College Fund

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.

Find out how to prepare to apply

What is the process to apply?

Follow the steps below and consult the call for proposals for complete instructions on how to apply. 

Step 1: Submit a proposal

Colleges can submit up to three proposals per competition.

Consult the call for proposals for detailed instructions on how to submit a proposal.

Submit your proposal in the CFI Awards Management System (CAMS)

Step 2: The review process begins

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.

If your institution receives funding through this fund, there are a few things you will need to do to finalize, manage and report on your award.

How are awards finalized?

After the CFI’s Board’s decision, colleges have up to nine months to finalize an award.

Submit your award finalization form and revised budget in the CFI Awards Management System (CAMS)

Consult the Programs and policy guide for more details on finalizing awards.

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. 

Tools and guidance are available through the Government of Canada’s Safeguarding Your Research  portal, National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships  and Safeguarding Science  workshops.

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.)

Explore sample templates and find other resources for reporting on your funded project

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.

Find out more about our Infrastructure Operating Fund

Read and share good practices for managing your funding

Staff at our funded institutions have developed good practices, policies and processes for managing the funding they receive from the CFI.

Browse our good practices for institutions and write to us at good.practices [at] innovation.ca (good[dot]practices[at]innovation[dot]ca) to share your own.

*Number has been rounded up