The College Fund supports projects that enhance the capacity of Canadian colleges to carry out applied research and technology development and foster partnerships that generate innovative products, processes or services that address the social, business, health or environmental needs of a Canadian industry or community.
Status: Proposals for this funding program are due every September 17
One deadline to submit proposals every year on September 17
The requirement for a notice of intent has been removed
Proposals will be evaluated in a two-stage process consisting of expert review and Multidisciplinary Assessment Committee review
Some aspects of how the information is organized in the call for proposals has changed but the objectives of the funding program and the assessment criteria remain the same.
What are the objectives of the College Fund?
The objectives of the College Fund are to:
Create and enhance partnerships with the public, private or not-for-profit sectors that lead to innovation. These innovations must address social, business, health or environmental needs of a Canadian industry or community
Enhance and optimize the proven applied research capacity of the college that is related to the proposed applied research or technology development activities
Generate social, economic, health or environmental benefits locally or nationally including the development of highly qualified personnel.
What institutions are eligible to apply to this fund?
Canadian colleges recognized as CFI-eligible can apply to this fund.
An eligible infrastructure project involves acquiring or developing research infrastructure to enhance existing applied research or technology development capacity.
Colleges can submit proposals with total CFI requests of between $60,000 and $1 million.
What are the deadlines?
We hold one competition per year, with the deadline falling on the same day every year. If the deadline falls on a weekday or holiday, it will be extended to the following business day.
Activity
Deadline
Deadline to submit proposals
September 17
Decision by CFI Board of Directors
March Board meeting
What does an institution need to do before applying?
To participate in any of our funding competitions, you must first make sure your institution is eligible to apply for funding, has signed an institutional agreement and has an account on our CFI Awards Management System (CAMS).
Institutions that are not currently eligible must provide the necessary documentation to become eligible no later than July 9.
After the deadline to submit proposals, the review process begins. This is how we will assess which proposals receive funding.
How is my proposal assessed?
After you submit your proposal, it is assessed through our review process.
1. Administrative review
We review each proposal to make sure it is complete and adheres to our guidelines.
2. Expert review
Experts review proposals to assess their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the five assessment criteria. Only proposals with ratings that meet the threshold across the five assessment criteria will advance to the next stage of review.
3. Multidisciplinary Assessment Committee
The Multidisciplinary Assessment Committee (MAC) assesses the proposals that met the threshold at the expert review stage.
The MAC conducts a careful analysis of the proposals and of the reports of the expert reviewers. They have two responsibilities:
Identifying proposals that best meet the three competition objectives relative to other competing requests
Providing a funding recommendation and funding amount for each project to the CFI Board of Directors.
Who makes the final funding decisions?
Funding decisions are made by the CFI Board of Directors.
What are the assessment criteria?
The assessment criteria for the College Fund are:
Applied research or technology development
Partnerships
Infrastructure
Team
Benefits
See the call for proposals for details of each of these assessment criteria.
Have you been recruited as a reviewer?
If you have been recruited to participate as an expert in the review process for the College Fund, you will find everything you need to know in our guidelines for expert reviewers.
What is required of institutions to mitigate security risks?
Recipient institutions should conduct a consistent due diligence review of potential security risks for funded projects and put in place timely measures to appropriately mitigate those risks.
What is required of institutions for reporting on a funded project?
Once a project at your institution is up and running, you will need to submit progress and financial reports in CAMS. (The specific reporting requirements for each project, including deadlines and frequency, are included in the terms and conditions of each award agreement.)
How can institutions access operating support for funded projects?
Institutions can access financial support for the operating and maintenance costs of CFI-funded research infrastructure through our Infrastructure Operating Fund.
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