Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards for Doctoral Students

Administered by the three federal research funding agencies: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards (Impact+ Training Awards) is a targeted, one-time initiative designed to recruit international or returning Canadian doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers to Canada. These awards support key priority areas, helping to build capacity, strengthen the research ecosystem and enhance Canada’s global competitiveness.

Further information of the selection process is underway and is subject to change once the institution receives more information. In the meantime, read the full announcement from the tri-agencies to learn more about these awards.

Value

The program will provide 600 doctoral scholarships across Canada valued at $40,000/year for up to three years.

Eligibility

Prospective doctoral students (nominee) must meet the following eligibility criteria: 

• Nominees can hold any citizenship, including Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada).
• Must not have a current affiliation with a Canadian institution.
• Must currently be studying or working abroad (this includes Canadian citizens/permanent residents currently outside the country).
  • Participation of Canadian citizens in this initiative is intended for those who have previously left Canada for research and/or work experience and who wish to return to Canada to continue their research. 
• Must be ready to activate the award in Canada by March 31, 2027. The Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide post-award policies apply to Impact+ Training Awards. Refer to the award holder’s guide regarding available start dates.
• Must have submitted a complete application for admission to the doctoral program by February 9, 2026 (Phase 1).
• Cannot hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment or be on leave from such an appointment concurrently with the Impact+ training award (some exceptions apply; see the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide for details). 
• There is no limit on the number of months completed in a doctoral degree for eligibility to the Impact+ training awards.
• To be eligible for nomination, the candidate’s research must align with one of the following priority areas:
  • Advanced digital technologies (AI, quantum, cybersecurity)
  • Health, including biotechnology 
  • Clean technology and resource value chains 
  • Environment, climate resilience, and the Arctic 
  • Food and water security 
  • Democratic and community resilience 
  • Manufacturing and advanced materials 
  • Defence and dual-use technologies

Faculty members (nominator) must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Must hold an active Tri-Agency grant  (CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC) with payments scheduled for the 2025–26 or 2026–27 fiscal years (see For Nominators at Canada Impact+Research Training Awards: Q&A, FAQ #17 for eligible grants)
• Must be eligible to supervise doctoral students.
• While the nominator’s research grant does not have to specifically be within one of the eight identified priority research areas, they must be able to facilitate the nominee conducting research in one of the identified areas. 

Other Restrictions

• Nominees can only be nominated by one nominator (cannot have multiple proposed supervisors or locations of tenure). 
• International students/researchers already working or studying at a Canadian institution are not eligible for the Impact+ training awards. Instead, they can apply for the CGRS D or CPRA. 
• Nominees cannot be currently holding another scholarship or postdoctoral research award from the three agencies or be currently benefiting from tri-agency funds from a supervisor’s grant. 
• Cannot have previously held doctoral-level scholarship from one of the three agencies

Application Procedures

• Prospective doctoral students (nominee) are to first contact a Faculty member (nominator) in the Department to which they wish to apply, who is willing to act as a potential supervisor for the Impact+ Training Awards.
• If supported by a proposed supervisor, the Faculty member (nominator) is to complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) Form. Refer to Nomination Procedures. 
• Must have submitted a completed application for admission to the doctoral program by February 9, 2026 (Phase 1).

Nomination Procedures

The Faculty member (nominator) is to complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) Form for the prospective doctoral student. Refer to the Eligibility section above for nominator eligibility criteria. 

The nominator and nominee are to select the agency whose research mandate most closely aligns to the nominee’s research subject matter. In most cases, the agency will be the same as the agency of the nominator’s grant.

EOI Forms will be reviewed by GPS. Those selected will be invited to put together a full application/nomination package to be submitted by the institution for the March 4 deadline (Phase 1).

Download the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards – Nomination form

Other Considerations

Research security requirements apply to this opportunity. If you are already or you plan to be a holder of research funding subject to the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern, you are reminded that under that Policy, if your research aims to advance a Sensitive Technology Research Area, no one on your team can have any active affiliations with a Named Research Organization. This includes any Canada+ Impact Research Training Award recipients. 

The Safeguarding Research Office (SRO) is able to support you in meeting the Government of Canada’s expectation (see question 7) that you conduct open-source due diligence to verify a prospective nominee’s affiliation and sources of funding or in-kind support. Please consult the SRO portal for more information on the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC) and for support with conducting open source due diligence. Please use the Category B form to request support on validating the affiliations of prospective nominees.

Additionally, please consult the SRO portal for more information about STRAC and the completion of the required Attestation Forms using the University’s Attestation App

Finally, all University of Alberta-affiliated individuals submitting an Attestation Form must also complete required research security training available in Canvas as an institutional condition of application. 

Deadline and Timelines

The Impact+ training awards will be processed by GPS and the agencies in two phases with separate deadlines:

Phase 1:

February 9, 2026: Faculty member (nominator) deadline to submit EOI Form to GPS. Those selected will be invited to put together a full application/nomination package to be submitted by the institution for the March 4 deadline.

Deadline for nominee to submit a complete application for admission to the doctoral program.

March 4, 2026: deadline for GPS to submit nominations to Tri-Council. Late or incomplete submissions will not be accepted by Tri-Council. With the exception of personal contact information, no changes or updates to submitted nominations can be made either before or after the deadline.

April 1, 2026: date Tri-Council expects to send award offers directly to nominees. Refer to the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide post-award policies regarding available start (award activation) dates.

Phase 2:

Details about Wave 2 will be communicated in Spring 2026.

TBD: Faculty member (nominator) deadline to submit EOI Form

TBD: deadline for GPS to submit nominations to Tri-Council. Late or incomplete submissions will not be accepted by Tri-Council. With the exception of personal contact information, no changes or updates to submitted nominations can be made either before or after the deadline.