Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A university-based research team with an already-active, multi-year working relationship with a national non-profit organization submits a Stage 1 letter of intent, and on invitation to Stage 2 puts forward a full application proposing a seven-year, multi-institution program of shared research, training, and knowledge-mobilization activities co-governed by academic and partner leads -- the scale, duration, and formal co-governance structure are what make this a Partnership Grant application rather than a Partnership Development Grant.
- Is an instance
A team that previously held a Partnership Development Grant to pilot a partnership with a provincial government department applies for a Partnership Grant once the pilot has demonstrated a viable collaborative model, seeking multi-year funding to scale the partnership -- though SSHRC's own guidance is explicit that holding a Partnership Development Grant first is not a formal requirement for a Partnership Grant application.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A researcher applying for a standard SSHRC Insight Grant with a single letter of support from an external organization is not applying for a Partnership Grant -- a letter of support is not the same as a formal, co-governed partnership structure with defined partner cash/in-kind contributions, which is what the program requires.
- Not an instance
A team seeking a small, short-term grant to explore whether a partnership is viable in the first place should be looking at a Partnership Engage Grant or Partnership Development Grant, not a Partnership Grant -- the latter funds an already-substantiated partnership at scale, not the exploratory or developmental stage.
Editorial commentary
A Partnership Grant is the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s (SSHRC) largest and most senior partnership-funding instrument: a competitively adjudicated award providing up to $2.5 million over 4 to 7 years to support a formal research partnership between an academic team and one or more non-academic organizations. SSHRC’s own program page describes it as funding "new and existing formal partnerships over four to seven years to advance research, research training and/or knowledge mobilization in the social sciences and humanities." It sits at the top of SSHRC’s partnership-funding architecture, above the smaller Partnership Development Grant (PDG) and the still-smaller Partnership Engage Grant.
What makes a project a Partnership Grant
Operationally, what distinguishes a Partnership Grant from SSHRC’s other funding instruments is a combination of three things: scale (up to $2.5 million, far larger than PDG or Insight Grant funding levels), duration (a multi-year term of 4 to 7 years, rather than a 1-3 year development window), and partnership maturity — the program is designed for a formal, already-substantiated collaborative structure with defined shared intellectual leadership between academic and non-academic partners, not a first-time or still-exploratory relationship. SSHRC’s own partnership-funding FAQ is explicit that a Partnership Development Grant is not a required prerequisite: "No. These are each separate funding opportunities. Although some partnerships start out with a Partnership Engage Grant or Partnership Development Grant that leads to a Partnership Grants application, this is not a requirement."
Two-stage application and funding structure
A Partnership Grant application proceeds in two stages, and Stage 2 is by invitation only:
- Stage 1 — Letter of Intent. Applicants submit a letter of intent requesting funding of up to roughly $20,000-$30,000 (the exact ceiling is set per competition year) to support the planning and development work needed to prepare a full application.
- Stage 2 — Full Application. Only teams invited forward from Stage 1 submit a full application, competing for the program’s headline funding: up to $2.5 million distributed over a term of 4 to 7 years (up to roughly $500,000 per year).
Deadlines are fixed annually (historically a February Stage 1 deadline and an October Stage 2 deadline), and, like SSHRC’s other competition-specific figures, funding ceilings and dates are republished per competition year on SSHRC’s site and should be reconfirmed against the current cycle rather than assumed to be permanent.
Required non-SSHRC contribution
A Partnership Grant requires partner organizations to commit a minimum additional cash and/or in-kind contribution — documented at not less than 35% of the amount requested from SSHRC over the grant term. This mandatory matching contribution is one of the clearest operational markers of the program: it is what formalizes partner organizations as genuine co-investors in the research program, not simply expressed supporters of it.
Eligibility
As with SSHRC’s other grant programs, the applicant (and any co-applicants) must hold an eligible affiliation with a Canadian postsecondary institution that itself holds institutional eligibility with SSHRC, both at the time of application and before any funds are released. Partner organizations and collaborators may be based in Canada or internationally, and may span academic, public, private, and not-for-profit sectors, though some categories of partner (for example, Canadian private-sector or federal-government individuals) are typically limited to a collaborator role rather than a formal co-applicant role. Because eligibility rules and role definitions are detailed and can shift between competition cycles, applicants should always confirm current requirements directly against SSHRC’s published applicant instructions for the specific competition year.
How it differs from Partnership Development Grants and Partnership Engage Grants
SSHRC operates three tiers of partnership funding, distinguished primarily by scale and by how mature the partnership already is:
- Partnership Engage Grant — the smallest and fastest instrument, for a short-term, well-defined research activity responding to a specific non-academic partner’s needs.
- Partnership Development Grant (PDG) — mid-scale funding (on the order of tens of thousands of dollars over one to a few years) to build and test a new partnership approach or collaborative model.
- Partnership Grant — the largest and longest instrument, for an already-substantiated, formally governed partnership operating at scale over 4 to 7 years.
The three are separate funding opportunities rather than sequential stages of one program: a team can apply directly for a Partnership Grant without having first held a Partnership Engage Grant or PDG, though in practice many large partnerships do grow out of a smaller, earlier-stage award.
Frequently asked questions
How much funding does an SSHRC Partnership Grant provide?
Up to $2.5 million over a term of 4 to 7 years at the Stage 2 (full application) level, following a smaller Stage 1 letter-of-intent award of roughly $20,000-$30,000. Exact ceilings are set per competition year, so current applicants should confirm the figure on SSHRC’s live program page.
Is a Partnership Development Grant required before applying for a Partnership Grant?
No. SSHRC’s own guidance states these are separate funding opportunities, and while some partnerships do grow from a Partnership Engage Grant or Partnership Development Grant into a full Partnership Grant application, this progression is not a requirement.
What contribution do partner organizations need to make?
Partnership Grants require partner organizations to contribute a minimum of 35% of the amount requested from SSHRC, in cash and/or in-kind support, over the life of the grant — a formal co-investment requirement, not simply a letter of support.
Who can apply for a Partnership Grant?
The lead applicant (and co-applicants) must be affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution holding SSHRC institutional eligibility. Partner organizations and collaborators can be based in Canada or internationally and can come from academic, public, private, or not-for-profit sectors, subject to role restrictions that vary by partner type — confirm current rules against SSHRC’s applicant instructions for the relevant competition year.
Because Partnership Grants sit within Canada’s broader grants-management landscape, teams holding one will typically also need to track related Tri-Agency obligations such as human-subjects ethics review under TCPS2 and the knowledge-mobilization activities the program itself is designed to fund — see CASRAI’s knowledge mobilisation entry for how that term is used across Tri-Agency programming.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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