Published: 20 Oct 2025 418 views
Partnership Development Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Research Partnerships program.
These grants provide support over one to three years to teams/partnerships, led by a project director, to:
The award value ranges from $75,000 to $200,000
Most SSHRC funding is awarded through open competitions. Proposals can involve any disciplines, thematic areas, approaches or subject areas eligible for SSHRC funding. See subject matter eligibility for more information.
Projects whose primary objective is curriculum development, program evaluation, preparation of teaching materials, digitization of a collection, or creation of a database are not eligible for funding under this funding opportunity.
Applications can be submitted by a team of researchers (consisting of one applicant / project director and one or more co-directors, co-applicants and/or collaborators). The applicant / project director prepares the application on behalf of the partner organizations of the formal partnership.
Applicants (except postdoctoral researchers and students) must be affiliated with a Canadian institution that meets the institutional eligibility requirements at the time of application and before funding can be released. Researchers who maintain an affiliation with a Canadian postsecondary institution, but whose primary affiliation is with a non-Canadian postsecondary institution, are not eligible for applicant status.
Applicants who have received a SSHRC grant of any type but have failed to submit an achievement report by the deadline specified in their notice of award are not eligible to apply for another SSHRC grant until they have submitted the report.
Postdoctoral researchers are eligible to be applicants if they have formally established an affiliation with an eligible institution within five months of the grant start date, and maintain such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period. Before applying, postdoctoral researchers must confirm with their institution, usually through the research grants office, that the institution can administer the funding if awarded.
Students enrolled in a program of study are not eligible to apply. However, a PhD candidate is eligible to apply if they:
Applicants who are postdoctoral researchers or students, and who do not have an affiliation at the time of the grant application, are asked to communicate with SSHRC at least five business days before the deadline to confirm how to forward their application.
Federal scientists who are affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution must demonstrate that their proposed research or research-related activity is not related to either the mandate of their employer or the normal duties for which they receive payment from that employer.
If the proposal falls within the mandate of the federal government and the research or research-related activity is performed in government facilities, funding can only be allocated for student salaries, stipends and travel costs.
Only an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution or not-for-profit organization can administer grant funds. Institutions or not-for-profit organizations interested in administering SSHRC individual or institutional grants must meet the institutional eligibility requirements for the administration of grants and awards, which is independent of this application process.
Institutions and not-for-profit institutions seeking institutional eligibility or that have questions are strongly encouraged to contact SSHRC’s Institutional Eligibility team at least 10 business days before the application deadline.
Not-for-profit organization applicants must have at least one Canadian postsecondary institution partner organization to be eligible for this funding opportunity.
Individuals are eligible to be co-directors or co-applicants if they are formally affiliated with any of the following:
Postdoctoral researchers who are affiliated with a postsecondary institution are eligible to be co-directors or co-applicants.
PhD candidates are eligible to be co-applicants and co-directors under the same conditions as those described for an applicant.
Any individual who makes a significant contribution to the project is eligible to be a collaborator. Collaborators do not need to be affiliated with an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution.
Individuals from the private sector or federal government can participate only as collaborators.
Partner organizations can be Canadian or international institutions or organizations (public, private, not-for-profit) of any type.
Under a Partnership Development Grant, an applicant affiliated with a postsecondary institution is not required to enter into a partnership agreement with another postsecondary institution.
See SSHRC’s regulations on multiple applications and holding multiple awards for more information.
Grant holders will be expected to report on the use of grant funds, on funded activities undertaken during the grant period, and on outcomes. Successful applicants will be informed of reporting requirements upon receiving their notice of award.
Applicants must complete the application form in accordance with accompanying application instructions. Applications must be submitted electronically by an authorized research grants officer, or equivalent, from the applicant’s institution, or by a representative of the not-for-profit organization that has financial signing authority and is not participating in the project.
Eligible PhD students and postdoctoral researchers can submit their applications directly to SSHRC.
