John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF)

John R. Evans Leaders Fund

Funds Canadian investigator infrastructure for flagship science outcomes through national competition.

The John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), administered by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), is a strategic infrastructure grant programme designed to help Canadian universities attract and retain top researchers by funding the laboratory and research infrastructure they need. CFI funds up to 40% of eligible infrastructure costs, with a maximum CFI request of $800,000 CAD per proposal and a maximum total eligible project cost of $2 million CAD. For special CRC Chair allocations where the CFI request does not exceed $75,000, CFI may fund up to 100% of eligible costs. Institutional allocations are calculated based on tri-agency funding (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) received over the prior three years, meaning larger research universities receive proportionally higher annual allocations.

JELF operates under five funding streams: Unaffiliated (standalone infrastructure); CRC/CERC Partnership; NSERC Partnership (via Alliance Grants); SSHRC Partnership; and a Small Institution Fund for institutions with smaller allocations. The Unaffiliated stream accepts proposals three times per year, with deadlines on February 15, June 15, and October 15. Partnership streams are synced to the respective agency's own deadlines. Proposals of $400,000 or less are reviewed by two independent written expert reviewers; proposals between $400,000 and $800,000 are reviewed by an Expert Committee. Quebec institutions are reviewed by Quebec government Expert Committees under a longstanding CFI-Quebec partnership agreement.

Only CFI-recognised Canadian universities may apply directly; individual researchers cannot submit proposals independently, and research hospitals or institutes must apply through an affiliated eligible university. Each proposal may include up to three researchers, all of whom must be current full-time faculty or active recruits. Winning proposals typically demonstrate a clear linkage between the requested infrastructure and the researcher's proposed research program, institutional commitment to ongoing operating costs, and the infrastructure's benefit to broader research communities at the institution. The rolling tri-annual deadline structure makes JELF one of the most accessible CFI mechanisms for institutions with ongoing recruitment pipelines.