2025 Call for Proposals

Eligibility

To participate in this NCC funding competition, an Organization must be eligible to receive and administer NCC funding. Eligible Organizations include:

• Post-secondary Institutions;
• Private industry;
• Non-profit organizations that carry out their activities primarily in Canada; and
   

To be eligible, an Organization must:

• Be situated in Canada; and
• Be a member in good standing with the NCC.

Additional clarification and documentation may be requested by the NCC to confirm eligibility. 

Summary

With funding from the Government of Canada through the Cyber Security Innovation Network (CSIN) program, the NCC is mobilizing funds through the 2025 Call for Proposals to support initiatives that:

• Support research and development (R&D) projects with Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)1-6 to design and implement innovative cybersecurity technologies, advance state-of-the-art products, and conduct research;
• Support commercialization of new technology with TRL 7-9: products and services that address cybersecurity challenges in critical infrastructure protection, human-centric cybersecurity, network security, software security, and privacy protection; and
• Provide opportunities for training, upskilling, and reskilling of students and professionals from various disciplines.

Overall Structure of Call 2025 

The NCC is seeking applications in the following Categories, across all eligible project Streams.

Category 1: Accelerated Projects 
Goal: To make impactful progress on highly targeted, larger budget projects intended to be quickly transformative. 
Funding Max/Timeline: Up to $2.5M – fully completed by March 31, 2028
Framework: A targeted initiative that will address a critical need facing cybersecurity/privacy. Matching funds must be fully committed by the completion of Stage 3 of the application process, and fully spent by March 31, 2028. Milestones/goals and KPIs with tangible deliverables must be clearly identified. These
are intended to be substantial, high value projects. Funding is provided using the reimbursement approach only. 

Category 2: New 2025 Projects
Goal: To maintain the NCC’s funding momentum by drawing on community-initiated projects through an open call. Projects may be between one and three years in duration.
Funding Max/Timeline: Based on funding stream and category, see below. 
Framework: applications may be up to three years in duration but all funds and matching dollars must be spent no later than March 31, 2029. Projects will be
evaluated based on the quality of the proposal through a peer-review process. 

Research and Development (R&D) Stream
Standard and Spearhead Projects (TRL 1-6) that are focused on the design and implementation of innovative cybersecurity technologies, working to advance the state-of-the-art, or looking to conduct studies within the Canadian cybersecurity ecosystem, relating to: critical infrastructure protection; network security; software security; human-centric cybersecurity; and privacy protection.

• R&D Standard: up to $2 million in NCC funding; 50% matching contribution requirement
• R&D Spearhead: up to $500,000 in NCC funding; matching not required

Commercialization Stream
The NCC is looking to provide support to assist in the successful commercialization of new Canadian technology (Technology Readiness Levels 7-9), products, and services that address cybersecurity challenges in critical infrastructure protection, human-centric cybersecurity, network security, software security and/or privacy.

• up to $1 million in NCC funding; 70% matching contribution requirement

Training Stream
Projects meant to develop robust and varied opportunities for students or professionals to upskill and reskill across various disciplines.

• up to $1 million in NCC funding; 50% matching contribution requirement
   

* Applicants are strongly encouraged to meet or exceed the recommended level of matching contribution for their proposals. Assessment of confirmed matching dollars is a part of the Evaluation Review Criteria. Projects with high merit in other Evaluation Review Criteria may be funded with lower matching contribution ratios at the discretion of the NCC.

Submission Process

1. Letter of Intent (LOI)

The LOI, plus approval in the Research Management System (RMS) using a Pre-Award/Letter of Intent record, must be submitted to RSO by March 19, 2025 at 12:00 pm. Please be sure to select 'Submitted for approval' (under Save & Progress) in RMS in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the RSO internal deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

Once you have received RSO approval, you must submit the LOI by March 24, 2025.

Please note that you must submit the LOI to NCC via their Adsigno Portal. 

