CCSIF grants are intended to foster community innovation by connecting the talent, facilities and capabilities of Canada’s colleges and polytechnics with the research needs of community organizations. CCSIF proposals should facilitate collaborative and innovative research that brings together researchers, students and partners to address challenges in community innovation in the social sciences, humanities, health sciences, natural sciences and engineering research fields.

CCSIF grants enable colleges to increase their capacity to work with communities, with the goal of developing partnerships that foster community innovation in areas such as the integration of vulnerable populations, community development, education and training, climate change, environmental degradation, and health and well-being. Canada’s colleges and polytechnics are well-equipped to contribute to community innovation initiatives by tapping into their departments’ and programs’ knowledge, experience, facilities and community connections.

CCSIF grants are managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). CCSIF research proposals can be multidisciplinary and may fall under the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and/or health sciences. Applications exclusively in the social sciences and humanities, health sciences, or the natural sciences and engineering will be funded by SSHRC, CIHR, or NSERC, as appropriate. Multidisciplinary grants containing a natural sciences and engineering research component will be funded by NSERC. All applications must be submitted to NSERC.

More funding available with Joint Initiatives

Canadian colleges declared eligible to administer grants according to the eligibility requirements for colleges of at least one of the three federal granting agencies (NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC) may apply. If the proposed research and knowledge or technology transfer activities lie entirely within the mandate of a single granting agency, the college must be declared eligible to receive funding from that granting agency.

• The college must offer programs in the humanities and social sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and/or health sciences, in line with the applied research areas proposed.
• The college’s faculty members involved in CCSIF grants must be engaged in applied research in the humanities and social sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and/or health sciences.
• The college must provide the space, facilities and services to enable its faculty members in humanities and social sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and/or health sciences to conduct applied research.

In addition, the research proposal should identify a principal investigator responsible for the intellectual direction of the research and research-related activities. The principal investigator must be affiliated with the administering institution (the college) when they apply and must be qualified to undertake the research independently. The principal investigator may be listed as the applicant or a co-applicant.

A maximum of five applications can be submitted per college to each competition in any research area covered by the Tri-agency, but a different principal investigator should lead each proposal.

For a list of Canadian colleges currently eligible to apply, see the list of eligible institutions for the agency you are applying to (NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC). To become an eligible institution, see the Institutional eligibility requirements and the Frequently asked questions on institutional eligibility web pages.

CCSIF grants support well-defined and focused community innovation projects undertaken by college researchers with their partners from the public, private or not-for-profit sectors. Projects may range from one to three years in duration.

Community is a broad category, open to interpretation by institutions as they see fit; however, it generally refers to the communities in which the institution is embedded, whether regionally, provincially or nationally.

Community innovation refers to developing new ideas or using existing ideas to solve community challenges. Community innovation involves an initiative, product, process or program that creates positive social and/or health outcomes for societies. It can result in more effective, fair and durable solutions to complex social problems. It aims to benefit the entire community and not just some individuals. Community innovation increases the ability of communities to act collectively and promotes solutions to accelerate technological and other forms of innovation.

All proposals require evidence of the following:

• Specific performance metrics and targeted goals that will be used to demonstrate the impact of the project
• Strong relationships with community partners that have the capability and willingness to implement research results in a Canadian setting
• Detailed planning and sound budget justification (all partners should be involved in project planning sessions)
• Student training
• The validity of the underlying assumptions for the proposed research, intended approaches, milestones and deliverables
• Meaningful incorporation of equitable, inclusive practices that support and encourage diversity and are appropriate to the proposed research

Although curriculum development may be included in the proposal, it must not be the project's primary objective. Proposals must include a research component and/or address research challenges in community innovation.

For details on integrating equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations into research and links to additional resources, see the Guide to addressing EDI in College and Community Innovation program grant applications.

NSERC is 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 EDI and is aligned with the objectives of the Tri-agency EDI Action Plan. Quality research considers EDI both in the research environment (forming a research team, student training) and in the research process.

In this funding opportunity, applicants are encouraged to increase the inclusion and advancement of underrepresented groups to enhance excellence in research and training. EDI considerations must be integrated into:

• the rationale of the composition of research teams
• the training, mentorship, and professional development opportunities for students and trainees

The aim of the proposed actions should be to remove systemic barriers to the recruitment and full participation of individuals from underrepresented groups, including women, Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis), persons with disabilities, racialized groups, and members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

In addition to EDI in the research environment, the applicant is encouraged to describe how they will integrate EDI into aspects of the research process, such as the research design, research questions, methodology, analyses and interpretation, how the research will be disseminated, and how the knowledge will be mobilized. Integrating EDI considerations can strengthen your proposal.

