Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) support infrastructure including the state-of-the-art equipment, laboratories, databases, specimens, scientific collections, computer hardware and software, communications linkages and buildings necessary to conduct leading-edge research. See all funding programs.

CFI’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) is designed to serve the infrastructure needs of individual faculty or small groups of up to three (3) faculty members where there is a need to share infrastructure. It offers institutions the opportunity to attract and retain the best of today’s and tomorrow’s leading investigators.

Unity Health Toronto has been pre-assigned a portion of the University of Toronto (U of T)’s CFI allocation. JELF projects thus are chosen through internal competitions (2-3 times each year) and need to be approved by the Vice President, Research and Innovation. Priority will be given to projects that demonstrate a major “value-add” for the institution, meaning a) project falls within priority areas of research; and, b) infrastructure fills a gap in our research infrastructure needs, and will meet the needs of multiple researchers and their programs at Unity Health.

If you are a researcher who is interested in applying for a JELF, please contact VPRI@unityhealth.to. While there is no maximum total project budget, JELF projects are typically up to a maximum of $1M. The total project funding distribution is as follows:

• 40% will be requested from the CFI.
• 40% will be requested from the Ontario Research Fund (ORF) (provincial match). A separate application is required after submission to JELF.
• 20% must come from the institution (usually realized via deep vendor discounts that need to be obtained through quotes).

CFI-JELF – Internal call for proposals

• The Office of VP Research & Innovation runs an internal competition for the CFI-JELF program. The internal competition announcement will be emailed to all PIs and also posted in the VPRI Update newsletter.
• Priority will be given to projects that demonstrate a major “value-add” for the institution, meaning: a) project falls within priority areas of research; and, b) infrastructure fills a gap in our research infrastructure needs, and will meet the needs of multiple researchers and their programs at Unity Health.
• Interested applicants are asked to submit a proposal (maximum 2 pages) for internal review, addressing the items below:

1. 1. Project title
   2. Principal Applicant and Co-Applicants (maximum of three (3) applicants allowed
   3. Proposed research plan: Include research objectives, brief overview of proposed research and its potential impact
   4. Proposed infrastructure request and “value add”: Provide a description of the infrastructure and clearly outline the need/urgency for it, whether the infrastructure can be found in Toronto, and indicate who else at Unity Health will benefit
   5. Space considerations: Describe the space needed to house the infrastructure
   6. Itemized budget (approx.) and plans for obtaining the required 20% institutional contribution (while there is no maximum total budget, JELF projects are typically up to a max $1M)

Internal deadline for proposal submission: Usually 4 months prior to the CFI deadlines.

For any questions and submission, contact VPRI@unityhealth.to.