Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards for Doctoral Students

Prospective doctoral students (nominee) must meet the following eligibility criteria: 

• Nominees can hold any citizenship, including Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada).
• Must not have a current affiliation with a Canadian institution.
• Must currently be studying or working abroad (this includes Canadian citizens/permanent residents currently outside the country).
  • Participation of Canadian citizens in this initiative is intended for those who have previously left Canada for research and/or work experience and who wish to return to Canada to continue their research. 
• Must be ready to activate the award in Canada by March 31, 2027. The Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide post-award policies apply to Impact+ Training Awards. Refer to the award holder’s guide regarding available start dates.
• Must have submitted a complete application for admission to the doctoral program by May 1, 2026 (Wave 2).
• (Wave 1) Available start date for doctoral awards may be May 1, 2026, September 1, 2026 or January 1, 2027.
• (Wave 2) Available start date for doctoral awards must be either September 1, 2026 or January 1, 2027.
• Cannot hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment or be on leave from such an appointment concurrently with the Impact+ training award (some exceptions apply; see the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide for details). 
• There is no limit on the number of months completed in a doctoral degree for eligibility to the Impact+ training awards.
• To be eligible for nomination, the candidate’s research must align with one of the following priority areas:
  • Advanced digital technologies (AI, quantum, 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
• Additional CIRTA Q&A information is available on Tri-Council’s website.

Faculty members (nominator) must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Must hold an active Tri-Agency grant  (CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC) with payments scheduled for the 2025–26 or 2026–27 fiscal years (see "For Nominators" at Canada Impact+Research Training Awards: Q&A, FAQ #19 for eligible grants and for additional Q&A nominating information)
• Must be eligible to supervise doctoral students.
• While the nominator’s research grant does not have to specifically be within one of the eight identified priority research areas, they must be able to facilitate the nominee conducting research in one of the identified areas. 

• Nominees can only be nominated by one nominator (cannot have multiple proposed supervisors or locations of tenure). 
• International students/researchers already working or studying at a Canadian institution are not eligible for the Impact+ training awards. Instead, they can apply for the CGRS D or CPRA. 
• Nominees cannot be currently holding another scholarship or postdoctoral research award from the three agencies or be currently benefiting from tri-agency funds from a supervisor’s grant. 
• Cannot have previously held doctoral-level scholarship from one of the three agencies

• Prospective doctoral students (nominee) are to first contact a Faculty member (nominator) in the Department to which they wish to apply, who is willing to act as a potential supervisor for the Impact+ Training Awards.
• If supported by a proposed supervisor, the prospective doctoral student (nominee) and the Faculty member (nominator) are to complete the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards – Nomination form and submit to the Department to which they wish to apply. Refer to Nomination Procedures and the 2026 CIRTA Memo to Students & Departments for complete details.
• Prospective doctoral students must have submitted a completed application for admission to the doctoral program by May 1, 2026 (Wave 2).
• The nominator and nominee are to select the agency whose research mandate most closely aligns to the nominee’s research subject matter. In most cases, the agency will be the same as the agency of the nominator’s grant.

The Faculty member (nominator) is to refer to the Eligibility section above for nominator eligibility criteria, and refer to the 2026 CIRTA Memo to Students & Departments for complete details. Nominators are also to ensure all grant information, including the reference number, is included on the form or the nomination may not be reviewed.

May 12, 2026: deadline for Departments to submit the completed Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards – Nomination form and the prospective doctoral student’s CV to GPS via the GSMS Awards Portal. Refer to the 2026 CIRTA Memo to Students & Departments for complete details and departmental nomination quota.

The university’s quota (Wave 2) to submit recommended doctoral candidates for national review is 12.

Research security requirements apply to this opportunity. If you are already or you plan to be a holder of research funding subject to the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern, you are reminded that under that Policy, if your research aims to advance a Sensitive Technology Research Area, no one on your team can have any active affiliations with a Named Research Organization. This includes any Canada+ Impact Research Training Award recipients. 

The Safeguarding Research Office (SRO) is able to support you in meeting the Government of Canada’s expectation (see question 7) that you conduct open-source due diligence to verify a prospective nominee’s affiliation and sources of funding or in-kind support. Please consult the SRO portal for more information on the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC) and for support with conducting open source due diligence. Please use the Category B form to request support on validating the affiliations of prospective nominees.

Additionally, please consult the SRO portal for more information about STRAC and the completion of the required Attestation Forms using the University’s Attestation App

Finally, all University of Alberta-affiliated individuals submitting an Attestation Form must also complete required research security training available in Canvas as an institutional condition of application. 

The Impact+ training awards will be processed by GPS and the agencies in two phases with separate deadlines:

Wave 1

Closed.

Wave 2:

Prospective doctoral students (nominee), prospective supervisors (nominator), and departments are to refer to the 2026 CIRTA Memo to Students & Departments for complete details and departmental nomination quota.

May 1, 2026: deadline for prospective doctoral students to submit a completed application for admission to the doctoral program.

May 12, 2026: deadline for departments to submit the completed nomination package to GPS via the GSMS Awards Portal. Departments are to ensure the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards – Nomination form and CV are complete in their entirety and uploaded properly to GSMS, or the nomination may not be reviewed. Late submissions of nominations will not be accepted after May 12.

May 13 – 27, 2026: GPS nomination review and adjudication to select recommended candidates for national review. The university’s quota for Wave 2, is 12 doctoral nominations.

June 3, 2026: deadline for GPS to submit recommended candidates to Tri-Council for national review. Late or incomplete submissions will not be accepted by Tri-Council. With the exception of personal contact information, no changes or updates to submitted nominations can be made either before or after this deadline.

Summer 2026: anticipated date results will be shared by Tri-Council.