Team Grant: Strengthening Resilient and Equitable Public Health Systems (STEPS) (2025)

Eligibility

For an application to be eligible, all the requirements stated below must be met:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) must be:
   1. an independent researcher or a knowledge user affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution and/or its affiliated institutions (including hospitals, research institutes and other non-profit organizations with a mandate for health research and/or knowledge mobilization);
      OR
   2. an individual affiliated with an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge mobilization mandate;
      OR
   3. an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge mobilization mandate.
2. The NPA must have their substantive role in Canada for the duration of the requested grant term.
3. The Institution Paid must be authorized to administer CIHR funds by the funding start date.

4. The core tripartite leadership team must be comprised of three individuals as follows, each in a Principal role (i.e., NPA*, Principal Applicant (PA), or Principal Knowledge User (PKU)):

   Note: An individual cannot assume more than one role.

   1. an independent researcher who is a scientific lead with expertise in the research area.
   2. a senior decision-maker (based in a public health organization**) with the ability and mandate to make/influence decisions regarding PHS building blocks. For example, the decision-maker may be a policymaker, a provincial/territorial/local Medical Officer of Health, the director of a community-based organization, an Indigenous health authority representative, or Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge mobilization mandate.
   3. a knowledge-user who is a practitioner (based in a public health organization**), a community representative or an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge mobilization mandate and with experience/expertise in the research area.

   *If the NPA is an independent researcher, then the knowledge user must be identified in the PKU role. If the NPA is a knowledge user, then the independent researcher must be identified in the Principal Applicant role.

   ** The organization must be a governmental public health institution or a community-based organization with a public health-related mandate.

5. Embedded researchers, working in a municipal, provincial, or territorial government in Canada can be included in teams as Principal Applicants (PA), co-applicants or collaborators.

6. The NPA and all PAs must have successfully completed one of the Sex and Gender Training Modules available online through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and submit a Certificate of Completion by the full application deadline (see How to Apply for more details).

   *Organizations as NPAs: For organizations applying as the NPA, a representative of the organization must complete the training module on the organization's behalf.

7. An individual cannot submit more than one (1) application to this funding opportunity as an NPA. If the NPA submits more than one application, CIHR will automatically withdraw the subsequent application(s) submitted based on timestamp of submission.
8. The following eligibility criteria apply for applications to be co-funded by a provincial health funding organization (an external partner):
   1. FRQ-Santé: At minimum, the lead researcher and decision-maker (within the tripartite leadership team) are located in a Quebec-based institution. The NPA must be a lead researcher and must be a status 1 or 2 researcher as per the Common General Rules (CGR).
   2. Health Research BC: At a minimum, the lead researcher and decision-maker (within the tripartite leadership team), are located in a BC-based institution. All Health Research BC funds must remain in the province of British Columbia to support the research.
9. For any research applications involving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis populations or research areas, the team must include:
   1. at least one (1) principal applicant (NPA, PA or PKU) who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) or who can provide evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples or both (see How to Apply).
      AND
   2. at least one (1) of the following individuals on the research team (in any role): Indigenous Elder, Indigenous Knowledge Holder, Indigenous person with lived/living experience, or an Indigenous scholar.

Note: Elders and/or Indigenous Knowledge Holders’, including community representatives (other than the core tripartite leads), Elders and/or Indigenous Knowledge Holders, may participate on an application in a Collaborator role without the need to secure a CIHR PIN. Follow the instructions in the How to Apply section that pertain to Collaborators and indicate their role in the participant table. Elders and/or Indigenous Knowledge Holders’ contributions to the proposed activities and their meaningful engagement must also be captured in the research proposal to address the points outlined in the evaluation criteria. Please note, names of Collaborators do not appear in CIHR funding decision databases and documents.

Summary

The Strengthening Resilient and Equitable Public Health Systems (STEPS) Team Grants invite research on system-level challenges in public health, and the role the community and public sectors play in addressing them and advancing shared PHS goals. The grants build on past investments in the IPPH Public Health Systems strategic priority area, which seeks to “strengthen the field of public health systems and services research (PHSSR)” and “support decision-making across the public health ecosystem.” The STEPS grants also respond to widespread calls for a national PHSSR agenda, one that is interdisciplinary, intersectoral and informed by multiple knowledge systems, including Indigenous epistemologies.

Purpose

This funding opportunity (FO) aims to advance the field of PHSSR by supporting research that focuses on system-level solutions* to improve PHS performance (including the conditions for success). The overarching goal is to generate actionable evidence to build resilient and equitable PHS and support robust decision-making to enhance health equity and population health. The FO will support solutions-focused research on the building blocks** of PHS within:

• The public sector (federal, provincial, territorial (FPT), municipal or Indigenous governmental organizations/institutions) and/or
• The community sector (community-based, non-profit organizations)

* System-level solutions in this competition refer (but are not limited) to policies, structures, standards, models or frameworks, such as: modernized governance frameworks; cost-effective and sustainable financing models (at FPT/municipal/Indigenous or non-governmental levels); models for intersectoral partnerships; workforce planning and deployment at surge times; national or provincial service delivery frameworks.

** Building blocks of PHS in this competition are defined as: public health governance, finance and workforce arrangements; policies and service delivery models, systems or frameworks; data, information systems and technologies (adapted from the Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2021).

Overhead

n/a

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application 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.

Submission Process:

Registration due directly to CIHR via ResearchNet by 6:00PM Calgary time on September 17, 2025. No RMS needed for this step.

Full application, plus approvals in RMS, will be required by RSO by noon on January 9, 2026. Please be sure to select "Submitted for approvals" (Under Save & Progress) in RMS in enough time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the internal RSO deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

Do not submit through ResearchNet until RSO's signature has been granted!! 

Once institutional signature has been obtained, a copy of the CIHR signature page will be available via the RMS record, under Documents. Upload the CIHR signature page and routing slip in the Print/Upload Signature Pages task in ResearchNet by 6:00PM Calgary time on January 14, 2026.

RESOURCES

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.  

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with RSO units, the more help we can be! 

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application