Research stories

Our investments support research that benefits Canadians

In CFI-funded labs and facilities across the country, researchers in all stages of their careers are making discoveries, supporting a robust innovation ecosystem and helping solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. 

Strategic investments, national impact

Learn how innovations in areas that matter most to Canadians, including affordable housing, food sovereignty and national security, comes from the research made possible by CFI investments in cutting-edge labs and equipment.
Discover the innovations
David Jones wears protective laser glasses as he stands behind a prototype on his lab bench.
article
British Columbia

Zeroing in on critical minerals

New sensors can pinpoint profitable ore — and reduce the financial and environmental costs of mining
All articles
podcast
Nova Scotia

Jan Rainey is untangling the mysteries of spider silks

The Dalhousie University researcher is looking to create synthetic versions of spider's silk that have the potential to help heal damaged nerves and damaged hearts
All podcasts
video

Transforming research instincts into a successful business (March webinar)

Part of our Future You webinar series. This webinar features a new generation of researchers who share their challenges and successes as they made the move from researcher to entrepreneur. Watch the video to gain insights and receive valuable tips on how to start your own business.
All videos

All stories

Computer-generated image of a person’s profile, holding their head where their brain is inflamed.
article
Quebec

Concussions: A dizzying field of research!

There are 200,000 concussions every year in Canada. If you’re not an elite athlete, your odds of having a concussion are one in 10,000. Professional athletes, on the other hand, will experience three or four by the age of 20. But since there is no way of objectively diagnosing a concussion, and those affected are notoriously reluctant to report their symptoms, the real numbers are likely higher than anyone wants to admit. What stands in the way of acceptance and proper management of concussions?
A laptop sitting on a desk shows four people in a virtual meeting.
video

Traditional Knowledge as a powerful driver in research

Artist and curator, Tania Willard, of the Secwépemc Nation and Chantelle Richmond, Biigtigong Nishnaabeg researcher in Indigenous health and the environment, in conversation with the Right Honourable Paul Martin
An apparatus holds two small rectangular glass slides with coloured lines.
article
Alberta

Applying quantum technology to solve some of our toughest real-world problems

University of Calgary partnerships exploring how quantum research can help to address “hard problems”
A vessel the size and shape of a surfboard with an apparatus attached glides on the surface of the ocean with a ship in the background.
article
Nova Scotia,New Brunswick

Tracking the North Atlantic right whale

Ocean Tracking Network leveraging new technology to track whales and design interventions
Hand-drawn portraits of various women.
article

Celebrating women at the forefront

A collection of stories about talented researchers to mark the International Day of Girls and Women in Science (February 11) and International Women’s Day (March 8)
A rocky outcrop with low brush in the foreground with a silver cylindrical building in the middle ground behind a fence and a large domed structure in the background
article
Manitoba

Sea ice dynamics

University of Manitoba researchers look to the Churchill Marine Observatory for answers about a changing climate
Four people crouch on a yellow grass-covered hill looking down toward a specimen
article
Alberta

Searching for new cures with Western and Traditional Knowledge

Traditional Indigenous Knowledge helps guide the Prairie to Pharmacy initiative’s quest to fill Canada’s gap in natural product research and find new cancer drugs in prairie plants
A photo of Christian Messier examining a plant on the forest floor is inlaid over an aerial photo of a green field divided into squares
article
Quebec

Christian Messier has found his field of dreams

A world-renowned specialist in forest management and biodiversity pays colourful tribute to the living organisms we call trees.
A digital scan of a human brain
article
Ontario

Changing our approach to brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Canadian researchers are making links between the immune system and brain disease to develop better treatments for neurological disorders
A collage of photos which includes a starry sky, an ocean, a laptop a radiography of a brain and a hand with pills..
article

Setting the bar for global leadership in Canadian research

Researchers across Canada are poised to have a transformative impact with new support from our Innovation Fund
An orange laptop on an orange background
article
Manitoba

New digital archive will be a record of Canada’s residential school history

Archiving millions of documents to catalogue part of this country’s history and serve as a profound tool for understanding its legacy for Indigenous people
A dark blue starry sky
article
Ontario

3D printing in space could help astronauts and Earth-bound humans alike

By determining how to get 3D printing to work in space, researchers could not only cut costs and emissions for space exploration, but could also find new medical applications