Research stories

Our investments support research that benefits Canadians

In CFI-funded labs and facilities across the country, researchers in all stages of their careers are making discoveries, supporting a robust innovation ecosystem and helping solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. 

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Taking research to the next level with artificial intelligence

How researchers in Canada are turbo-charging their research with artificial intelligence to solve problems, from traffic jams to climate change to discovering new pharmaceuticals
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A graphic of a DNA strand lit up with data points.
article
British Columbia

How Canada is at the forefront of unpacking the potential of DNA data storage

Could “DNA origami” offer a way to store some of the world’s 149 trillion gigabytes of information and help solve big data’s big storage problem? At UBC Okanagan, Will Hughes is exploring the possibilities.
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Portrait of a person wearing large earrings and a dark blue jacket with pale blue, rose and burgundy stripes.
podcast
Quebec

Pooneh Maghoul: Working at the forefront of geotechnical engineering

Can our critical infrastructure withstand the effects of climate change?
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video

Transforming research instincts into a successful business (March webinar)

Part of our Future You webinar series. This webinar features a new generation of researchers who share their challenges and successes as they made the move from researcher to entrepreneur. Watch the video to gain insights and receive valuable tips on how to start your own business.
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A stylized line drawing of a woman's torso with one breast highlighted by a coloured circle.
article
Manitoba

Ushering in a new era of breast cancer screening

The discovery of tumour biomarkers paves the way for earlier disease detection through a simple blood test
A young researcher wearing a hardhat sits in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, typing on a laptop.
article
Nova Scotia

Meet Canada’s greenhouse gas detectives

With a few creative hacks, the Flux Lab has transformed a lab bench gas analyzer into a mobile tool they’re using to measure emissions from pipeline leaks, landfills and melting permafrost in the field
Pallet of natural fabrics dyed with food waste.
article
Quebec

Advocating for ethical fashion

What are your daily needs? To breathe clean air, drink clean water, eat produce grown in healthy soil. Covering our bodies to protect ourselves is also not a luxury, but the clothing industry diminishes the quality of the first three vital ingredients.
A pixelated graphic of the map of North America.
article
Saskatchewan

Understanding the importance of where we live

Historians are merging Indigenous research methods with digital historical data to rethink how we view the places we live and how those change over time
An illustration showing mouths, eyes, hands and ears clipped from newsprint with red splotches, exes and the word fake overlain.
article
Ontario

Taking aim at online hate and fake news

Dangerous disinformation campaigns on social media are on the rise. So are targeted personal attacks. The Digital Society Lab is using AI-powered countermeasures to push back.
Two people sit in front of a curved video wall displaying illuminated renderings of satellites orbiting earth.
article
British Columbia

Transforming dry data into Instagrammable art

Researchers are blending science, art and augmented reality to bring data to life, make complex information more evocative — and create plenty of buzz
A man in a red jacket holds the remote control as a drone takes off from a rubble-strewn site.
article
Newfoundland and Labrador

Archaeology’s high-tech race to save North Atlantic heritage

Climate change is threatening millennia of history in Newfoundland and Labrador. New LiDAR-equipped drones and other technology is helping archaeologists triage the sites at greatest risk and document crucial heritage before it disappears.
Guillaume St-Onge is wearing a striped red sweater and sunglasses, posing in front of the Pingualuit crater in Quebec, full of clear blue water.
podcast
Quebec

Science (sea) star

Ocean science research is at a pivotal moment according to Guillaume St-Onge, Director of the Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski at Université du Québec à Rimouski
Several hands hold up an illustrated ball of houses against a cloudy sky.
article
New Brunswick

Tackling the many dimensions of New Brunswick’s housing crisis

How one social science lab — with a few well-placed couches — is bringing stakeholders together to address the intersecting issues of housing affordability, mental health and food security
Drama students moving quickly around a stage.
article
Ontario

Finding hope and deep learning in the drama classroom

Can the unique “messiness” of theatre empower young people to create radical change in the face of crises like the climate emergency? Absolutely, according to insights from multi-country research that merges ethnography, pedagogy and playwriting.
A close-up photo of taillights of a car and a transport truck at the back of a long line of traffic.
article
British Columbia

Choosing the right route to lower traffic emissions

By profiling tailpipe emissions and creating community-specific transportation models, researchers will help cities reach their net-zero mobility goals faster — even in sub-zero temperatures
York University researcher Pirathayini Srikantha poses for a photo.
podcast
Ontario

Reinforcing the reliability of our vulnerable electricity grid

York University’s Pirathayini Srikantha studies power grid systems with the aim of keeping Canada’s infrastructure safe from fluctuations and hackers. Find out why she’s passionate about power.