Applicants needing help while preparing their application should communicate with SSHRC well in advance of the application deadline.
Applications must demonstrate the following:
Quality and commitment of formal partnerships
Applicants should include relevant documentation to allow informed evaluation of the quality and level of commitment of the proposed formal partnerships.
Applicants must include evidence of formal partnership in their application. Evidence can include, but is not limited to:
Institutional and partner organization contributions
Applicants are expected to include a plan to seek and secure cash and/or in-kind contributions for their initiative during the life of the grant. While there is no minimum contribution requirement, institutions and their partner organizations are expected to demonstrate that a formal partnership currently exists, or is in the process of being developed, by supporting the activities of the formal partnership through cash and/or in-kind support.
For more information, see SSHRC’s Guidelines for Cash and In-Kind Contributions.
Applications are reviewed, and available funds awarded, through a competitive merit review process. SSHRC bases funding decisions on the recommendations of the merit review committee and on the funds available. Committee discussions are guided by the principle of minimum essential funding.
Applications are reviewed by multidisciplinary committees that include relevant expertise from the academic community, as well as research expertise from the public, private and/or not-for-profit sectors. The exact number and composition of merit review committees will be determined by the number and nature of proposals received. Participants in the review process, if not in a conflict of interest with the applicant or any team members, are asked to evaluate the proposal based on the evaluation criteria below.
Committee members read an entire cohort of applications. Members, as a group, then evaluate and rank the proposals assigned to their committee.
SSHRC’s Guidelines for the Merit Review of Indigenous Research are relevant for researchers (applicants and project directors) and students preparing SSHRC applications related to Indigenous research. SSHRC provides these guidelines to merit reviewers to help build understanding of Indigenous research and research-related activities, and to assist committee members in interpreting SSHRC’s specific evaluation criteria in the context of Indigenous research. SSHRC relies on a community of merit reviewers with experience and expertise in Indigenous research to judge the extent to which the guidelines can be applied to a particular research proposal. The guidelines may also be of use to postsecondary institutions and partner organizations that support Indigenous research.
The following criteria and scoring scheme are used to evaluate the applications:
Merit review committee members assign a score for each of the three criteria above, based on the following scoring table. The appropriate weighting is then applied to arrive at a final score. Applications must receive a score of 3.0 or higher for each of the three criteria to be recommended for funding.
| Score | Descriptor |
|---|---|
| 5-6 | Very good to excellent |
| 4-4.9 | Good to very good |
| 3-3.9 | Satisfactory to good |
| Below 3 | Unsatisfactory |
SSHRC makes competition results available to applicants (via the SSHRC Extranet for Applicants) and institutions/organizations (via the Grants and Scholarships Administration Portal).
All applicants will be provided, in addition to SSHRC’s notice of decision, a summary of the merit review committee’s evaluation of their proposal, where applicable.
Applicants must complete the application form in accordance with accompanying application instructions. Applications must be submitted electronically by an authorized research grants officer, or equivalent, from the applicant’s institution, or by a representative of the not-for-profit organization that has financial signing authority and is not participating in the project.
Eligible PhD students and postdoctoral researchers can submit their applications directly to SSHRC.
Applicants needing help while preparing their application should communicate with SSHRC well in advance of the application deadline.
Applications must demonstrate the following:
Quality and commitment of formal partnerships
Applicants should include relevant documentation to allow informed evaluation of the quality and level of commitment of the proposed formal partnerships.
Applicants must include evidence of formal partnership in their application. Evidence can include, but is not limited to:
Institutional and partner organization contributions
Applicants are expected to include a plan to seek and secure cash and/or in-kind contributions for their initiative during the life of the grant. While there is no minimum contribution requirement, institutions and their partner organizations are expected to demonstrate that a formal partnership currently exists, or is in the process of being developed, by supporting the activities of the formal partnership through cash and/or in-kind support.
For more details, visit Canadian Government scholarship webpage
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