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The University of Winnipeg

Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards for Doctoral Students

The Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards (CIRTA) for doctoral students are a one-time initiative by the federal granting agencies designed to attract highly qualified doctoral students living abroad to Canada, regardless of citizenship, and to support their establishment or return to the country. By providing high‑quality training opportunities in priority fields, the program strives to attract global talent and strengthen Canada's research ecosystem.

The University of Winnipeg has received an allocation of two (2) nominations which they may send forward for consideration in the national competition.

The requirements, process, and deadlines below are based on information available from the Tri-Agencies as of January 15, 2026. Some details are subject to change as the University receives more information.

For more information visit Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards: Q&A.

Award Value

The doctoral scholarships are valued at $40,000/year for up to three years.

Nominee Eligibility
  • Citizenship and location: Nominees may be of any citizenship, and must be studying or working abroad at the time of the nomination
    • Participation of Canadian citizens in this program is intended for those who have previously left Canada for research and/or work experience who wish to return to Canada to continue their research.
  • Institutional Affiliation: Nominees cannot have a current affiliation with a Canadian institution
  • Program Eligibility: Nominees must be eligible to enrol in a doctoral program at The University of Winnipeg by the Winter 2027 term (the term of the final award activation date). This requires that nominees meet the minimum admission requirements for the University of Winnipeg doctoral program in which they intend to take up the award, and submit an application to the graduate program by or before February 2, 2026.
  • Current and Past Funding: Nominees cannot be currently benefiting from other Tri-Agency funds, nor can they have held a Tri-Agency doctoral award in the past
  • Tenure/Tenure-Track: Nominees cannot hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment or be on leave from such an appointment
  • Proposed Research: The Nominee’s proposed research must fall into one of the following priority research areas*: 
    • Advanced digital technologies (including AI, quantum, and cybersecurity)
    • Health, including biotechnology
    • Clean technology and resource value chains
    • Environment, climate resilience, and the Arctic
    • Food and water security
    • Democratic and community resilience
    • Manufacturing and advanced materials
    • Defence and dual-use technologies
    *The priority areas are intended to be interpreted broadly so that relevant work from a wide range of disciplines, from across the three agencies, may be considered
Nominator Eligibility and Responsibility

Nominator Eligibility

  • Nominators must hold an active grant awarded under one of the eligible funding opportunities (see below). For the purposes of this initiative, eligible active grants are those that received a payment or have a planned payment in the 2025-26 or 2026–27 fiscal year (April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2027)
    • If you hold an eligible Tri-Agency Research grant that is not in a priority research area, but you also conduct research in one of the priority areas, you are eligible to nominate if and only if the nominee’s proposed area of research falls within one of the outlined priority research areas.
  • Currently, only faculty members who are eligible to supervisor students in the Bioscience and Policy PhD program are eligible to nominate. This is because this is The University of Winnipeg’s only doctoral program.
  • The nominator must have accounts in good standing with CIHR, NSERC, and/or SSHRC and must not have been deemed ineligible to hold and/or apply for funds for reasons of breach of policies on responsible conduct of research, such as ethics, integrity or financial management policies.

Nominator Responsibilities

In nominating a doctoral student or a postdoctoral researcher, the nominator commits to providing appropriate supervisory guidance in a research training environment to the successful nominee.

Eligible Funding Opportunities

CIHR:

  • Catalyst Grant
  • Network Grant
  • Operating Grant
  • Project Grant
  • Team Grant
  • Training Grant

NSERC:

  • Alliance grants - including peer reviewed special and joint opportunities
  • Canada 150 Research Chairs
  • Canada Excellence Research Chairs
  • Canada First Research Excellence Fund
  • Canada Research Chairs
  • Collaborative Research and Development grants (including DND/NSERC Research Partnership grants)
  • Collaborative Research and Training Experience program
  • Discovery Grants program
  • Discovery Grants – Subatomic Physics (individual, project and major resources)
  • Discovery Grants – Discovery Development Grants
  • Discovery Horizons
  • Idea to Innovation grants
  • Industrial Research Chairs (research project)
  • NSERC-CSE Research Communities Grants
  • Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative

SSHRC:

  • Artificial Intelligence Humanities Sandpit
  • Canada-France Calls for Proposals on Artificial Intelligence
  • CMHC-SSHRC National Housing Strategy Longitudinal Outcomes Research
  • Department of National Defence Research Initiative (DNDRI)
  • Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative
  • Indigenous Science and the Impacts of Plastic Pollution
  • Insight Development Grants
  • Insight Grants
  • National Science Foundation Global Centres
  • New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration
  • New Frontiers in Research Fund - Global
  • New Frontiers in Research Fund - International
  • New Frontiers in Research Fund - Nordforsk-led Joint Initiative
  • New Frontiers in Research Fund - Transformation
  • Open Research Area
  • Partnership Development Grants
  • Partnership Grants
  • Partnership Grants - Partnered Research Training Initiatives
  • Policy Innovation Partnership Grants
  • Reconciliation Network in Response to Call to Action 65
  • Research on Research Joint Initiative
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Network on Sustainable Agriculture in a Net-Zero Economy
  • Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative
  • Trans-Atlantic Platform Democracy, Governance and Trust
Nomination Process and Deadlines

The Impact+ Research Training Awards for Doctoral Students will be processed by The University of Winnipeg and the Agencies in two phases. 

Phase 1: January - May 2026

January 15 - February 2, 2026: The Faculty of Graduate studies gives eligible doctoral programs an allocation of nominations. Programs conduct an internal review and adjudication process to select those faculty members to whom these will be given.

  • Program Allocations:
    • Bioscience, Technology, and Public Policy: 2 nominations

February 2 - 27, 2026: Nominators are informed that they have been selected. They identify their nominee, and together they complete the nomination package.

March - May, 2026: Nomination materials are sent to the Tri-Agency for the March 4 submission deadline for institutions. Results are expected April or May 2026. 

Phase 1 Nomination Package Materials

Completed nomination packages include:

Phase 2: Spring/Summer 2026

The process for Phase 2 of the Impact+ Research Training Awards will be determined following the pilot of Phase 1, and as details regarding Phase 2 are made available.