to 40% of a project’s eligible infrastructure costs, with the remainder expected to come from other partners — provincial governments (several provinces run their own matching infrastructure funds specifically to pair with a CFI award), the applicant institution itself, and private or non-profit co-funders. CFI infrastructure funding is capital and equipment funding, tied to a specific, eligible piece of infrastructure or facility — it is not a general-purpose research grant a researcher can spend on personnel, consumables, or travel.

CFI’s main funds

CFI operates several distinct funding programs (“funds”), each aimed at a different scale or type of infrastructure need. The core, standing funds are:

• Innovation Fund — CFI’s largest-scale, discipline-open competition, supporting infrastructure for promising and innovative research and technology-development projects, typically with a minimum total eligible project cost in the millions of dollars.
• John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) — a continuously available (not periodically competed) fund that helps institutions attract and retain researchers by providing infrastructure to equip a new or recently recruited research leader’s lab, typically for smaller-scale, faster-turnaround infrastructure needs than the Innovation Fund.
• College Fund — supports research infrastructure at Canadian colleges, polytechnics, and CEGEPs specifically, aimed at applied research and technology-development capacity and industry/community partnerships, distinct from the university-oriented funds above.
• Major Science Initiatives (MSI) Fund — supports the ongoing operating and maintenance costs (not the initial capital build) of a small number of large, nationally significant research facilities, such as major observatories, particle-physics infrastructure, or synchrotron light sources, and requires appropriate governance and management practices from the facilities it funds.
• Infrastructure Operating Fund (IOF) — provides institutions with additional funding toward the incremental operating and maintenance costs generated by infrastructure CFI has already funded through its other awards, on top of the capital award itself.

Beyond this core set, CFI also runs narrower, purpose-specific funds from time to time — for example a Northern Fund for research infrastructure serving northern communities, a Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund tied to pandemic-preparedness capacity, and periodic funds created around a specific federal priority. The mix of active, purpose-specific funds changes more often than the core funds above; check CFI’s own funding-opportunities listing for the current full set before relying on any specific one being open.

CFI vs. the Tri-Agency: infrastructure vs. operating funding

The distinction between CFI and Canada’s federal granting agencies — the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), collectively referred to as the Tri-Agency — is one of scope, not scale:

• What CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC fund: the operating costs of doing research — a research program’s ongoing activities, personnel (graduate student and postdoctoral stipends, research assistant salaries), supplies, travel, and, through joint programs like the Canada Research Chairs Program, a chairholder’s salary itself. Tri-Agency funding is awarded through competitive, discipline-specific programs run independently by each of the three agencies.
• What CFI funds: the capital infrastructure a research program needs to operate — the equipment, facility, computing infrastructure, or database itself — not the people or consumables used with it once it’s in place. A researcher cannot use a CFI award to pay a graduate student’s stipend, and cannot generally use a Tri-Agency operating grant to purchase a major piece of capital equipment above that program’s own equipment-cost thresholds.
• In practice, the two are complementary, not competing: a research program commonly draws on both in parallel — a CFI award (often paired with provincial and institutional matching funds) to acquire the equipment or facility, and a Tri-Agency operating grant to fund the ongoing research that equipment supports. Institutional research offices typically coordinate CFI and Tri-Agency applications for the same researcher as related but separately administered submissions, not a single combined application.

CFI is not one of the three Tri-Agency granting councils and is not administered by any of them; it is a separate corporation with its own board, mandate, and application process, operating under its own funding agreements with the Government of Canada rather than under the Tri-Agency’s joint policy instruments.

Worked examples

A university applies to CFI’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund to equip the laboratory of a newly recruited faculty member with a piece of specialized imaging equipment; CFI funds a share of the equipment’s capital cost, the province and university provide matching funds for the remainder, and the researcher separately applies to NSERC for an operating grant to fund the graduate students and consumables needed to actually run experiments on that equipment once installed.

A consortium of universities applies to CFI’s Major Science Initiatives Fund for the ongoing operating and maintenance costs of a national research facility they jointly govern; the award covers the facility’s infrastructure operations, not the salaries or operating grants of the individual researchers who go on to use the facility for their own funded projects.

Counter-example

A researcher submits a CFI Innovation Fund application requesting funds to cover a postdoctoral researcher’s salary and a year of laboratory consumables alongside a piece of equipment — that is not an eligible use of CFI infrastructure funding. Personnel and operating costs of that kind belong in a Tri-Agency operating-grant application (CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC, depending on discipline), submitted separately from the CFI infrastructure request.

Frequently asked questions

Is CFI part of the Tri-Agency?

No. CFI is a separate, independent not-for-profit corporation, not one of the three federal granting councils (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) that make up the Tri-Agency. It funds research infrastructure rather than operating grants, and is not administered by, or jointly governed with, any of the three agencies.

Can a CFI grant pay a researcher’s salary or a graduate student’s stipend?

No. CFI funding is for capital research infrastructure — facilities, equipment, computing hardware, software, and databases — not for personnel costs. Salary and stipend support comes from Tri-Agency operating grants, institutional funds, or programs like the Canada Research Chairs Program, not from a CFI infrastructure award.

What is the difference between the Innovation Fund and the John R. Evans Leaders Fund?

Both fund research infrastructure at the applicant institution, but at different scales and cadences: the Innovation Fund is CFI’s largest, discipline-open competition for major infrastructure projects, typically with project costs in the millions of dollars, while the John R. Evans Leaders Fund is a continuously available fund aimed at smaller, faster-turnaround infrastructure needs, particularly equipping a newly recruited or existing research leader’s lab.

Who is eligible to receive CFI funding?

Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions apply to CFI on behalf of their researchers; individual researchers do not apply to CFI directly. Eligibility and the specific application process vary by fund.

Does CFI fund 100% of an infrastructure project’s cost?

No. As a general model, CFI typically contributes up to 40% of a project’s eligible infrastructure costs, and expects the institution to secure the remaining funding from other partners such as provincial matching-fund programs, the institution itself, or private and non-profit co-funders.

References

• Canada Foundation for Innovation, “Our mandate” (innovation.ca/about/mandate)
• Canada Foundation for Innovation, “About” (innovation.ca/about)
• Canada Foundation for Innovation, “Funding opportunities” (innovation.ca/apply-manage-awards/funding-opportunities)
• Canada Foundation for Innovation, “John R. Evans Leaders Fund” (innovation.ca/apply-manage-awards/funding-opportunities/john-r-evans-leaders-fund)
• Parliament of Canada, Budget Implementation Act, 1997 (Bill C-93), establishing the Canada Foundation for Innovation