Resources to apply and manage your award
Find all the resources research administrators need to apply for funding and manage awards
See past editions of the Policy and program guide for projects funded before November 2024.
Preparing to apply
Make sure your institution is eligible
To participate in our funding competitions, your institution must first be eligible to receive and administer CFI funding. Keep in mind that only Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions can be eligible to participate in our competitions. Individual researchers are not eligible to apply.
Determining your institution’s eligibility may take several months. We will not review incomplete eligibility applications, so be sure to submit everything that is required.
Contact eligibility [at] innovation.ca for more information.
Find out if your institution is already eligible
Consult our list of eligible institutions to see if your institution is already eligible.
Prepare your institution’s eligibility application
If you are a research administrator at an institution not yet eligible for CFI funding, you can submit an application for eligibility. Your application should include an institutional agreement and a strategic research plan, among other things. Consult the Policy and program guide for more detail on how to prepare your eligibility application.
- Complete an institutional agreement
Provide a completed institutional agreement as part of your institution’s eligibility application. This agreement is valid as long as your institution remains eligible, and you update us if the information in the agreement changes.
Institutional agreement (pdf)
Institutional agreement (Québec) (pdf) - Include a strategic research plan
Include your institution’s strategic research plan as part of your institution’s eligibility application. The strategic research plan should build on your institution’s distinct advantages. It should also prioritize research areas that bring together ideas and knowledge from many disciplines and sectors. Proposals your institution submits for funding should align with this plan. Remember to update us with changes to your institution’s strategic research plan. - Email us your eligibility application
Contact eligibility [at] innovation.ca for more information on how to prepare your eligibility application. Email your institutional agreement, strategic research plan and other supporting information to eligibility [at] innovation.ca.
After your institution is eligible
Once your institution is eligible, you can apply for funding through our active competitions. To get started, first get familiar with your Senior Programs Officer and our awards management system, and remember to keep your institution’s eligibility up to date.
Meet your Senior Programs Officer
We have a dedicated staff of Senior Programs Officers who are here to help research administrators in all aspects of applying to our competitions and managing awards.
Once your institution is eligible for funding, we will introduce you to your Senior Programs Officer.
If you are a research administrator, keep your Senior Programs Officer’s name and contact information handy in case you have questions. Expect to receive regular communications from them regarding your active projects.
If you are a researcher, please do not contact the CFI directly. Instead, reach out to your institution’s research administrators if you have questions.
Not sure who your Senior Programs Officer is? Email us at info [at] innovation.ca to find out.
Explore the CFI Awards Management System (CAMS)
Once your institution’s eligibility application is approved, we will automatically set up an account in our CFI Awards Management System (CAMS). This is where you will submit proposals and manage all your pre- and post-award activities.
Keep your eligibility up to date
To maintain your institution’s eligibility to apply for funding, it is important to keep your institutional agreement up to date, including letting us know when there is a change to the signing authorities.
It is also important to send us your institution’s new strategic research plan anytime it is revised.
Email your Senior Programs Officer with changes to your institutional agreement or to submit a new strategic research plan.
- Complete the institutional agreement and email the unsigned form to your CFI Senior Programs Officer or Programs Officer. It is important that you do not email us a scanned copy of this form.
Institutional agreement (pdf)
Institutional agreement (Québec) (pdf)
- Following our receipt of this form, we will send it to your President (c.c. liaison) through DocuSign to obtain their signature.
- Once your President has signed the institutional agreement, we will upload it to CAMS.
After your project is funded
If a research infrastructure project at your institution is approved for funding, congratulations! You will need to finalize your institution’s award, sign an award agreement, get operating support and keep your project information up to date.
Finalize your award
You will need to finalize each award before we can release funds. To do so, complete and submit an award finalization form in CAMS. See the Policy and program guide for more details.
- Refer to the award finalization form (pdf) template to know what information is required
- Look for the award finalization form in the institutional dashboard in the award finalization module in CAMS
- By default, CAMS only allows people identified in your institutional agreement to enter data in the award finalization form (i.e. president, director general, authorized signatories, liaison and account administrator). Through their institutional agreement and access privileges screen, those default users can grant access to allow other users (including project and team leaders) to enter data in the award finalization form
- Only people identified in your institutional agreement can submit the award finalization form in CAMS (i.e. president, authorized signatories, liaison and account administrator).
Sign an award agreement
Once you have submitted your award finalization form, we will send an award agreement to one of your institution’s authorized signatories through DocuSign. Once they have signed the award agreement, we will upload it to CAMS.
Is the CFI still mailing hard copy award agreements to institutions?
No. We have transitioned to a digital signature process (using DocuSign) for award agreements. Once all parties have signed, we will email you the final award agreement. We will also upload it into CAMS, where you can access it any time.
Who will receive the award agreement at my institution?
We will email award agreements to one of your authorized signatories and your account administrator for signature. By default, the authorized signatory who will receive award agreements for signature is the one identified in “Award agreements signed by” tab on the “Institutional agreement and access privileges” page of your CAMS portal.
Your institution’s CFI liaison will receive the award agreement email for information only and is not required to sign it.
How can I change the default signatory for my institution?
If your institution has identified more than one authorized signatory in the institutional agreement, you will need to identify to whom you want the award agreement sent for signature. You can change the default authorized signatory for award agreements through the “Institutional agreement and access privileges” link in the CAMS institutional dashboard.
What if I want to change the default signatory for an award agreement I have been asked to sign?
You can request a change by replying to the award agreement email at signatures [at] innovation.ca (signatures[at]innovation[dot]ca). You should not forward an award agreement to another individual for signature.
Who should I contact if I have questions?
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Senior Programs Officer assigned to your institution.
Get operating support through the Infrastructure Operating Fund
Find out how to access financial support for the operating and maintenance costs of your CFI-funded research infrastructure through our Infrastructure Operating Fund.
Find good practices for managing your award
Browse good practices, policies and processes for managing your CFI awards.
Keep your project up to date
Make sure your project information, including budget, end date, research security requirements and other details, is up to date in CAMS. Consult the Policy and program guide for more information on changes to infrastructure projects.
Report on your funded project
Once a project at your institution is up and running, you will need to submit progress and financial reports in CAMS. (The specific reporting requirements for each project, including deadlines and frequency, are included in the terms and conditions of each award agreement.)
Explore these sample templates as a guide for how to fill out the forms in CAMS. See the Policy and program guide for more details.
Project progress report template for colleges
Tools to apply for funding and report on your award
Use these tools to help create a budget as part of your proposal and to prepare your financial reports. See the Policy and program guide for more details.
