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Notice of Upcoming Funding Opportunity: Strengthening Resilient & Equitable Public Health Systems (STEPS) - Team Grants

Introduction

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the Team Grants:

Strengthening Resilient & Equitable Public Health Systems (STEPS)

.

This funding opportunity is led by CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health, in collaboration with CIHR partners (Institute of Health Services and Policy Research [IHSPR], Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health [IIPH], and the Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies [CRPPHE]), Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and Michael Smith Health Research BC (Health Research BC).

Overview

Robust public health systems (PHS) are vital for disease prevention and health promotion, improving population health and health equity, enhancing health system sustainability, and preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. Canada's PHS, however, are confronted with a polycrisis and ongoing system challenges that hinder PHS' ability to fulfill their core functions – all of which compromises public health and exacerbates health inequities.

To address these priorities, the

Strengthening Resilient and Equitable Public Health Systems (STEPS) Team Grants

will generate actionable evidence to build resilient and equitable PHS and support robust decision-making that will enhance health equity and population health. STEPS will support solutions-focused research on:

The

building blocks

Footnote

1

of PHS within the

public sector

(federal, provincial, territorial (FPT), municipal or Indigenous government) - and/or

The role of the

community sector

(community-based, non-governmental, or non-profit organizations) in strengthening the

building blocks

of PHS

The research teams will be based on a tripartite co-leadership model (a researcher, a decision-maker, and a public health practitioner or community representative) who will collaborate to undertake equity-focused research on PHS building blocks in the

community

and/or

public sectors

.

Objectives

This funding opportunity aims to:

Generate actionable evidence

Identify, test, and/or evaluate promising system-level solutions

Build capacity

Foster knowledge mobilization

Research Areas

This funding opportunity focuses on PHS systems-challenges and building blocks, and will support the following research areas (intersectoral collaboration is welcome):

Public sector

Community sector

Indigenous communities promoting cardiovascular health

Public health emergencies and pandemic preparedness

Partner Linkage Tool

CIHR is providing a

Partner Linkage Tool

that is intended to facilitate connections between researchers, decision-makers and public health practitioners and community representatives or other knowledge users, should there be interest. This is not a mandatory tool. Information is provided on a volunteer basis and does not confer any advantages in the evaluation and funding of applications. The table will be updated weekly until the application deadline. If you would like to use this tool, please complete a short

survey

. The information you provide will appear on CIHR's website. Please note that potential applicants are not required to use the linkage tool or contact those who have submitted their information.

Funds Available

The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $6,750,000, enough to fund approximately nine (9) grants. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate.

The maximum amount per team grant is anticipated to be $250,000/year for up to 3 years for a total of $750,000 per grant.

Anticipated Timelines

These timelines are estimates and subject to change

Applicant Webinar:

Launch:

Registration Deadline:

September 2025

Application Deadline:

January 2026

Funding Start Date:

May 2026

The official CIHR funding opportunity will be posted on

ResearchNet

in the coming weeks.

For a full list of CIHR funding opportunities, please visit

ResearchNet

.

Applicant webinar

Webinars

page.

Contact Information

For general inquiries please contact:

CIHR Contact Centre

Telephone: 613-954-1968

support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Disclaimer:

The information contained herein is anticipatory only and does not represent an official funding commitment by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Accordingly, the information, contained herein may differ from the official funding opportunity that will be published on

ResearchNet

.

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