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
All articles
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
All podcasts
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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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
Portrait of Annie Castonguay
podcast
Better molecules for better medicine
Annie Castonguay, a researcher at Quebec’s Institut national de la recherche scientifique, works to mobilize metals to destroy cancer cells and drug-resistant bacteria when traditional antibiotics and cancer treatments fall short
Portrait of Carrie Bourassa.
podcast
Ontario
Knowledge, ceremony and an Indigenous approach to research
Carrie Bourassa explains what Indigenous research methodology means, and why it matters
PhD student Sheena Gurm stands surrounded by line drawings depicting strands of DNA
podcast
Manitoba
Seeking a treatment for ALS
PhD student Sheena Gurm looks deep into brain cells for clues to a deadly disease
A robot hand holds a glowing, stylized atom
podcast
British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Québec
The solace of quantum
Sub-atomic research portends a second digital revolution that could solve some of our most vexing problems
Photo of Trafford Simpson, professor of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Waterloo
podcast
Ontario
Sight for sore eyes
Trefford Simpson investigates how — and why — our eyes feel pain
Michael Houghton, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology at the University of Alberta.
podcast
Alberta
Michael Houghton’s 30-year quest to cure Hepatitis C
After discovering the Hep C virus in 1989, Houghton is now closing in on a vaccine for the potentially fatal disease

Catherine Girard poses with line drawing illustrations around her.
podcast
Québec
Dealing with mercury in food
PhD student, Catherine Girard, studies the impact of mercury in country food in the North
Illustration of four men in business suits rowing a vessel shaped like an arrow. A fifth man, standing in front of them, shouts from a megaphone.
podcast
Episode six: The way forward
The final episode of our podcast series takes stock of where the CFI is today and where innovation in Canada needs to be 20 years from now
Three rows of round icons display a variety of bacteria and virus illustrations.
podcast
Ontario
Keeping antibiotics ahead of infectious diseases
Gerry Wright talks about the problems with promiscuous bacteria and how antibiotics resistance could affect the future of medicine
Illustration of a group of men and women running up a mountain. The leader is waving a Canadian flag.
podcast
Episode five: A new research strategy for Canada
A continuation of our podcast series that traces the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s unlikely origin story
Illustration of three researchers working on lab equipment inside an open human head with the CFI logo in the background.
podcast
The CFI's 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