CFI College Fund

CFI College Fund

Funds the Canada Foundation for Innovation College Fund grants for Canadian colleges building research infrastructure and commercialization-ready outputs.

The CFI College Fund is an annual grant competition administered by the Canada Foundation for Innovation that supports research infrastructure projects at Canadian colleges, enabling applied research and technology development that generates innovative products, processes, or services addressing the social, business, health, or environmental needs of Canadian industries and communities. The 2026 competition call for proposals was issued 19 May 2026, with proposals due 17 September 2026. The CFI Board of Directors makes award decisions at its March meeting, approximately six months after the September deadline; award finalization can take up to nine months following the Board decision. Since the programme's launch in 2012, CFI has funded 197 projects at 65 colleges across Canada, investing $142 million CAD in total.

CFI requests per proposal range from $60,000 to $2 million CAD. Each college is capped at three proposals per competition and a combined CFI request of no more than $3 million across all submissions in a single cycle. Eligibility documentation must be submitted by 9 July 2026, prior to the September proposal deadline. Proposals are evaluated through a four-stage review process: administrative review, expert review against five assessment criteria, Multidisciplinary Assessment Committee (MAC) review, and final Board decision. Assessment criteria are applied research or technology development content, quality of partnerships, infrastructure appropriateness, team capacity, and benefits to Canada.

Only Canadian colleges recognised as CFI-eligible may apply; universities, research hospitals, non-profit research institutes, and all private entities are ineligible. Applications are submitted via the CAMS portal. Colleges with established industry partnerships that can demonstrate tangible applied research outputs—particularly in advanced manufacturing, agriculture, health technology, and clean energy—are well-positioned to compete. The partnership criterion rewards proposals that include formal commitments from industry or community partners, and colleges that leverage existing equipment or facilities to amplify CFI investment typically fare better in infrastructure and sustainability scoring.