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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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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Distant galaxies appear as bright glowing spots in this Webb telescope image, with some smeared by gravitational lensing; foreground stars appear bright with six-pointed diffraction spikes, owing to the shape of Webb's mirrors.
article
Quebec

How Canadian research could help determine if we are alone in the universe

The James Webb Space Telescope has a uniquely Canadian invention aboard that, with help from research on the ground, reveals the composition of the atmosphere of planets outside our solar system and their potential to harbour life
Computer-generated image of a person’s profile, holding their head where their brain is inflamed.
article
Quebec

Concussions: A dizzying field of research!

There are 200,000 concussions every year in Canada. If you’re not an elite athlete, your odds of having a concussion are one in 10,000. Professional athletes, on the other hand, will experience three or four by the age of 20. But since there is no way of objectively diagnosing a concussion, and those affected are notoriously reluctant to report their symptoms, the real numbers are likely higher than anyone wants to admit. What stands in the way of acceptance and proper management of concussions?
An apparatus holds two small rectangular glass slides with coloured lines.
article
Alberta

Applying quantum technology to solve some of our toughest real-world problems

University of Calgary partnerships exploring how quantum research can help to address “hard problems”
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article
Nova Scotia,New Brunswick

Tracking the North Atlantic right whale

Ocean Tracking Network leveraging new technology to track whales and design interventions
A rocky outcrop with low brush in the foreground with a silver cylindrical building in the middle ground behind a fence and a large domed structure in the background
article
Manitoba

Sea ice dynamics

University of Manitoba researchers look to the Churchill Marine Observatory for answers about a changing climate
Four people crouch on a yellow grass-covered hill looking down toward a specimen
article
Alberta

Searching for new cures with Western and Traditional Knowledge

Traditional Indigenous Knowledge helps guide the Prairie to Pharmacy initiative’s quest to fill Canada’s gap in natural product research and find new cancer drugs in prairie plants
A photo of Christian Messier examining a plant on the forest floor is inlaid over an aerial photo of a green field divided into squares
article
Quebec

Christian Messier has found his field of dreams

A world-renowned specialist in forest management and biodiversity pays colourful tribute to the living organisms we call trees.
A digital scan of a human brain
article
Ontario

Changing our approach to brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Canadian researchers are making links between the immune system and brain disease to develop better treatments for neurological disorders
An orange laptop on an orange background
article
Manitoba

New digital archive will be a record of Canada’s residential school history

Archiving millions of documents to catalogue part of this country’s history and serve as a profound tool for understanding its legacy for Indigenous people
A dark blue starry sky
article
Ontario

3D printing in space could help astronauts and Earth-bound humans alike

By determining how to get 3D printing to work in space, researchers could not only cut costs and emissions for space exploration, but could also find new medical applications
A thin white line on the horizon separates a wide expanse of blue ocean from a blue sky
article
Newfoundland and Labrador,Nova Scotia

Probing the North Atlantic for clues to climate-change impacts

Researchers will deploy high-tech floating sensors to get a clearer picture of the changing chemistry and productivity of warming oceans — and what it means for fisheries
A pregnant woman holds a glass of water in one hand and a few pills in the other
article
Quebec

Weighing risks and benefits of medication use during pregnancy

Epidemiologists create super database to provide much-needed evidence for which prescriptions are safe, or not, for mom and baby