Published: 02 Nov 2026 4 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 an applicant / project director, to:
Partnership funding is intended for formal partnerships between postsecondary institutions and/or organizations of various types. For more information, see the definitions for formal partnership and partner organization.
The quality of training, mentoring and employability plans for students and emerging scholars will be evaluated as an important part of the proposed initiative. SSHRC’s Guidelines for effective research training explain how students and emerging scholars can meaningfully participate in proposed initiatives.
The intellectual leadership and governance for the creation of a formal partnership can come from the research community and/or from partner organizations from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. However, only an institution that meets the institutional eligibility requirements can administer the grant funding, once awarded. For more information related to Partnership Development Grants, see the Eligibility section.
SSHRC invites applicants and their partner organizations who wish to propose formal disciplinary, interdisciplinary, interinstitutional, international and/or cross-sector partnership arrangements to apply for support through this funding opportunity. Funds are available to support a variety of formal partnership development initiatives in all the disciplines and themes that meet SSHRC’s subject matter eligibility guidelines.
SSHRC’s Partnerships tool kit offers tools and resources to assist with the planning and implementation of your partnership.
Partnership Development Grants are valued at $75,000 to $250,000, over one to three years.
Proposals can involve any disciplines, thematic areas, approaches or subject areas eligible for SSHRC funding. See the guidelines on subject matter eligibility and those on selecting the appropriate federal granting agency 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 holds institutional eligibility 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 regarding multiple applications for grants and fellowship and scholarship 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.
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.
For more information, visit SSHRC scholarship webpage.
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