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

Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery

Deadlines

Academic Unit: Inquire within unit

Memorial Deadline: Wednesday 7th, January 2026

External Deadline: Wednesday 14th, January 2026

Description

RIS will be offering support with application development for this opportunity. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Dr. Jennifer Stevens (v5js@mun.ca) or Dr. Amanda Crompton (ajcrompt@mun.ca) early during the development process to discuss the services available to them.

Background

Robust public health systems (PHS) are vital for ensuring disease prevention and health promotion, improving population health and health equity, enhancing health system sustainability, and preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. However, Canada’s PHS are confronted with a polycrisis that compromises public health and exacerbates health inequities, including income inequities, housing shortages, the opioid epidemic, climate-related extreme weather events, food insecurity, infectious disease outbreaks, and an environment of polarization and mis-/dis-information. In parallel, ongoing system challenges – boom and bust funding cycles, health system reforms, a strained workforce and infrastructure, outdated data systems, and the weakening of public health institutions – further hinder PHS’ ability to fulfill their core functions¹.

To strengthen equitable and resilient PHS across Canada, a unified approach is needed that combines targeted research investments, evidence-informed policy and action. Public health leaders need rigorous evidence on the building blocks of PHS (as defined below): which governance and finance models produce the best results and for whom² (including but not limited to the interface/boundaries between public health and healthcare systems); how to organize, build capacity and staff public health; and how PHS (re)structuring impacts population health and health equity¹. At the same time, research evidence is needed on the role of the non-governmental, community-based sector in supporting PHS and contributing to its core functions³.

Effective coordination between governmental public health institutions (the public sector) and community-based organizations (the community sector) is essential for ensuring system capacity and resilience, particularly during acute shocks and public health emergencies (as described in the Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2023). PHS must also be responsive to communities’ needs, integrate local knowledge, and share power with equity-denied and rights-holding populations, in order to (re)build public trust, counteract mis-/disinformation (e.g. surrounding vaccinations), and close the gap in health inequities^4,5. Finally, research is called for on approaches that promote distinctions-based First Nations, Inuit and Métis self-determination and self-governance within PHS⁶.

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 epistemologies⁷.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

• Generate actionable evidence on system-level building blocks of Canadian PHS in the public and/or community sectors, and their impacts on population health and health equity; and
• Identify, test, and/or evaluate promising system-level solutions that strengthen PHS in the public and/or community sectors for evidence-informed decision-making; and
• Build capacity of different actors (researchers, decision-makers, practitioners, community representatives, Indigenous communities, and other knowledge users), organizations and sectors (governmental and non-governmental) to undertake collaborative, equity-focused research on PHS; and
• Foster knowledge mobilization strategies that close the gap between research, policy, and practice in public health with relevant interest-holders and advance the uptake of evidence for stronger PHS.

Eligibility to Apply

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.

Important Dates

Funding Sources

Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)