Competition

* Unless explicitly noted, all times indicated for deadlines are for the appropriate NL timezone (NST or NDT)

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has released its draft 2027 Innovation Fund Call for Proposals, and is anticipated to officially launch the competition on June 3, 2026. CFI will award up to a total of $325M over its three competition streams:

• Stream 1: Leading edge of exploration and knowledge generation, which is open to proposals from all disciplines.

• Stream 2: Leading edge of exploration and knowledge generation in social sciences, humanities and arts (SSHA). To be eligible, a proposal’s primary field of research must be in SSHA.

• Stream 3: Creation, renewal and upgrade of core facilities. To access this stream, all requested infrastructure must be housed in and managed by a core facility. As defined by CFI, a core facility is a shared facility that provides centralized access to state-of-the-art research services, analyses, instruments, technology, expertise, training and education which are generally too expensive, complex or specialized for individual researchers to cost-effectively provide and sustain themselves.

Expression of Interest (EOI) (internal)

All applicants who are seeking CFI funds from Memorial’s 2027 Innovation Fund (IF) allocation – including those participating in proposals led by other CFI-eligible institutions - must submit an EOI to this internal Call for Proposals. To be considered, EOIs must provide all requested information by the July 20, 2026 internal submission deadline (HSS deadline July 14).

In addition to aligning with the strategic research priorities outlined in Memorial’s Research Strategy 2023-2028, research infrastructure projects should:

• Address Canada’s research needs that are relevant in the current global context

• Demonstrate a high level of readiness and the ability to achieve significant impact within a reasonable timeframe

• Build on existing strengths and partnerships where Canada is, or can become, a global leader.

In advance of the EOI Call for Proposals submission deadline, applicants must coordinate with the relevant Academic Unit(s) to ensure that all required signatures of approval are secured - note that HSS deadline is July 14, 2026 however, you must contact the Associate Dean (Research) and the HSS GFOs far in advance of this as there is a lot of coordination between various units that must occur before the HSS deadline. It is the responsibility of the applicants to ensure their proposals are ready to satisfy the Academic Unit(s) internal review timeline(s) ahead of the IF competition EOI submission RIS deadline of July 20th.

All EOIs must be emailed to Research Initiatives and Services (RIS) (ris@mun.ca) with the email subject “<lead applicant last name> 2027 CFI IF EOI”, along with PDFs uploaded, as detailed in the below document.

Review Process

For the internal EOI review, Memorial’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation (VPRI) will appoint members to a Selection Committee. Chaired by the VPRI, or their delegate, the Committee will be comprised of Academic Staff Members along with other internal / external voting members as appropriate. Non-voting support will be provided by RIS, and other personnel as required. All applicants will be notified in writing of the EOI results, with only those EOIs selected proceeding to a full application for submission to CFI’s 2027 CFI IF deadline in January 2027. Note that the CFI-IF first has a deadline to submit notices of intent to CFI of Sept. 29, 2026.

Provincial Matching Funds

At present, matching funds from the provincial Department of Jobs, Growth and Rural Development (JGRD) are limited. As significant amounts of match funding will need to be identified from sources outside of provincial leverage funding opportunities, applicants are strongly encouraged to consider a variety of matching fund sources in developing their EOIs.

Future CFI IF Opportunities

CFI now issues IF competition Calls every two to three years, with the next CFI IF calls expected in 2028 and 2030 for application submissions in 2029 and 2031, respectively. Because of the intended scope and required impact of successful Innovation Fund projects, prospective applicants are encouraged to begin to develop their project proposals well in advance of circulation of the next call for EOIs, as this will help ensure that future applications are able to propose appropriately mature research infrastructure projects.

Internal Memorial Process:  CFI competitions are managed directly by Research Initiatives and Services (RIS) in the Office of the Vice-President (Research). Prospective applicants should contact HSS Research Support Services as early as possible regarding applications and expressions of interest. See the attached PDF for details regarding the internal process. Submission of the internal EOI does not involve the Memorial Researcher Portal.

If you plan to apply to this competition or other research funding opportunities (as either PI or CI), as soon as possible, e-mail an HSS Grants Facilitator, Heather C. O’Brien (HSSResearchAdmin@mun.ca or 864-8603) or Matthew Milner (HSSResearchGrants@mun.ca or 864-8050), to notify the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of your intent to apply. E-mailing the intent to apply as early as possible will help to facilitate an efficient review. A Grants Facilitator can answer any questions you may have about internal or external submission procedures and may also be able to help with proposal development.

• CFI IF 2027 - combined call - July2026.pdf