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. 

Photo of two women researchers wearing personal protective equipment in a lab

Research at the ready during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic underlined the important role Canadian labs play in helping researchers tackle global crises as they arise
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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
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Portrait of Chukwunonso Nzelu
podcast
Alberta
Tiny fly, deadly bite
Leishmaniasis is a devastating disease that kills tens-of-thousands of people every year. By studying the sandflies that transmit it, the University of Calgary’s Chukwunonso Nzelu is helping to zero in on a vaccine
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video
Revolutionizing construction
A Quebec company has created a construction product that lets builders reach new heights and gives the forestry industry a new way to make money and increase employment
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video
Revolutionizing construction
A Quebec company has created a construction product that lets builders reach new heights and gives the forestry industry a new way to make money and increase employment
Jill Green poses in front of a blurred image of a lab in the background
article
Repurposing the MRI
A New Brunswick company is making its mark around the world by commercializing a new technology that uses Magnetic Resonance Imaging, typically a healthcare technology, to extract oil and gas more efficiently
Heidi Fielding poses in front of a blurred image of a vineyard in the background
video
Refining sparkling wines
Ontario winemakers are using innovations from Brock University to be more competitive
Richard Myerscough poses in the foreground with a large kite from a kiteboard in the sky in the background.
video
Reinventing kiteboard equipment
A British-Columbia kiteboard manufacturing company has set a new bar for kiteboard technology with an innovative product, now licensed internationally
A crystal globe sits on the ground among ferns and grass
article
Nova Scotia
Making sensors to monitor soil emissions
Sensing an opportunity, soil scientists from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, created a company to make devices that monitor greenhouse gases from the ground
A child kicking a soccer ball toward a net
article
Ontario
Beyond the physical
Researchers at Nipissing University are recording the conversations of young athletes on and off the field to find out the impact of sport on their development
A large quantity of Monarch butterflies
article
Thinking quantitatively
Researchers at the University of British Columbia want to understand how our brains process quantity and language to inform how we teach young people about numbers, from the time they learn to count
Silhouettes of many people interacting on a reflective surface that looks like water.
article
Québec
Lonesome no more: When virtual reality goes social
Researchers at the Université de Montréal have patented technology that allows multiple people in different locations to participate in a virtual reality environment
Viewed from above, a person in a hard hat marks up structural drawings with a pencil.
article
Ontario
Indigenous engineering students are making a difference in their communities
Training in state-of-the-art research labs encourages Indigenous students to pursue engineering, an area of expertise critical for communities involved in natural resource management
A woman sits cross-legged in the grass, holding an electronic tablet.
article
Saskatchewan
Mental health in the Internet age
Researchers at the University of Regina are providing a much-needed boost for mental health services in Saskatchewan by developing and testing ways to deliver therapy via the Internet
A pastel-coloured illustration of a woman cradling an infant to her breast, with long hair and leafy branches radiating outward.
article
The mother of all nutrition labs
Kyly Whitfield of Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax is tackling the polarizing topic of breastfeeding at the Milk and Micronutrient Assessment Lab, or MAMA Lab
Fractured reflection of two people talking
article
Ontario
Teaching children with autism how to perceive the world
Western University’s Ryan Stevenson will launch the first longitudinal study to determine if training will help kids with autism better process the outside world