Digital Research Alliance of Canada: National Data Spaces Pilot Program

The National Data Spaces Pilot Program is designed to test and refine the idea of data spaces to improve how Canada’s research data is managed, shared and used across all research fields, from the humanities and social sciences to engineering, health and agriculture. This initiative, aligned with the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, will accelerate discovery and maximize the impact of public investments in Artificial Intelligence and Digital Research Infrastructure.

The Pilot will support at least three research communities in establishing domain-specific data spaces that bring together the appropriate governance, standards, services and technology to enable secure, ethical and interoperable data (re)use. It is a core component of the Alliance’s vision for the Canadian Research Data Platform (CRDP), a connected ecosystem that ensures Canadian research data is managed according to Canadian principles, safeguarded for the long term and positioned for maximum impact.

Visit the Digital Research Alliance of Canada website for more information on the National Data Spaces Pilot Program.

Value and Duration

A total of $3.15 million is available from January 2026 through March 2028 to support activities related to the maturing of research communities into operational National Data Spaces. Each proposal may request up to a maximum of $1 million in eligible funding.

Eligibility

Data spaces have functional and technical components and may operate on different architectures. However, we anticipate that research communities interested in establishing a formal National Data Space will have similar needs, although not at the same level, across the following categories:

• Community Engagement: bring the research community together to identify needs, establish requirements and build communities of experts.
• Governance and Policy: determine how the National Data Space should be governed, what change management will look like and the details of the policies needed for access and participation in the National Data Space.
• Security and Compliance: define security and legal requirements for the research community; design, develop and deploy solutions and recommended approaches for the National Data Space.
• Sustainability and Business Planning: ensure long-term sustainability of National Data Space operations and knowledge management, while also building transition and scalability plans just in case.
• Capacity and Skills: determine digital research infrastructure skill gaps in the research community and recommend existing training resources or develop new resources; this includes research field-specific needs in advanced research computing, research data management and research software.
• Standards and Interoperability: developing, identifying and mapping established standards for research objects and associated metadata and ensuring interoperability with related research communities, including international colleagues and interdisciplinary projects where possible.
• Integration and Technical Bridges: develop and deploy software connectors, build user interfaces and tools, and integrate with partner services including national services.
• Development and Testing of Workflows: investigate current gaps, needs and pilot solutions.

These categories define the core eligible activities for this call for proposals. However, any additional activities that would advance the maturity of the applicant’s research community towards creating a National Data Space and fit within the eligible expenses are within scope. Activities related to developing the National Data Space ecosystem are also within scope but will be determined by the recipients, the Alliance and other relevant stakeholders.

Deadlines

• Faculty deadline: consult your Faculty Research Facilitator
• Office of the Vice-President (Research, Innovation and International) (OVPRII) Approval Form deadline: November 24, 2025
• Submission deadline: December 1, 2025 by 11:59 p.m. (PT)

Submitting Your Application

1. Submit an internal Approval Form through our central awards management database cuResearch.
2. Submit an external application to the Digital Research Alliance of Canada by following their submission guidelines.

Contact Us

Potential applicants are encouraged to discuss this funding opportunity with their Faculty Research Facilitator.