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. 

A drawing of an eagle representing First Nations, a narwhal representing Inuit, and a violin representing Métis. These illustrations are placed around the sun and surrounded by multicoloured smoke that represents Indigenous traditions, spirituality, inclusion and diversity.

Raising up Indigenous voices in research

For this National Indigenous History Month, discover research projects that are led by Indigenous researchers and which address the priorities of their communities
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A graphic of several green coloured buildings against a backdrop of rolling green hills with windmills.
article
Ontario,British Columbia,Quebec
Keeping research infrastructure green
A nod to the efforts that CFI-funded labs are making to reduce their environmental impact
All articles
Université de Moncton Faculty of Science dean and researcher Céline Surette
podcast
New Brunswick
Meet Acadian researcher Céline Surette, for whom interdisciplinarity is second nature
Céline Surette embodies both the chemistry of living things and interdisciplinarity to serve the real needs and questions of communities. And to achieve this, and ensure that critical thinking triumphs, she'll pull out all the stops.
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.
All videos

All stories

2 researchers being interviewed with one of them holding an enlarged replica of a molecule.
video
Quebec
Improving treatment for blood diseases
A new molecule that stimulates the reproduction of stem cells will help treat a larger number of patients with blood diseases
Young man falling on a large purple mattress, wearing a helmet and protective pads, while researchers in the back of the falling laboratory monitor the impact of his fall on a computer.
video
British Columbia
How to prevent falls
Researchers at Simon Fraser University are analyzing how people fall with the aim of preventing injuries
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
Tour guide and taxi driver, Bill Baker, poses in front of the synchrotron beamlines inside the Canadian Light Source
video
Saskatchewan
Research builds my local community
Saskatoon cab drivers introduce visitors to their city’s pride and joy: the Canadian Light Source
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
A vector graphic of opened head symbol with researchers and research infrastructure inside over the CFI logo on red 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
Illustration of three men and a woman in grey suits carrying a giant watering can. From left to right: the woman is helping tilt the watering can by its neck, one man is supporting it from its base, and the other two men, one sitting on top of the other’s shoulders, is holding the handle. Water droplets pour out of the nozzle, falling onto the CFI’s circular red logo growing out of the soil. To the left of the logo, a fourth man is crouching on one knee in the dirt, holding a gardening spade
podcast
Episode four: An idea becomes reality
The fourth episode in a podcast series that traces the Canada Foundation for Innovation's unlikely origin story
Illustration of a giant grey head with an open skull cap, revealing his brain. A portion of the brain in the shape of a puzzle piece is missing. Two men in grey suits stand on top of the head. The man to the left is scratching his head, while the man on the right is carrying the CFI’s red circular logo above his head. Beneath them, a woman in a grey suit is holding up the brain’s missing puzzle piece
podcast
Episode three: The idea of CFI is born
The third episode in a podcast series that traces the Canada Foundation for Innovation's unlikely origin story
Illustration of a man in a grey suit aboard a little boat made out of newspaper. He is at sea and is looking through a nautical telescope. To the right of the boat, there is a large green dollar sign, mostly submerged under water. The top part of the dollar sign sticking out of the water has two palm trees growing on it.
podcast
Episode two: An unexpected opportunity
The second episode in a podcast series that traces the Canada Foundation for Innovation's unlikely origin story