Canada Impact+ Research Chairs
The Canada Impact+ Research Chairs (Impact+ Research Chairs) program is a one-time initiative designed to support institutions in attracting world-leading researchers whose work addresses critical national and global challenges. The program emphasizes both research excellence and tangible impact. Canada Impact+ Chairs will receive long-term funding and institutional support to advance ambitious and transformative projects in Canada’s strategic priority areas, build and maintain exceptional research teams, and collaborate with partners across sectors and borders.
The Impact+ program is a tri-agency initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). It is administered by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS), which is housed within SSHRC.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
The key objectives of the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs program are to support institutions to:
- attract a world-leading researchers to strengthen Canada’s global competitiveness and innovation leadership;
- transform bold discoveries into innovative products, ideas, policies and solutions that benefit Canadians and the world;
- help Canada grow and sustain a critical mass of expertise in priority areas identified by the Government of Canada through the development of high-impact research teams; and
- incentivize strategic partnerships across sectors, such as industry, health systems, government and not-for-profit organizations, to accelerate translation of research into practice and enhance long-term adoption and impact.
The Impact+ Canada Research Chairs Program is linked to the Impact+ Canada Emerging Leaders Program.
Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders
The Impact+ Emerging Leaders program is a 120 million dollar initiative to help institutions attract more early career researchers (ECRs) from outside Canada.
Canada Impact+ Research Infrastructure Fund (CIRIF)
The Canada Impact+ Research Infrastructure Fund (CIRIF) is part of the Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative, which is designed to attract globally recognized researchers, strengthen Canada’s innovation leadership, and enhance its competitiveness on the world stage. Its core objective is to transform groundbreaking discoveries into innovative products, policies and solutions that benefit Canadians.
Through the new Canada Impact+ Research Infrastructure Fund, the CFI will invest up to $400 million to support the infrastructure needs of the chairholders and complementary ECRs (as applicable), including both capital and operating and maintenance (O&M) costs. The share of the costs for capital expenditures and O&M is left to the discretion of the applicants based on their needs; however, the maximum total project cost covered by the CFI is $6 million.
Canada Impact+ Research Chairs
The program awards Chairs of two award values:
- $8 million over eight years ($1 million per year); or
- $4 million over eight years ($500,000 per year).
In addition, there is potential for a four-year extension at 50% of the initial award value per year. This extension will be determined by an external review in Year 7 of the award. The funding extension will be granted on the basis of 1) clear, tangible evidence of the knowledge translation, commercialization or policy impact of the research, and 2) identification of sustained partnerships with industry, government, academic or not-for-profit organizations. This is in keeping with the program’s overall goal of generating transformational research and maximizing its application to benefit the Canadian economy and society more broadly.
Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders
Institutions submitting a nomination for an Impact+ Research Chair may request an additional $100,000 per year over six years to recruit an early career researcher (ECR). The ECR must be recruited within the same strategic priority area as the Impact+ Research Chairs nominee, but the ECR and Impact+ Research Chair don't necessarily need to be in the same discipline or research field or be aligned with the same federal research funding agency. Institutions may include support for the ECR in their research infrastructure request to CFI.
At Polytechnique Montréal, Impact+ Canada Research Chairs are filled in accordance with the Procédure la sélection des candidatures et l’attribution des Chaires de recherche Impact+ Canada adopted on December 23, 2025.
This procedure aims to make the process leading to the selection of candidates for an Impact+ Chair as transparent and equitable as possible.
This procedure meets the requirements of the Canada Research Chairs Recruitment and Nomination Program.
Canada Impact+ Research Chairs competition
Polytechnique Montréal is currently seeking exceptional candidates to fill a cluster of chairs within the Impact+ Canada Research Chairs Program.
To view the English version of the Canada Impact+ Research Chair posting, click here.
Polytechnique's commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion for the Impact+ Canada Research Chairs Program are those presented under the Canada Research Chairs Program.