2. Full Application (by invitation only)

The Full Application, plus approval in the Research Management System (RMS) using a Pre-Award/Application record,* must be submitted to RSO by May 6, 2025 at 12:00 pm. Please be sure to select 'Submitted for approval' (under Save & Progress) in RMS in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the RSO internal deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

*Creation of a new Pre-Award/Application record in RMS is not necessary. You can automatically generate an Application record from the existing LOI record by changing the status of the LOI record to 'Invited to full application' (under Save & Progress).

Do not submit to the agency until RSO's approval has been granted in RMS. Once this institutional approval has been obtained, the Principal Investigator will receive an automated message from RMS to their @ucalgary email address. You can then proceed with submitting your application by May 9, 2025.

3. Due Diligence (Administrative Submission)

The NCC may request any or all of the following documentation to complete the Stage 3 Due Diligence Review (due to NCC by August 5, 2025):

• Lead Organization’s current cybersecurity structure;
• National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships Risk Assessment including any attestations required to demonstrate conformance;
• Confirmation of Project costs and funding, including Letters of Commitment;
• Key performance indicastors and evaluation strategies; 
• Cybersecurity plan; 
• Intellectual property agreements; 
• Project plans supporting EDIA principles; 
• Other documentation, as required

These documents should be emailed to the Research Grants Officer by noon on July 30, 2025, who will review them for completion and for tracking purposes. Once these documents have been reviewed, you can proceed with submitting them to the sponsor by August 5, 2025. 

Overhead

The maximum overhead amount is 55% of total eligible direct labour and cannot exceed 15% of total Eligible Costs.

Please note that employee benefits must be budgeted as indirect costs, as per page 18 of the Funding Program Guide: Pre-Award. As per that guide, indirect costs (overhead) include the following:

• Indirect materials and supplies including but not limited to, supplies of low-value, high usage and consumable items which meet the definition of direct costs but for which it is commercially unreasonable, in the context of the activities of the network, to account for their costs in the manner prescribed for direct costs. 
• Costs such as stationery, office supplies, postage and other necessary administration and management expenses.
• Indirect labour and overtime premium, 
• All types of benefits paid by employer including but not limited to: the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), Employment Insurance (EI), fringe benefits, medical benefits, dental benefits, pension benefits and other taxable benefits, the remuneration of executive and corporate officers (including bonuses and incentives), general office wages and salaries, and clerical expenses clerical expenses related to the administration and management of the network; (HR,
  Accounting/Finance staff). 

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

Application deadlines

Due Diligence Submission - RSO Final Internal Review Deadline

Due Diligence Submission - NCC Deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

NCC Membership 

As the NCC is a member-driven organization, the potential Ultimate Recipient, as well as its confirmed Partner Organizations, will need to be members in good standing of the NCC to receive funds from the NCC. 

It is expected that the Ultimate Recipient’s base membership will be paid in full by the close of the Project Proposal period. If the project is successful in receiving an NCC grant, the Ultimate Recipient will be required to pay an additional 3.5% incremental membership fee based on the amount of awarded grant funds. Note: membership fees are not an eligible expense of the NCC or of CSIN project funding. 

For Project Proposals that proceed beyond Stage 3 of a Grant Competition, any Partner Organizations identified must also become members in good standing of the NCC. Partner Organizations will be expected to pay the base membership fee appropriate for their size and category of organization.

RESOURCES  

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with Research Services, the more help we can be! 

Contact the following Research Service units for support with: 

Projects Involving Indigenous Research: 

Support with incorporating wise practices in Indigenous research, community engagement, and Indigenous data management is available through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST). 

Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage. 

Knowledge Mobilization, Research Impact Assessment, DORA:  
Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, research impact, responsible research assessment (DORA), and open science, is available through the Knowledge to Impact team.  

Applicants can reach out by email to the KI team at knowledge.impact@ucalgary.ca.  
For more information and access to resource archives, please visit the KI team webpage. 

Research Data Management: 

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@ucalgary.ca.    

EDI in Research: 

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice.  

Contact edi.rso@ucalgary.ca for more information. 

Research Security: 

The Research Security Division is available to ensure researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC). 

Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.  

Pre-Award Submissions: 

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award LOI 

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application