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. 

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The power to transform

Our Innovation Fund provides the foundation for world-class, impactful research that is made in Canada
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A hockey team in orange jerseys poses on the arena ice.
article
Quebec
Unsettling the Canadian hockey story
Collecting the stories of hockey players, builders and fans from Lac Seul First Nation to reveal a different narrative about Indigenous hockey
All articles
Kelsey Leonard posing for a photo in front of a stone wall covered in vines.
podcast
Ontario
Should bodies of water have the same legal status as people?
Researcher Kelsey Leonard, member of the Shinnecock Nation and founder of the Wampum Lab at the University of Waterloo, delves into ocean, water and climate justice.
All podcasts
Image of various cellphones on a wooden table displaying photos of researchers.
video
A promising future, now: 25 years of investing in ideas that change our world
The Canada Foundation for Innovation has supported cutting-edge research in Canada for 25 years. In these videos, researchers reflect on how CFI funding has advanced their work and how future generations will benefit. They tell passionate stories of curiosity, commitment and innovation.
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Dark orange flames along the crest of a treed hill with billows of thick grey smoke.
article
Alberta
Blazing a new trail in fire forensics
Many devastating wildfires are human-caused; some are set intentionally. One research lab aims to get to the bottom of how the blazes start to inform arson investigations and prevention measures.
An illustration of a robot hand holding an apple, which is in a spotlight, by its stem and two people working on screens on a backdrop of electric circuits.
article
Ontario
Now is the time: Elevating Black people in STEMM
An interview with Maydianne Andrade, inaugural president of the Canadian Black Scientists Network, about the persistent obstacles Black people encounter in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine
A monochromatic beige illustration of a person sitting arms-crossed on a rock surrounded with water and a blazing sun on the horizon.
article
British Columbia
Changing human behaviour to avert the climate crisis
Researchers at the University of British Columbia are exploring how people of various political stripes respond to the climate crisis — and how to spur collective climate action despite their differences
A yellowish haze creates a silhouette of a person on a bike carrying a heavy load.
article
Ontario
Can a bicycle be a tool for creating gender equality?
Researchers at York University use visual and digital media to explore the connection between physical activity and unequal power relations.
Graphic of a person sitting curled up next to a backpack.
article
British Columbia
Life on the edge
An experiential research project at Simon Fraser University explores the psychology behind our perceptions of poverty
Illustration of arid land where one person holds a shovel and another holds a watering can. Above this scene, a large hand holds a seedling.
article
Ontario
Power, policies and sustainability in the global food system
Today’s industrial approach to agriculture leaves the world dangerously dependent on a few crops and a few companies. Jennifer Clapp wants to change that.
Illustration of a group of people dressed in lab coats gesturing toward a cubic cross section of soil layers with plants growing out of it.
article
Saskatchewan
Climate resilient crops that can do more with less
How researchers are tackling the roots of food insecurity — in a very literal way
Illustration of two people gesturing toward a corn plant with overlaying diagrams including a molecule.
article
Ontario
Blueprints for boosting plant immunity
How sophisticated genomics could help address food insecurity by giving crops an edge in the arms race against pathogens
A panorama of a snowy, treeless landscape taken from on top of a snow machine with a meteorological tower and its guy-wires visible.
article
Northwest Territories
Can wind power the North?
Researchers at Aurora College’s Research Institute are using portable LiDAR scanners to help find the answer
A white swirl of air inside a large enclosure.
article
Ontario
Summoning the storm, at the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment Research Facility
By simulating intense winds and weather, a research facility at Western University tests how buildings will hold up under catastrophic conditions
Two people, one standing, one seated in a grassy area with pieces of research equipment around them.
article
Saskatchewan,Ontario
Mounting an early warning system for Canada’s looming water crisis, through the Global Water Futures Observatories
A network of observation systems across the country’s freshwater basins provides urgently needed data to help ward off the devastating impacts of floods, droughts and other water crises plaguing Canada
A person in a lab coat looks closely at an apparatus that is part of a black and grey machine in a lab.
article
Alberta,Quebec,Ontario,British Columbia
Tweaking biology for health and biotech solutions, at GlycoNet Integrated Services
A pan-Canadian network of over 170 researchers brings together the country’s expertise in the field of glycomics to create solutions in medicine and other bio-based industries