The nature and extent of meaningful engagement in a project should be determined jointly by the relevant individuals or communities and the research team and appropriate to community characteristics and the nature of the research.

Engagement must start at the very beginning of project planning, in developing the research question itself and continue throughout the remainder of the research process.

Applicants whose research involves and engages with Indigenous Peoples, communities or individuals must:

• consult and consider concepts, principles and protocols in the CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities and other similar guidance.
• consider how the research respectfully involves and engages with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples or other Indigenous nations, communities, societies or individuals
• answer "Yes" to the application question "Does the proposed research involve Indigenous Peoples or communities?"
• demonstrate in the research proposal how you will integrate the relevant principles and protocols for conducting respectful research with Indigenous Peoples and communities into each stage of the research process (i.e., in what ways does the proposed research respectfully and reciprocally involve and engage with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples)
• include evidence of support (e.g., letters of support or an equivalent document) from the Indigenous communities that may be affected by the project or have rights or a stake in the proposed research, confirming that the project is a research need or priority for these communities.

Examples of best practices and forms of meaningful engagement that might be appropriate for various types of research are available in the CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities.

We also encourage applicants to contact the Indigenous community that will be involved in the proposed research, and the host college for additional resources, policies and guidance.

CCI program staff will verify the content of the proposals.

For applications that answer “Yes” to the question “Does the proposed research involve Indigenous Peoples or communities?”, CCI program staff:

• may contact applicants to clarify if more information is required (e.g., evidence of support)
• where possible, ensure that reviewers on these applications have experience or expertise in research involving Indigenous Peoples or communities

For applications that answer “No” to the question “Does the proposed research involve Indigenous Peoples or communities?”, CCI program staff:

• may seek guidance from reviewers who have experience or expertise in Indigenous research to determine whether the proposed research involves Indigenous Peoples or communities
• may contact applicants to clarify if more information is required (e.g., evidence of support)
• where possible, ensure that the application is assessed by committee members with experience or expertise in Indigenous research if it is determined that the proposed research is likely to involve Indigenous Peoples or communities

All committee members reviewing applications are also expected to consult and consider the concepts, principles and protocols available in the CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities and other similar guidance.

Partners may be Canadian organizations from the private, public and/or not-for-profit sectors that are not from the college or university environment. Hospitals and medical/clinical institutes may also be considered as formal partners on a case-by-case basis. You must seek approval from the CCI program team prior to submitting an application with a hospital or medical/clinical institute as a formal partner. Although a cash contribution is not required, your partnership must include at least one partner organization that is recognized for cost-sharing under the College and Community Innovation program partnership guidelines. Individuals from partner organizations can be part of the research team as collaborators for a CCSIF proposal and must bring their organization’s resources to the project.

Partner organizations are expected to:

• participate actively in the research activities and contribute meaningfully to their success by mobilizing knowledge and ensuring that the results have beneficial economic, social, health or environmental impacts for Canada
• collaborate actively in the project’s research and provide contributions (cash and/or in-kind) to support activities directly related to the research
• have the capability and willingness to implement and exploit the research results to benefit the college community and/or Canadian society

CCSIF grants can be used to fund direct costs of research and some indirect costs of up to $120,000 per year, not including contributions from partner organizations.

Colleges may request funding with other opportunities as part of their CCSIF applications to help larger projects and support additional students. Current joint funding opportunities are detailed below.

For details on the use of grant funds, see the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration.

This program has exceptions to Part 2 of the Guide, Use of grant funds:

• Overhead and administration costs equivalent to 20% of the annual grant amount are automatically calculated; such costs include eligible expenditures in the Research Support Fund (e.g., grant writing, financial reporting, etc.).
• CCSIF grants can cover the salary of replacement faculty hired to backfill a college faculty member’s involvement in an applied research project and expenditures for recruitment-related activities.
• Salaries and non-discretionary benefits for non-faculty researchers, part-time faculty, technical and professional staff carrying out applied research, research administrators, business development and technology and/or knowledge transfer personnel are covered.
• Stipends for college students are eligible. College students are considered students while enrolled in a pedagogical program offered by the college and 12 months after program completion. Salaries and stipends for university students are ineligible as student salary expenditures; university students involved in projects must be remunerated as technical or professional college staff or as consultants.
• Salaries are covered for project management activities leading to the optimal use of project resources to meet the research objectives in a timely and budget-efficient manner.
• Grant funds may not flow back to a partner organization.

