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Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards

Award Overview

Purpose

On December 9, the Government of Canada announced the Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative, which aims to support universities to attract new research chairs, hundreds of early-career researchers, doctoral students, and postdocs from abroad. Part of this broader initiative is the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards.

These awards are a one-time initiative designed to recruit international or returning Canadian doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers to Canada in eight priority research areas, helping build capacity, strengthen the research ecosystem, and enhance Canada’s global competitiveness.

The priority research areas for this initiative are the following:

  1. Advanced digital technologies (AI, quantum, cybersecurity)
  2. Health, including biotechnology
  3. Clean technology and resource value chains
  4. Environment, climate resilience, and the Arctic
  5. Food and water security
  6. Democratic and community resilience
  7. Manufacturing and advanced materials
  8. Defence and dual-use technologies

Nationally, 600 doctoral awards and 400 postdoctoral awards have been distributed across Canadian institutions based on each institution’s share of Tri-agency funding. The University of Toronto, in turn, has allocated its share of these awards to its academic divisions and affiliated hospitals to administer.

Eligibility

The federal government has established baseline eligibility criteria for this program. The following requirements reflect the criteria for nominations submitted through the University of Toronto’s allocation.

Nominators (all Faculty members/Principal investigators) must:

  1. Hold an eligible active Tri-agency grant (see list of eligible grants) and receiving a payment or have a planned payment between April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2027); and
  2. Have expertise in one of the eight priority research areas (the active grant does not have to be for research in the priority research areas).

Additional Requirements for Nominators

Nominators recruiting doctoral students must:

  • Hold Graduate Faculty Membership with the School of Graduate Studies allowing doctoral supervision;
  • Commit to supervising the nominee to completion of their degree and fulfilling the normal funding commitment for doctoral students in their program (including beyond Year 3); and
  • Have received endorsement from the Graduate Chair of the Graduate Unit where the doctoral student nominee will be registered.

Nominators recruiting postdoctoral researchers must:

  • Commit to supervising the nominee to completion of their postdoctoral engagement; and
  • Have received endorsement from the Budgetary Chair in the unit/department where the postdoctoral fellow nominee will be engaged (for U of T based postdocs) .

 

Nominees (Doctoral Students and Postdoctoral Researchers):

  1. Must not be affiliated with a Canadian institution at the time of nomination;
  2. Must be currently studying or working abroad; and
  3. Proposed research is in one of the eight priority research areas.

Additional Requirements for Nominees

Doctoral Nominees must:

  • Have applied for admission to a funded doctoral program within the School of Graduate Studies (PhD or SJD) to start in September 2026 or January 2027

Postdoctoral Researcher Nominees must:

  • Be eligible to commence a postdoctoral (trainee) engagement prior to March 31, 2027

Nomination Process

This award program operates through a faculty nomination process. U of T academic divisions and affiliated hospitals with allocations, will develop local processes to identify eligible faculty members to receive an institutional nomination. Interested faculty members and principal investigators are encouraged to contact their Divisional or Hospital Research Office for information on their local nomination processes.

  • Faculty members who have been identified to receive a nomination (nominators) are granted the opportunity to recruit a new doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher (nominee)
  • One nomination allows the nominator to recruit one individual
  • The award will support the student’s or postdoctoral fellow’s funding throughout the period of the award

Interested students and postdoctoral researchers who meet the eligibility criteria are encouraged to contact their proposed doctoral supervisor or faculty member to express their interest in being nominated.

Contacts & Resources

Faculty/PI Nominators:

Interested faculty members and principal investigators are encouraged to contact their Divisional or Hospital Research Office for information on their local nomination processes.

Student and Postdoctoral Researcher Nominees:

Interested doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers who meet the eligibility criteria are encouraged to contact their proposed doctoral supervisor or faculty member to express their interest in being nominated.

Program Information: Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards Q&A