Current Funding Opportunities

The grants available for co-funding by ASC and Brain Canada are:

• New Investigator Operating Grants are designed to help launch the careers of outstanding researchers who are within the first six (6) years of their initial academic appointment. The ASRP will provide up to $200,000 for a period of up to four (4) years. Brain Canada Foundation will co-fund up to two (2) successful applications.

• Proof of Concept Grants are designed to fund innovative, potentially high-risk, and high-reward research that pushes beyond the boundaries of our existing understanding of dementia. The ASRP will provide up to $100,000 for a period of up to three (3) years. Brain Canada Foundation will co-fund up to twelve (12) successful applications.

Evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation, and creativity. Brain Canada is committed to excellence through equity, and we encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply to our funding opportunities, which will promote the expression of diverse perspectives, approaches, and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups.

Click here to view the ASRP guidelines.

Results will be announced in late spring of 2024, and the earliest funding start date is July 1, 2024.

Application deadline: November 3rd, 2023, at 5:00 PM EST

Please note that applications to the Proof-of-Concept Grants were pre-screened through the submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI). The deadline to submit an LOI was July 17th, 2023 and only applicants who were invited to submit a Full Application are eligible to do so at this stage.

Should you have any questions, please contact research@alzheimer.ca

This program has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) Brain Canada Foundation, and Alzheimer Society of Canada. To date, Health Canada has invested $200 million through the CBRF which has been matched by Brain Canada Foundation and its donors and partners.

Areas of interest for this program include, but are not limited to, quality metrics, systems of care, translation of interventions, increasing diversity within research and clinical trials, risk reduction, development of novel methods of data collection or analysis, and novel measures to validate previously developed measures or evaluation of measures in diverse and underrepresented populations.

Through this partnership, Brain Canada will co-fund up to four Canadian-led teams. Each award is limited to USD $250,000 over a period of up to two years.

Click here to view the Request for Applications.

Deadline for receipt of Letters of Intent: 5:00 pm ET on September 20, 2023  

Deadline for receipt of Full Applications:  5:00 pm ET on November 29, 2023  

Evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation, and creativity. Brain Canada is committed to excellence through equity, and we encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply to our funding opportunities, which will promote the expression of diverse perspectives, approaches, and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups.

This program has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) Brain Canada Foundation, and Alzheimer’s Association.

Brain Canada, in collaboration with Brain Changes Initiative (BCI) has now launched the Innovation Grants for Research Impact in Traumatic Brain Injury funding opportunity to generate creative, novel and practical evidence-based solutions that address stakeholder-identified and prioritized needs, listed below, to improve the trajectory of recovery for individuals after brain injury.

• Full assessment and customized treatment plan informed by the areas of brain that were damaged and severity 
  • Goal: Create a comprehensive assessment tool and treatment planning template for trained frontline workers to inventory and rate all patient symptoms to inform a realistic treatment plan (with or without diagnosis).
• Less emphasis on structural characteristics and more on functional ability during assessments 
  • Goal: Ensure functional deficits are identified for concussion/mTBI so they can be treated; make fMRI more widely available by ensuring quality testing occurs in less time.
• Reduced waiting lists/immediate access to outpatient brain injury services and treatment facilities 
  • Goal: Prove the cost effectiveness of balancing the proportion of funding allocated to outpatient community services (as opposed to acute care) as evidence for provincial decision-makers to change funding model.
• Transfer of information from emergency departments to family physicians so brain injury is not missed 
  • Goals: More effective communication between emergency departments and family physicians for items to follow up on relating to the patient; prove the importance and cost-effectiveness of ensuring all patients have a family physician for follow up.
• Ongoing education (CMEs) for doctors about new research and therapies for brain injury 
  • Goal: To increase physician awareness and motivation a) about their need to take this training, and b) that it is available and how to access it.
• Accurate prognostication (to know expected outcomes) to inform decision-making by doctors, families, and insurance payees 
  • Goal: Make the assessment of existing prognostic factors systematic and standardized by consolidating what we already know.
• Reduced bureaucracy, paperwork, unnecessary delays, and barriers across systems (health, financial, insurance, legal, etc.) 
  • Goal: Create transparency of the paperwork needed for the patient’s recovery; seeking, gathering, completing, organizing and submitting and communicating about documentation.
• Minimize occurrence of incorrect assumptions that can prevent detection of brain injury, especially for Indigenous Peoples 
  • Goal:  Understand the patient journey (process) from beginning to end to determine where and how brain injury in Indigenous patients is missed.
• Increased detection, treatment, and prevention for special populations (e.g., people in situations of abuse, people experiencing homelessness) 
  • Goal: Collect data using a simple screening tool for flagging possible brain injury in hospitals and other relevant contexts, as well as socio-economic data.

An overall funding envelope of $1.4M will be available for this program to support three to four grants over two years. This funding opportunity is open to interdisciplinary research teams of two or more members and must include a minimum of two independent investigators.

Evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation, and creativity. Brain Canada and Brain Changes Initiative are committed to excellence through equity, and we encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply to our funding opportunities, which will promote the expression of diverse perspectives, approaches, and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups.

Click here to view the Request for Applications.