NSERC recognizes that some not-for-profit organizations face financial difficulty in replacing staff so that a team member can participate in a CCSIF-funded research project. To help address this, a salary research allowance can be requested for a Canadian not-for-profit organization with an employee listed as a collaborator on the application. Salary research allowances cover up to 50% of the cost of temporarily replacing an employee from a not-for-profit organization who will devote their time as a collaborator on a CCSIF-funded research project. Applicants can request up to 50% of the annual salary (including employee benefits) of the person who will be replaced, for each year of the award.

Researchers holding an academic position at a postsecondary institution and government employees are not eligible for salary research allowances.

Consult the Instructions for completing a CCSIF grants application for guidance on additional requirements.

• Mitacs-NSERC joint funding opportunity

Applicants may include in their CCSIF application a request for additional support through Mitacs Accelerate internships as a component of training highly qualified personnel (HQP). Mitacs internships require an eligible partner cash contribution and cannot be the only mechanism for student and HQP training.

Applicants who wish to include Mitacs Accelerate internships in their CCSIF application should contact their local Mitacs Business Development representative to obtain the Mitacs-NSERC joint application form. The Mitacs-NSERC joint application form must be submitted with the CCSIF application form in the Convergence Portal (see the Instructions for completing a CCSIF grants application for more information).

NSERC will conduct the peer review of joint applications, and funding decisions will be communicated to the applicants jointly.

The application submission deadline is February 25, 2026, before 8:00 pm (ET).

Applications must be submitted through the Convergence Portal. For more details, see the Instructions for completing a CCSIF grants application. Partners are invited to consult the CCI partner organization instructions for more information.

CCSIF applications are adjudicated through a competitive process. Each CCSIF grant application is reviewed by a multidisciplinary committee with relevant expertise from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. The exact number and composition of the review committee membership will be determined by the number and nature of the proposals received. Committee members are required to have no conflict of interest with the applicant, partners or any team members. They are asked to evaluate the proposal and make a funding recommendation to NSERC based on the evaluation criteria for the funding opportunity.

Applications are evaluated based on the following criteria:

• The focus and clarity of the objectives of the proposal
• The relevance of the proposed activities in relation to research challenges in community innovation
• The appropriateness of the literature review
• The quality and feasibility of the work plan and the appropriateness of the research methodology, including integration of EDI in the research process
• The project’s potential to apply knowledge in an innovative manner and/or lead to the development of new knowledge
• The suitability of the impact measurements used to monitor progress and assess outcomes
• The overall budget and the justification of the individual budget items

• The effectiveness of the proposal to foster innovation that addresses the needs of the community and partner organization(s)
• The total resources available from the college, the partner organization(s) and other sources, and their relevance to the project
• The involvement of the partner organization(s) and/or relevant stakeholders in the design and conduct of the research and/or related activities, and their capability to implement and/or use the project results
• The quality and appropriateness of the plans for knowledge mobilization, including effective dissemination, exchange and engagement with partner organizations and stakeholders and the likelihood of impact within and/or beyond the organization(s) and/or research community
• The long-term potential for the research results to lead to measurable Canadian societal benefits at the local, regional or national level

• The experience and expertise of the research team to address the proposed objectives competently and to complete the project successfully
• The quality, quantity and significance of the principal investigator’s and the research team’s experience working with community partners
• The identification and description of at least one concrete practice to ensure that EDI is intentionally and proactively considered in recruiting, selecting and/or integrating personnel into the research team

• The appropriateness of the overall plan to incorporate student training as an integral component of college applied research activities, including opportunities for enriched student experiences in applied research and problem-solving skills, and in professional skills, such as leadership, communication, collaboration and entrepreneurship; the participation of college students and trainees must be clearly described
• The quality, quantity and impact of student training and mentoring, and the extent to which these enhanced skills meet the needs of the community, region and/or partner organization(s)
• The identification and description of at least one concrete practice that will promote the participation of a diverse group of students and trainees, including those from underrepresented groups, as well as promote an equitable, inclusive and accessible training environment

For more information about review process timelines, consult the Application deadlines and notification of decision page.

If your application is approved for funding, you will receive an award letter, and you must adhere to the Terms and conditions of award.

If a university or another college is co-funded on a CCSIF project, it receives funds through the college that submitted the application (i.e., the administering organization). Once the grant funds have been transferred to the administering organization, that institution will transfer funds to the other eligible participating institutions per the application's approved budget and budget justification (see the Transfer of funds section of the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration for additional guidance).

Your award letter will indicate the start date of your project. NSERC will transfer your grant funds to your college within 30 days of that start date. Note that applications funded through CIHR and SSHRC can experience delays in the transfer of funds due to the mechanism for transferring funds between agencies.

Colleges must acknowledge the support of granting agencies (NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC as applicable) in all communications (verbally and in writing) about the research and research results. Furthermore, under Canada's Official Languages Act, agencies must take measures to promote the use of both English and French in Canadian society. Therefore, we ask that you acknowledge your agency's funding in both English and French, verbally and in writing, whenever possible. For sample text and additional information, visit the Acknowledgement and logos (NSERC), Promoting your research (CIHR) or Acknowledging SSHRC support webpages.

In coordination with CIHR and SSHRC, NSERC will make an official annual announcement of the recipients of CCSIF grants. Colleges are asked to refrain from making any public announcements until after this official announcement. NSERC will notify applicants and college communications offices about this announcement as soon as possible. This does not prevent you from confidentially sharing information about your funding with your colleagues and members of the research team or referring to CCI funding in applications for other funding.

Please refer to the College and Community Innovation program policy on intellectual property, research agreements, patents and copyright webpage.

The grant recipient must send NSERC a final report at the end of the project. Your final report must describe the impacts of the research and development.

NSERC will also ask the partner organization(s), students and trainees to complete a survey on the project's success. If a partner is a large consortium of private-sector organizations, the consortium administrator may provide this report on behalf of the group.

Final reports will be completed and submitted on the Convergence Portal. Examples of report templates are available on the CCSIF Resources page.

Institutions or partner organizations that do not provide the requested reports on projects may no longer be eligible to apply for or participate in new proposals.

You are not required to strictly adhere to the budget presented in the proposal as long as the grant funds are used for research, training and other eligible activities as intended. However, you must ensure that the budget items (e.g., equipment, overhead, etc.) comply with the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration, Part 2: Use of grant funds (with exceptions noted under Funding).

The administering institution must complete a Grant Amendment Form and submit to grantsadministration@nserc-crsng.gc.ca (with CC to colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca) to inform NSERC of administrative changes, such as:

• Deferral of grant instalment
• Extension period for the authority to use grant funds
• Continuing eligibility
• Changes to individuals on the grant team (including the applicant)
• Termination of a grant

Note that existing grants can add new partners, but they must be in line with their existing awards and address the original objectives of their grant proposals. For additional information on administrative changes, consult Part 6: Administrative changes of the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration.

Changes to supporting organizations (partners) must be directly communicated to the CCI team (colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca).

A one-year time extension to use the grant funds beyond the project end date is automatically provided for all CCSIF grants. Contact colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca for additional information on grant extensions.

• College and Community Innovation program: partner organization instructions for completing the partner module in the Convergence Portal
• College and Community Innovation program partnership guidelines
• Partner organization supplemental information questionnaire
• Terms and conditions of applying for partner organizations

• Budget template
• Instructions for completing a CCSIF grant application
• Roles and eligibility requirements to apply for or hold College and Community Innovation program grant funds

• CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities
• Guide to addressing equity, diversity and inclusion in CCI program grant applications
• NSERC guide on integrating equity, diversity and inclusion considerations in research
• Resource videos: Strengthening research by integrating EDI considerations in the research process
• Tri-agency EDI Action Plan
• Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration
• Tri-agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

• Terms and conditions of applying for applicants
• Terms and conditions of applying for co-applicants
• Terms and conditions of applying for contributors
• Terms and conditions of applying for participants

• CCSIF peer-review committee

• NSERC funding decisions
• Terms and conditions of award

• Final report template for ARTP, ARD and CCSIF grants (for all ARTP grants and for ARD and CCSIF grants awarded in 2022 or later)
• Partner report template for ARTP, ARD, CCSIF and Mobilize grants (for all ARTP grants and for ARD, CCSIF and Mobilize grants awarded in 2022 or later)
• Trainee report template for ARTP, ARD, CCSIF and Mobilize grants (for all ARTP grants and for ARD, CCSIF and Mobilize grants awarded in 2022 or later)

• Frequently asked questions about CCSIF grants
• List of eligible Canadian colleges

Email: ccsif-fiscc@nserc-crsng.gc.ca
Toll free: 1-855-275-2861

For help with online services
Email: websupport@convergence.gc.ca