Vision

The Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF) is designed to help universities attract and retain the very best of today’s and tomorrow’s researchers at a time of intense international competition. To this end, the LOF offers universities the opportunity to:

• acquire infrastructure for their leading research faculty to undertake cutting-edge research and
• create competitive packages of research support in the form of infrastructure and a portion of the operating and maintenance costs from the CFI, coupled with direct research costs from partner organizations

A joint review process has been developed with the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) Secretariat. The purpose of this collaboration is to lessen both applicant and reviewer workload by reducing the number of applications needed to secure both CRC funding and CFI infrastructure support.

Eligibility to apply

In order to submit a joint application for a Canada Research Chair and infrastructure from the CFI, an institution must be eligible to receive funds from the LOF program.  The LOF is an allocation-based fund whereby the CFI predetermines the maximum amount of funding available for each eligible institution. Universities having a minimum annual average of $300,000 in sponsored research income (excluding CFI awards) as reported by the Canadian Association of University Business Offices (CAUBO), are eligible to receive a LOF allocation. These allocations may be reviewed periodically as new funds are made available to the CFI.  The latest revision to the allocations and injection of funds to the LOF was in May 2009. 

Eligible universities with a LOF allocation may apply twice per year to the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) Secretariat by submitting a nomination or renewal proposal for an individual researcher. The forms and deadlines for submitting applications are available on the Canada Research Chairs website.

Normally, the CFI contributes up to 40 percent of the eligible costs of a project. For smaller universities (category B), the CFI may provide up to 100 percent of the eligible infrastructure costs of Canada Research Chairs infrastructure projects if the total project cost is $75,000 or less.

The CFI will also accept a single infrastructure request for a group of Chairs. In these cases, the infrastructure request should be attached to a single nomination but should clearly explain how each member of the cluster will use and benefit from the infrastructure. The cluster can include up to three candidates that are nominated in the same cycle or are current chairholders.  The original nomination materials for all members of a cluster will be provided to the reviewers, enabling them to properly evaluate the infrastructure request. Universities should contact the CRCP Secretariat to update the CV or research program of a current chairholder in the cluster application.

Submitting an application and review process

Chair proposals should include the CFI infrastructure component at the time of the nomination or renewal request when seeking infrastructure support of less than $1 million. While we acknowledge that there may be circumstances warranting a new infrastructure request between the nomination and renewal of a current chairholder, the CFI and the CRCP Secretariat expect that institutions will normally await the renewal of that Chair before applying for infrastructure support.

The CRCP Secretariat consults a number of national and international experts from all disciplines. Proposals with an infrastructure request submitted to CRCP will be reviewed, in accordance with the CFI’s criteria, by a minimum of three national and international experts from all disciplines who are members of a College of Reviewers. If any of the three assessments are unfavorable, or if support for the proposal is weak for any of the review criteria, the proposal will be sent on to the CRC’s Interdisciplinary Adjudication Committee (IAC) who will provide the CFI with a funding recommendation.

Please visit http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/ for more information on the review process.

Decision process

A program Steering Committee, made up of the presidents of the CFI, CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC and the Deputy Minister of Industry Canada, makes the final decision on Chair nominations. The CFI Board of Directors will make the final decision for funding of the infrastructure portion of the CRC applications. Funding recommendations for the infrastructure portion of the application are presented to the CFI Board of Directors at the earliest possible decision point.

Universities will be informed of decisions related to the infrastructure portion of the application by email after the CFI Board has met. Successful proposals will also be listed on the CFI website.

The CFI will inform universities of any conditions associated with an award and provide reviewer comments for all proposals. Reviewers’ comments received during the joint review of Canada Research Chairs Program awards and associated infrastructure will be made available to universities by the Canada Research Chairs Program Secretariat.

It is the responsibility of recipient universities to submit the necessary documents to the CFI in order to finalize awards and establish payment schedules.

Public announcements

The CFI works jointly with the Canada Research Chairs Secretariat on funding announcements for infrastructure associated with Canada Research Chairs. The dates and venues of these announcements are coordinated by the Canada Research Chairs Secretariat.  The CFI also seeks additional opportunities to work with universities on local or regional announcements following the national event.

Support for operation and maintenance of the infrastructure

The CFI will contribute to the operation and maintenance costs of projects funded under the LOF through its Infrastructure Operating Fund (IOF). Universities will receive IOF at a rate of 30 percent of the finalized CFI contribution to LOF projects. For further information on the IOF, see section 2.3 of the CFI Policy and Program Guide.