With a highly educated workforce, world-class academic and research institutions, and robust start-up ecosystems across the country, Canada is the perfect place to grow your ideas, forge partnerships and take on some of the world’s biggest challenges through research.
Learn about the work we’re doing, both in Canada and internationally, to build an outstanding research system that supports creative ideas, advanced infrastructure, multidisciplinary collaboration and an inclusive science culture.
Research Opportunities in Canada
Our research community is working to solve some of the world’s toughest problems, and Canada is dedicated to training and recruiting top talent at all levels.
Canada has excellent support programs for both Canadian and international researchers:
- The Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program: Supports world-class researchers at Canadian institutions, strengthening Canada’s capacity for research, discovery, and innovation.
- The Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) program: Supports Canadian universities in recruiting and retaining world-leading researchers whose work drives innovation and advances Canada’s research priorities.
- Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs of Canada: a one-time initiative supporting Canadian postsecondary institutions in attracting 100 world-leading researchers to lead transformational and translational research in priority areas. The initiative also supports the recruitment of up to 100 Emerging Leaders conducting transformational and translational research in these priority areas, helping to build the next generation of research talent and innovation leadership.
Scholarships and fellowships
At the doctoral and postdoctoral levels, federal scholarships are available to Canadian and international students through the Canada Research Training Awards Suite (CRTAS).
Administered through Canada’s three federal research funding agencies, CRTAS supports research talent across the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and social sciences and humanities.
Visit the agencies’ websites for current competitions, eligibility requirements, award values, application instructions and deadlines.
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards: a one-time initiative to support the recruitment of 1000 outstanding international and returning Canadian doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers to strengthen Canada’s research capacity, develop highly qualified talent and enhance Canada’s global competitiveness in priority research areas.
Finished your studies? Learn how you can stay in Canada after you graduate.
To support the work-life balance of early career researchers, Canada has expanded parental leave coverage from 6 to 12 months for students and postdoctoral fellows.
Apply for research funding
Taking on the world’s biggest challenges requires science, innovation and collaboration. Canada has a variety of organizations to support partnerships and help you connect with the people and funding you need to turn your ideas and research into solutions for a healthier, more sustainable world.
- Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF): supports Canadian postsecondary institutions in building world-leading research strengths and enhancing their global competitiveness.
- Canada Foundation for Innovation: ensuring that Canadian researchers have the tools they need to push the frontiers of knowledge in all disciplines and to contribute to the full spectrum of research—from discovery to technology development.
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): collaborating with partners and researchers to support discoveries and innovations that improve health and strengthen health care.
- EduCanada: providing information on international scholarship opportunities for non-Canadians.
- Grand Challenges Canada: funding bold ideas with big impact that integrate science, technology, social and business innovation in low- and middle-income countries and Canada.
- New Frontiers in Research Fund: The New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) supports world-leading interdisciplinary, international, high-risk / high-reward, transformative and rapid-response Canadian-led research.
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: supporting students in their advanced studies, promoting and supporting discovery research, and fostering innovation.
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada: promoting and supporting postsecondary-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences.
Explore the research landscape
Research in Canada benefits not only from a diverse talent pool, skilled staff and well-equipped facilities, but also from the support of universities, research institutes, companies and government institutions. Find out more about Canada’s major research facilities and how Canada collaborates with research partners around the world.
Government and Public Sector
- Canada’s international gateway: a hub of information on how Canada is working with the world, including foreign policy, trade agreements and funding.
- Government of Canada: carrying out four principal functions in Canada’s science and research ecosystem: 1) providing funding; 2) performing research through 13 science-based departments and agencies; 3) promoting science; and 4) collaborating globally.
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada: working with Canadians in all areas of the economy and in all parts of the country to improve conditions for investment, enhance Canada’s innovation performance, increase Canada’s share of global trade and build a fair, efficient and competitive marketplace. ISED is responsible for supporting Canada’s Global Innovation Clusters, the National Quantum Strategy, the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy and the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, among others.
- National Research Council Canada: collaborating with research institutes and advanced centres of science and technology around the world.
- Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is committed to improving the quality of life of Canadians by ensuring the country’s abundant natural resources are developed sustainably, competitively and inclusively.
- Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada: providing science advice to government, ensuring openness and accessibility of research, and promoting science with the public, both nationally and internationally.