Registration Form Deadline: 17:00 ET on September 27, 2023

Deadline for Receipt of Full Applications: 17:00 ET on January 25, 2024

This program has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) Brain Canada Foundation, and Brain Changes Initiative (BCI).

This funding opportunity focuses on CHD throughout the lifespan in the context of the whole-person with consideration of Indigenous health and wellness and health equity. Research Teams will focus on one of three priority Research Areas: (1) Causes and Early Detection; (2) Brain Health & CHD; and (3) Care Transitions. 

The competition aims to bring together multi-institutional, interdisciplinary health research teams with multiple collaborators (e.g., researchers, clinicians, people with lived/living experience (PWLE), health care providers, Indigenous Elders or Knowledge Keepers, government, policy makers, not-for-profit organizations, and industry) to create and mobilize knowledge that will improve the health and wellness of individuals living with CHD, their families and caregivers. 

Brain Canada together with Heart & Stroke, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH) and CIHR Institute of Genetics (IG) are collectively committing to funding three (3) interdisciplinary Team Grants, with a total funding envelope of $5,250,000 CAD. The maximum amount per Team Grant is $350,000 CAD per year for a maximum of five (5) years. 

Click here to view the Request for Applications. 

Click here to view the Registration Form.  

Click here to download the Application Form.

Registration Form Deadline: 16:00 ET on September 15, 2023 

Application Form Deadline: 16:00 ET on November 15, 2023 

Evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation, and creativity. Brain Canada is committed to excellence through equity, and we encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply to our funding opportunities, which will promote the expression of diverse perspectives, approaches, and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups. 

This program has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) Brain Canada Foundation, Heart & Stroke and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (CIHR-ICRH).  

Investing in mental health research within the paediatric rheumatic disease community is critical to improving the overall health and well-being of those living with these diseases.  

This funding opportunity is open to teams in Canada with at least one paediatric rheumatologist and one member with demonstrated research and/or clinical experience in the mental health field, with at least two distinct institutions in Canada represented on the team. A person with lived and/or living experience of paediatric rheumatic disease must be involved as a collaborator (including caregivers). Successful applications can receive $240,000 over two years. 

Evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation, and creativity. Brain Canada is committed to excellence through equity, and we encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply to our funding opportunities, which will promote the expression of diverse perspectives, approaches, and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups. 

Please note that this funding opportunity includes a Registration Form and a Full Application stage. 

Click here to view the Request for Applications for more details.

Click here to download the Registration Form.

Deadline to submit your Registration Form: July 26, 2023 17:00 ET 

Deadline for Receipt of Full Applications: September 12, 2023 17:00 ET 

Should you have any questions, please contact mentalhealthgrants@braincanada.ca.  

This program has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) Brain Canada Foundation, and Cassie + Friends. To date, Health Canada has invested $200 million through the CBRF which has been matched by Brain Canada Foundation and its donors and partners. 

Brain Canada, Krembil Foundation, and Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI), with the support of The Erika Legacy Foundation and Power Corporation of Canada have launched the Basics of Better Mental Health Program, which will fund experimental research that will provide insight into the causes and onset of mental illnesses, explore the neuropathological changes and information-processing deficits that may eventually lead to new directions for treatments and interventions, and explore the role of sex and gender in mental health.

The inclusion of sex-specific biological considerations in mental health research is important for understanding the biological roots of mental illnesses. Mental health disorders that may be explored, but are not limited to, in this competition are; depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia, and substance use disorders.

A $3.3 M pool of funds will be available for this program to support three team grants of $1.1M each, over three years.

Evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation, and creativity. Brain Canada is committed to excellence through equity, and we encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply to our funding opportunities, which will promote the expression of diverse perspectives, approaches, and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups.

Click here to view the Request for Applications.

Click here to download the Registration Form.

Deadline for Registration Form: June 27, 2023

Deadline for Receipt of Full Applications: September 8, 2023

The objective of the competition is to increase the number of highly qualified Indigenous trainees from First Nations, Inuit or Métis communities, whose traditional and ancestral territories are in Canada, committed to working in heart and/or brain research. 

The multi-year awards will provide financial support for up to eight masters students for up to two years and up to five doctoral students for up to three years. 

2023 Master’s Personnel Awards for Indigenous Scholars 

The stipends awarded will be up to $50,000 CAD ($25,000 per year for up to two years), enabling Indigenous trainees (including Elders and Knowledge Keepers) to focus on their Master’s research studies and engage with mentors as part of their training. 

Click  here  to view the Request for Applications. 

Deadline for receipt of Applications: Friday, September 1, 2023 at 15:00 ET 

2023 Doctoral Personnel Awards for Indigenous Scholars 

The stipends awarded will be up to $90,000 CAD ($30,000 per year for up to three years), enabling Indigenous trainees (including Elders and Knowledge Keepers) to focus on their Doctoral research studies and engage with mentors as part of their training. 

Click  here  to view the Request for Applications. 

Deadline for receipt of Applications: Friday, September 1, 2023 at 15:00 ET 

Evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation, and creativity. Brain Canada is committed to excellence through equity, and we encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply to our funding opportunities, which will promote the expression of diverse perspectives, approaches, and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups.