SSHRC has launched a new funding opportunity: Destination Horizon Grants.  These grants are intended to support SSHRC-eligible researchers whose primary affiliation is with an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution, to build capacity, foster existing partnerships, and further develop networks and/or consortia with partners in the European Union and other “associated countries”, with the ultimate goal of applying to Horizon Europe (HE)—Pillar II calls with a collaborative proposal.  Applications for the Destination Horizon grants are submitted on the SSHRC Convergence portal. 

All HE Pillar II projects are implemented by an interdisciplinary consortium (partnership of organizations across different nations, which must include at least 3 partners (beyond Canada, this must include a partner from at least one EU Member State).  Most HE research consortia consist of 10-20 partners, and have one lead institution.

Consortium partners can be legal entities engaging in breakthrough research, including

• academics
• industrial researchers
• small- to medium-sized enterprises
• non-profit and charity sector entities
• other research and innovation actors in Canada

The purpose of this initiative is to assist Canadian researchers in making the connections and developing the networks needed to successfully join a research consortium in preparation to apply to Horizon Europe.

FUNDING:  SSHRC will provide up to $15,000 for one year; 100% matching cash funds is required, for a total maximum funding of $30,000.  Matching funds will be provided through the internal VPRI International Research Partnership Award mechanism for any applications selected and funded by SSHRC. 

Funds may be used for connection-type activities, including but not limited to:

• Travel expenses for PI, co-investigators and collaborators (travel to Europe or to Canada)
• Workshops or conferences
• Networking
• Proposal development
• Team-building consultants

Funds may not be used to conduct actual research activities.

ELIGIBILITY & SELECTION:  There are no merit criteria for selection.  All applications deemed eligible will be entered into a randomized selection process to determine awards. An eligible application that is not randomly selected for an award may be re-submitted for a future competition.

To be eligible for this funding opportunity, applicants must demonstrate:

• their eligible affiliation and primary affiliation in the social sciences or humanities;
• their readiness to further develop networks and/or consortia with EU and other associated countries’ researchers, with the ultimate goal of applying to a Horizon Europe—Pillar II call;
• eligible budget requests; and
• 100% matching cash contributions from the host institution.

SSHRC’s third and final competition is now open; the first intake was in January, the second was in May.  Any application that was previously submitted but not selected by SSHRC may be re-submitted for the next round.

Institutional selection and submission:  Each post-secondary institution may only submit up to three Destination Horizon Grant applications for a given deadline.  If more than 3 eligible applications are received for a given deadline, the Office of the VPRI will apply the same two-stage random selection process to select the applications that will be submitted.  Therefore, a strict internal deadline will be treated as an Expression of Interest - at a minimum, a draft of the Program Description must be received by that date.  EOIs received after the EOI/Internal Deadline will not be considered for that round, but may be considered for the following round.  Please submit a copy of the Program Description directly to either Nicole or myself.  If required, the selection process will take place within 24 hours and you will be notified ASAP if you can proceed to complete the application.

Applications are submitted on the Convergence portal.  For the purpose of this application, please note that Lakehead is the "host" organization, and only one Letter of Support (from the VPRI) is required.  (Ignore the plural "Letters" of support indicated in the application portal).

This funding opportunity follows the agreement signed by the Government of Canada and the European Commission giving Canada status as an "Associated Country" status (Pillar II only) and enables Canadians to participate in Horizon Europe funding.

For examples of past and current HE calls for proposals involving a SSH component, please click HERE.   Some HE calls are currently open; the 2025 call is active and the draft 2026-27 work plans are available (detailing new calls 2025-2027), with increased opportunities for SSH participation.  For questions or assistance with work plans or HE calls, please contact intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

For examples of HE funded projects with an SSH component, please click HERE.

For questions or assistance, please contact Jill Sherman at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca or Nicole Westlund Stewart, sshrc.research@lakeheadu.ca.

