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
article

Building prosperity by de-risking mining and reducing environmental impacts

Masoud Aali — Founder and CEO, Scient Analytics
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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
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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.
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A dark blue cityscape overlain with rings of white digital icons
article
British Columbia

Seeing the future in augmented reality

Maria Lantin at Emily Carr University of Art + Design creates environments that are enhanced by technology to predict how virtual realities will change how we interact with each other and the space around us
A graphic of many white dots connected by blue lines, arranged in the shape of a brain
article

How remembering happens

Sheena Josselyn at Toronto’s SickKids hospital is figuring out how one memory triggers another, with important implications for treating things like post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia

Bright orange flames and dark grey smoke engulf a coniferous forest
article
Quebec

Forecasting future forest fires

Université Laval’s Steven Cumming uses sophisticated computer models to predict how a warming climate will influence forest fires in southern Quebec. The results aren’t what you might expect.
The soles of a child’s blue rubber boots, caked in mud
article
British Columbia

Let them eat dirt

The University of British Columbia’s Brett Finlay demonstrated that microbes might protect children against asthma, more evidence that exposure to bacteria keeps us healthy
An conceptual image of a finger touching a free-floating screen, with action icons streaming out the back.
article
Quebec

It’s clear as glass

By integrating microscopic ducts into the glass that screens are made of, researchers have developed an amazing interface
A tiny baby's dark eyes and nose peak out from the blanket she's swaddled in, her little fingers grip the edge.
article
Quebec

Combating premature births

Births before 37 weeks are linked to early intrauterine inflammation. Researchers have developed a molecule that inhibits this.
A graphic of a blue gear containing the male symbol and a pink gear containing the female symbol.
article
Quebec

For sex equality

Until now, experiments to understand chronic pain used mostly male mice. To scientists’ surprise, however, females react differently. Our way of understanding pain circuitry is changing...
Lightning arcs between two skyscrapers in a nighttime city scape
article
Quebec

Taming lightning

A physicist has mastered one of nature’s most impressive forces in his laboratory, setting the stage for multiple applications
Andrew Pelling, wearing a microphone, points to a slice of apple in a petri dish.
article
Ontario

Growing body parts from plants

Inspired by movies like Little Shop of Horrors and The Matrix, Andrew Pelling’s University of Ottawa lab is all about taking the most audacious ideas and turning them into reality
CFI origin main image
article

The Canada Foundation for Innovation: an origin story

This is the origin story of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, an organization dedicated to the future, that was born at a time when the country was heavily burdened by its past

Illustration of an explosion of dynamic colourful shapes contained within a silhouette of a person’s profile.
article
British Columbia,Newfoundland and Labrador,Ontario

Canadian research luminaries

The work of the Canada Research Chairholders supported by the John R. Evans Leaders Fund spans all disciplines, from exploring the deep ocean for mineral riches, to the search for an HIV vaccine, to the quest for quantum computing
The CCGS Amundsen, a large research icebreaker, plows through a wide stretch of sea ice. The photo is overlaid with a blue textured pattern.
article
Quebec

Tour the CCGS Amundsen

A multimedia exploration of Canada’s dedicated research icebreaker