- Polar Knowledge Canada: advancing Canada’s knowledge of the Arctic, strengthening Canadian leadership in polar science and technology, and promoting the development and distribution of knowledge of both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. POLAR operates the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) and conducts world-class Arctic research out of this facility.
Major Research Facilities
- Amundsen Science: manages the scientific mandate of the CCGS Amundsen Canada's research icebreaker, supporting multidisciplinary Arctic research and international collaboration to better understand northern and marine environments.
- Canadian Light Source (CLS): enabling scientists from Canadian academic institutions and other countries to publish scientific papers highlighting discoveries in a wide variety of fields, in over 1,000 international scientific collaborations. The CLS is the brightest light in the country— millions of times brighter than even the sun—and is used by scientists to get incredibly detailed information about the structural and chemical properties of materials at the molecular level.
- Ocean Networks Canada: operates world-leading observatories on the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic coasts of Canada, and the Southern Ocean, collecting ocean data that accelerates scientific discovery and informs solutions for a resilient planet. Its cabled observatories provide power and Internet connectivity to scientific instruments, cameras, and more than 12,000 ocean sensors.
- Ocean Tracking Network: deploying Canadian-made acoustic receivers in key ocean locations and inland waters, and linking them through a shared data system with thousands of compatible receivers operated by national and international partners.
- SNOLAB: Canada's deep underground research laboratory, hosting leading international experiments that advance our understanding of dark matter, neutrinos, and the fundamental nature of the universe.
- TRIUMF: Canada’s particle accelerator centre and largest subatomic physics research laboratory, which is pushing frontiers in research to advance science, medicine and business and making important contributions to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO): supporting infectious disease research, vaccine development, and preparedness for emerging health threats.
Research Funding and Innovation Organizations
- Canada Foundation for Innovation Research Facilities Navigator: a searchable directory of Canadian research facilities that helps researchers, businesses, and organizations identify infrastructure and expertise across the country.
- Genome Canada: helping Canadian industries and communities seize the opportunities of a biology-driven future. Working with partners across the country, it leads large-scale research missions and invests in national priorities using genomics and related technologies to generate economic, health and environmental benefits.
- International Development Research Centre (IDRC): champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developing regions to drive global change. IDRC invest in high-quality research in developing countries, share knowledge with researchers and policymakers for greater uptake and use, and mobilize our global alliances to build a more sustainable and inclusive world.
- Mitacs: co-funds innovation partnerships that get Canada’s businesses and researchers where they need to go. The organization accelerates innovation, supports the commercialization of discoveries, and strengthens the global competitiveness of its partners. It also opens the door to opportunity, creating jobs and equipping students and postdoctoral researchers with skills, industry experience, and professional networks.
Research Organizations and Networks
- Acfas: Canada's leading francophone scholarly association, promoting research, innovation, and scientific culture while supporting the vitality of research in French in Canada and internationally.
- Canada Research Coordinating Committee: advancing federal research priorities and the coordination of policies and programs of Canada’s federal research funding agencies and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
- Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC): strengthening the relationship between science and society through collaborative initiatives, shared learning, and collective action. CASC's vision is for Canada to have a thriving public science culture in which science engagement is trusted, collaborative, inclusive, and woven into the social fabric of communities across Canada.
- CIFAR (Canadian Institute for Advanced Research): mobilizing the world’s most brilliant people across disciplines and at all career stages to advance transformative knowledge and solve humanity’s biggest problems, together.
- Colleges and Institutes Canada: representing Canada's colleges, institutes, CEGEPs and polytechnics, supporting applied research, skills development, and partnerships that drive innovation and economic growth.
- Perimeter Institute: a leading centre for scientific research, training and educational outreach in foundational theoretical physics.
- Polytechnics Canada: representing Canada’s leading polytechnic and applied-research institutions. Its members work closely with industry and communities to advance innovation, develop talent, and address real-world challenges through applied research.
- Royal Canadian Institute for Science: Canada's oldest scientific society, has been fostering science culture since 1849. Through award-winning programs, it brings together researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and the public to strengthen science communication, support scientific sovereignty, and keep science at the centre of national decision-making.
- U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities: association of fifteen leading research universities across Canada that works to optimize research and innovation policies and programs that advance knowledge, develop highly qualified leaders for all sectors, and mobilize knowledge for the benefit of all Canadians.
- Universities Canada: represents Canada's universities nationally and internationally, advancing higher education, research, and student success.