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

• Foster the creation and/or strengthening of research partnerships that reinforce trust and mutual understanding between researchers, knowledge users (including people with lived and/or living experience, policy makers, decision makers, and health providers), Knowledge Holders, communities, and health and community organizations (including public health).
• Support the time and enablers required for meaningful co-produced activities that are driven by the needs of communities and/or organizations in order to produce a useful and/or useable output or outcome, and that will advance health equity and/or other goals of the Quintuple Aim Framework.
• Evaluate co-production processes used within the research partnerships, as part of a learning approach that contributes to continuous improvement and the field of knowledge mobilization.

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

• Support original, high quality research in digital health that has the potential to catalyse future research (e.g. may support securing funding through Project Grant and at other Agencies/Councils), including generation of pilot data, and research into evaluation, scale up, or implementation of a digital health product, platform or application.
• Incentivize research that focuses on digital health solutions for the CIHR-IMHA mandate areas.
• Foster a community of CIHR-IMHA digital health researchers that partner with Canadian leaders in equitable digital science.
• Provide research leadership, stimulate innovative research and practice, and strengthen research capacity by dedicating funds to early and mid-career researchers as part of CIHR-IMHA's commitment to Nurture Leaders.
• Strengthen health research by embedding patient and/or community engagement in the funding opportunity.

The specific objective of this funding opportunity is to:

• Catalyze and support research efforts of Canadian researchers to use the available  Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) data to better understand how biological, medical, psychological, social and/or economic aspects of people's lives have an impact on both maintaining health and the development of disease and disability as people age.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships will be open to excellent researchers of any nationality.

The scheme also encourages researchers to work on research and innovation projects in the non-academic sector and is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, to those who are displaced by conflict, as well as to researchers with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers in research.

Fellowships will be provided to excellent researchers, undertaking international mobility either to or between EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, as well as to non-associated Third Countries. Applications will be made jointly by the researcher and a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector.

Postdoctoral Fellowships either can take place in Europe (i.e. in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country) or in a Third Country not associated to Horizon Europe.

NOTE:  Canada is associated to Horizon Europe for Pillar II programs only.  MSCA is Pillar I.  For the purpose of this program, Canada is a Third Country not associated to Horizon Europe.  

The Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) program recognizes and supports the next generation of outstanding innovators, knowledge workers, creative thinkers and researchers at a pivotal time in their careers. The program provides funding and flexibility, empowering Canadian and international leaders in innovation and scholarship of tomorrow to develop the skills to build world-class research and drive Canadian prosperity and competitiveness.

The Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF) is an initiative to strengthen the critical minerals sector by supporting projects that will stimulate investments in Ontario’s critical minerals minerals supply chain and protect the province’s economic interests.

The CMIF supports projects that involve research, development and commercialization of innovative technologies, techniques, processes and solutions for critical minerals and relate to Ontario’s key priority areas. Objectives of the CMIF include:

• increasing critical minerals exploration, mining, development, production and processing
• stimulating investment in Ontario’s critical minerals supply chain
• enhancing collaboration between industry, academia, start-ups, and research and development firms to encourage innovation in the critical minerals sector

Eligible recipients can receive up to $500,000 per project to cover 50% of eligible costs.

The RTI grants program provides the primary avenue for university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering to obtain up to $150,000 in support for research tools and instruments with a net cost between $7,001 and $250,000. Net cost is defined as the purchase cost of the equipment after any discount from the vendor and before taxes, customs and importation fees, transportation and shipping charges, and assembly and installation costs. The vendor discount cannot be offered in exchange for services from users benefiting the vendor company. The research community is also encouraged to explore other avenues for funding research tools and instruments, including NSERC’s other programs that allow the purchase of equipment as eligible expenses.

NSERC will only accept the following requests:

• for tools and instruments that form a comprehensive system intended to support NSERC-funded research in the natural sciences and engineering:
  • a comprehensive system is one in which each tool or instrument forms part of an integrated system of operation to support the research program(s)
  • requests that bundle unrelated tools and instruments together will not be accepted
• for the purchase of new, used or refurbished equipment, for the repair, upgrade or rental of equipment or for the fabrication of equipment that is not readily available off the shelf
• for equipment that is purchased or rented after the application deadline