Health Research Training Awards

Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) — Seed

Funds postdoctoral health research development through independent awards and mentorship.

The Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) is a new Tri-Agency postdoctoral fellowship program created as part of the 2024–2026 restructuring of Canada's federal training award landscape. It replaces both the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships and the legacy CIHR Postdoctoral Research Awards, consolidating postdoctoral funding into a single harmonised scheme administered jointly by CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC. Postdoctoral researchers working in CIHR-eligible health research areas — spanning biomedical science, clinical research, health systems and services research, and population health — are eligible to apply through the CIHR stream.

The CPRA is a researcher-portable award: it follows the researcher rather than the host institution and can be held at any eligible Canadian research organisation. Like all Tri-Agency training awards in the restructured framework, the CPRA is administered and submitted via NSERC's portal at nserc-crsng.gc.ca rather than through CIHR's ResearchNet, and applicants submit through their host Canadian institution. The ResearchNet opportunity record (prog=4363) lists dates as TBD as of the May 2026 data snapshot; per-cycle stipend amounts and competition timelines for the 2026 cohort were not yet published in available documentation at the time of research. Banting Fellowship holders are on transition plans as that program is wound down.

Prospective candidates must fall within the postdoctoral eligibility window as defined by NSERC's current guidance for the relevant cycle. The award supports full-time postdoctoral research and professional development activities at the host institution. Researchers and institutions should monitor the NSERC portal and CIHR's training awards page for formal publication of competition deadlines, eligibility criteria, and stipend rates for the forthcoming competition cycle.