Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards

$40,000 per year at the doctoral level 

$70,000 per year at the postdoctoral level 

36 months at the doctoral level 

24 months at the postdoctoral level 

TMU allocation (1st wave)

Doctoral level - 4

Postdoctoral level - 3

For Nominators

A nominator must be a faculty member at an eligible institution and be the primary grant holder on an active grant from an eligible funding opportunity from one of the three federal funding agencies at the time of nomination. Refer to the list of agency-specific eligible funding opportunities (external link) . For the purposes of this initiative, eligible active grants are those that received a payment or have a planned payment in the 2025-26 or 2026–27 fiscal year (April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2027). 

As per the nominating institution’s policies, nominators must be eligible to supervise doctoral students and/or postdoctoral researchers. Nominators must not be currently deemed ineligible to hold and/or apply for funds by CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC, for reasons of breach of policies on responsible conduct of research, such as ethics, integrity or financial management policies. Nominators must have accounts in good standing with CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC. 

While the nominator’s research grant does not have to specifically be within one of the eight identified priority research areas, they must be able to facilitate the nominee conducting research in one of the identified areas.  

For Nominees 

Nominees can hold any citizenship, including Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada). Nominees cannot have a current affiliation with a Canadian institution and must be currently studying or working abroad. Participation of Canadian citizens in this initiative is intended for those who have previously left Canada for research and/or work experience and who wish to return to Canada to continue their research.   

Nominees’ research areas must be within one of the eight priority research areas listed in the description. 

For Doctoral nominees:

• Must be eligible to enroll in a doctoral program at the nominating institution in Canada as of the award activation date. 
• Cannot hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment or be on leave from such an appointment concurrently with the Impact+ training award (some exceptions apply; see the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide (external link)  for details).  
• There is no limit on the number of months completed in a doctoral degree for eligibility to the Impact+ training awards.  

For Postdoctoral nominees:

• Must be qualified to undertake postdoctoral research at the nominating institution in Canada as of the award activation date. 
• Must hold or expect to hold a doctorate or health professional degree before the start date of the award 
• Must not hold or be on leave from a tenure-track or tenured faculty position.  
• There is no limiting window of time following completion of a doctoral degree for eligibility to the Impact+ training awards.  

Location of tenure 

In most cases, Impact+ training awards must be held at the nominating institution for at least one year. After one year, they are portable but must still be held in Canada at a Canadian institution and still be aligned with the priority research areas.   

Other restrictions 

• Nominees can only be nominated by one nominator (cannot have multiple proposed supervisors or locations of tenure).  
• International students/researchers already working or studying at a Canadian institution are not eligible for the Impact+ training awards. Instead, they can apply for the CGRS D or CPRA.  
• Nominees cannot be currently holding another scholarship or postdoctoral research award from the three agencies or be currently benefiting from tri-agency funds from a supervisor’s grant. 
• Doctoral: Cannot have previously held doctoral-level scholarship from one of the three agencies 
• Postdoctoral: Cannot have previously held postdoctoral-level award from one of the three agencies. 

Research program eligibility 

An eligible doctoral degree or postdoctoral research program must be predominantly research oriented. 

Projects whose primary objective is to adapt a doctoral thesis for publication in a book or manuscript, edit textbooks, translate or acquire a foreign language are not eligible for funding under this initiative. The proposed research must be in one of the designated priority research areas. 

Agency review 

The agencies will review submitted nomination forms for eligibility of the nominators and nominees.  

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)

The three agencies are acting on evidence that achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding and to respond to local, national and global challenges. This principle informs the commitments described in the Tri-Agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) (external link)  and is aligned with the objectives of the Tri-Agency EDI Action Plan (external link) . 

Self-identification data and consent provided with nominations may be used to determine eligibility for additional awards or priority funding opportunities designated for specific underrepresented groups. 

Research security 

Due to the list of priority research areas, recipients of the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards are likely to participate in research that aims to advance a Sensitive Technology Research Area (external link) , as defined under the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC Policy) (external link) .  

While the STRAC Policy does not apply to scholarship and fellowship programs, such as the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards, nominators who are a recipient of a grant that is subject to the STRAC Policy requirements — or who are expecting to apply for such a grant in the future —should be aware that these requirements may extend to their prospective nominees. Prospective nominees who have an active affiliation with or are in receipt of financial or in-kind support from a Named Research Organization (external link)  must terminate this relationship before joining any research team that is supported by a grant in scope of the STRAC Policy and that aims to advance a Sensitive Technology Research Area (external link) . Consult the Tri-agency Guidance on the STRAC Policy (external link)  for more information on the requirements that apply to federal grants subject to the STRAC Policy. 

Where applicable, nominators are encouraged to conduct open-source due diligence to verify a prospective nominee’s affiliation(s) and sources of funding or in-kind support. Institutions may provide support to nominators in doing so, via their institutional research security offices, where available.  

For further guidance on research security, institutions and researchers are encouraged to consult the Tri-agency Guidance on Research Security (external link)  and associated resources (external link) , including the Government of Canada’s Safeguarding Your Research (external link)  portal and the Safeguarding Science Initiative (external link) .

February 13, 2026

It is expected that nominators and nominees will be notified of the results by April 1, 2026, for the first wave of nominations. The release date for the results of the second wave will be announced at a later date.  

If a nominee accepts an award, the relevant agency will publish their name and other basic award information on its website. 

For more information, see the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (external link) .

To be determined when additional information is available.

Award holders must comply with the policies and guidelines set out in the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide and in any other documents related to these nominations and awards.

The agencies reserve the right to interpret and enforce the policies and guidelines for their funding opportunities set out in their published materials. 

Award holders may be eligible to hold their awards part time. See the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide for further information.

For more information, contact: Natasha Mills at natasha.mills@torontomu.ca

FAQ (external link)