Insight Development Grants

Insight Development Grants support research in its initial stages.

Visit the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) website for more information on the Insight Development Grants.

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

Value and Duration

Insight Development Grants are valued at $7,000 to $75,000 over one to two years. A minimum budget of $7,000 is required in at least one of the years.

Overview

Insight Development Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Insight Research program.

Insight Development Grants support research in its initial stages. The grants enable the development of new research questions, as well as experimentation with new methods, theoretical approaches and/or ideas. Funding is provided for short-term research development projects of up to two years that are proposed by individuals or teams.

These grants foster research in its early stages, but are not intended to support large-scale initiatives. Long-term support for research is offered through SSHRC’s Insight Grants.

Proposed projects can involve, but are not limited to, the following types of research activities:

• case studies
• pilot initiatives
• critical analyses of existing research

Projects can also involve national and international research collaboration, and the exploration of new ways of producing, structuring and mobilizing knowledge within and across disciplines and sectors.

Funding is available for two distinct categories of scholars:

• Emerging scholars who will develop new research questions and/or approaches. Such projects may build on and further the applicant’s (or team’s) graduate work and/or represent a continuation of their overall research trajectory.
• Established scholars who will explore new research questions and/or approaches that are distinct from the applicant’s previous/ongoing research. Research projects should be clearly delimited and in the early stages of the research process. Insight Development Grant funding is not intended to support ongoing research for established scholars.

SSHRC welcomes applications involving Indigenous research, as well as those involving research-creation.

Eligibility

Subject Matter

Most SSHRC funding is awarded through open competitions. Proposals can involve any disciplines, thematic areas, approaches or subject areas eligible for SSHRC funding. See subject matter eligibility for more information.

Projects whose primary objective is curriculum development, preparation of teaching materials, program evaluation, organization of a conference or workshop, digitization of a collection, or creation of a database are not eligible for funding under this opportunity.

An application will be declared ineligible if it is determined that 30% or more of the requested budget has been allocated to non-eligible expenses.

Applicants

Applications can be submitted by an individual researcher or a team of researchers (consisting of one applicant and one or more co-applicants and/or collaborators).

Applicants (except postdoctoral researchers and PhD students) must be affiliated with a Canadian institution that meets the requirements for institutional eligibility at the time of application and before funding can be released. Researchers who maintain an affiliation with a Canadian institution, but whose primary affiliation is with a non-Canadian postsecondary institution, are not eligible for applicant status.

Applicants who have received a SSHRC grant of any type but have failed to submit an achievement report by the deadline specified in their Notice of Award are not eligible to apply for another SSHRC grant until they have submitted the report.

Postdoctoral researchers are eligible to be applicants for this grant. However, for SSHRC to release grant funds, successful applicants must formally establish an affiliation with a Canadian institution that meets the requirements for institutional eligibility within three months of the grant start date, and maintain such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period.

Students enrolled in a program of study are not eligible to apply. However, a PhD candidate is eligible if they:

• will have met all requirements for the PhD before the grant is awarded, including all course work and successful defence of their dissertation; and
• establish a formal affiliation with an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution within three months of the grant start date, and maintain such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period.

Eligible PhD students and postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to make inquiries with the Research Grants Office of the eligible institution(s) at which they will be seeking affiliation early in the process.

Federal scientists who are affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution must demonstrate that their proposed research or research-related activity is not related to either the mandate of their employer or the normal duties for which they receive payment from that employer.

If the proposal falls within the mandate of the federal government and the research or research-related activity is performed in government facilities, funding can only be allocated for student salaries, stipends and travel costs.

Internal Deadlines

Please note that all dates are anticipatory and subject to change.

Faculty Deadlines

Office of the Vice-President (Research, Innovation and International) (OVPRII) Deadlines

• OVPRII cuResearch Approval Form deadline: January 28, 2026
• OVPRII submission to SSHRC: February 2, 2026 at 11 a.m. (EST) (internal submission deadline at the latest)

How to Apply

1. Submit an internal Approval Form through our central awards management database cuResearch.
2. Submit an external application to SSHRC.

Contact Us

Please contact your Faculty Research Facilitator to discuss this funding opportunity.