Canada Foundation for Innovation

John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF)

The John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) is a Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) program designed to help universities attract and retain the best researchers at a time of intense international competition in priority areas as identified in the university’s Strategic Research Plan. It allows UBC to acquire infrastructure for their UBC Okanagan research faculty to undertake cutting-edge research and create competitive packages of research support for infrastructure, direct research costs and operating funds.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Information on UBC-wide procedures is available on the Applying for CFI Funding page on the Institutional Programs website. A detailed description of the UBC Okanagan CFI Application Instructions & Deadlines (for UBC Okanagan applicants) is available below.

One month following the submission to CFI, a matching funds application must be submitted to the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF). A full BCKDF Step 1 proposal is part of the internal adjudication and selection of proposals. Refer to the BCKDF website for guidelines and application forms.

EVALUATION

Proposals are vetted internally and only strong proposals are selected for submission to CFI. As internal screening is rigorous, applicants are encouraged to prepare well-developed applications.

APPLY

For internal timelines and submission procedures, please contact Pierre Rondier. 

NOI deadline (internal): February 23, 2026
UBCO RPIF deadline June 9, 2026
CFI deadline (external): June 15, 2026
BCKDF Step 1 application deadline (external): July 15, 2026

For internal timelines and submission procedures, please contact Pierre Rondier. 

NOI deadline (internal): June 16, 2026
UBCO RPIF deadline October 9, 2026
CFI deadline (external): October 15, 2026
BCKDF Step 1 application deadline (external): November 16, 2026

For internal timelines and submission procedures, please contact Pierre Rondier. 

NOI deadline (internal): September 25, 2026
UBCO RPIF deadline February 9, 2027
CFI deadline (external): February 15, 2027
BCKDF Step 1 application deadline (external): March 15, 2027
for JELF partnership applications, please contact:

Pierre Rondier
Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Operations
250-807-9438 | ADM006I
pierre.rondier@ubc.ca

 

Innovation Fund

CFI’s Innovation Fund program is a large-scale, team-based infrastructure grants program within CFI that requires a minimum request of $1 million. To be considered, total project costs must be greater than $1 million. The fund provides continued investments in infrastructure across the full spectrum of research, from fundamental to applied, and also supports technology development.

Reminder: Researchers with private-sector partners and/or whose work advances a sensitive technology research area will be required to submit additional research-security documentation at the time of application. See CFI’s Guidelines on Research Security for more information. For support at UBCO, contact chris.hendershot@ubc.ca or UBC’s Research Security team for further assistance.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The draft call for proposals for the 2027 Innovation Fund competition is available for comment until May 14, 2026, after which the CFI will issue the call for proposals on June 3, 2026, with decisions to be made by the CFI’s Board of Directors in November 2027. The overall budget for the 2027 competition will be up to $325 million in capital costs, with up to $97 million in associated infrastructure operating funding.

Like in 2025, the 2027 Innovation Fund competition is expected to be divided into three streams:

  • Stream 1: Leading edge of exploration and knowledge generation (open)
  • Stream 2: Leading edge of exploration and knowledge generation in the social sciences, humanities and arts
  • Stream 3: Renewal and upgrade of core facilities

CFI’S 2027 CALL FOR INNOVATION FUND PROPOSALS

INTERNAL PROCESS

Pre-competition support is available to advise research teams on the development of competitive IF proposals. Proposals should be at an advanced planning stage when the details about the CFI IF competition are released.

Tentative timeline for 2027 launch
  • Pre-competition support launch: June 5, 2025
  • UBCO information session: June 16, 2025, 10–11 a.m.

SLIDES FROM INFORMATION SESSION

  • UBCO IF consultations (by request): June 17, 18, 19, 2025
  • UBCO project registration deadline: August 18, 2025
  • UBCO deadline to submit proposal briefs: September 10, 2025
  • UBCO Review & pre-selection results communicated: End of November 2025

 

Information on UBC-wide procedures is available on the 2027 Innovation Fund page.

Key Dates 

(Please note: dates are subject to change as new information is released from CFI)

  • CFI issues draft call for proposals: April 14, 2026
  • CFI issues call for proposals: June 3, 2026
  • Deadline to submit notices of intent (internal): September 25, 2026
  • Deadline to submit notices of intent (external): September 29, 2026
  • Deadline to submit proposals (internal): January 22, 2027
  • UBCO RPIF deadline: January 26, 2027
  • Deadline to submit proposals (external): February 2, 2027
  • BCKDF deadline to submit Step 1 application (internal): February 26, 2027
  • BCKDF deadline to submit Step 1 application (external): March 2, 2027
  • CFI review process: March 2027–October 2027
  • Decision by CFI Board of Directors: November 2027
For internal timelines and submission procedures, please contact:

Pierre Rondier
Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Operations
250-807-9438 | ADM006I
pierre.rondier@ubc.ca