Canada Impact+ Research Postdoctoral Awards

The Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards are a one-time initiative designed to recruit international or returning Canadian students and postdoctoral researchers to Canada in eight priority research areas, helping build capacity, strengthen the research ecosystem, and enhance Canada’s global competitiveness. The priority research areas for this initiative are the following:

Advanced digital technologies (AI, quantum, cybersecurity)
Health, including biotechnology
Clean technology and resource value chains
Environment, climate resilience, and the Arctic
Food and water security
Democratic and community resilience
Manufacturing and advanced materials
Defence and dual-use technologies

Nationally, 600 doctoral awards and 400 postdoctoral awards have been distributed across Canadian institutions based on each institution’s share of Tri-agency funding. The University of Toronto, in turn, has allocated its share of these awards to its academic divisions and affiliated hospitals to administer. DLSPH has an allocation of 1 postdoctoral nomination.

Value and Duration

An annual salary of $70,000 per year for two years plus benefits.

Tri-Agency provides $70,000 per year per post doc
Supervisor provides minimum $12,775 per year (which accounts for the 2025/26 benefit rate of 10.5% and the postdoc levy of 7.75%)

The supervisor must provide the additional employer costs above the $70,000 from existing research funding held at DLSPH to cover benefits and any increases that may be applicable as a result of future Collective Agreements. Supervisors may offer a higher salary, assuming they can also cover the associated increased benefits and levy.

How to Apply

Complete PDF packages should be submitted via this DLSPH submission form by 4:00 pm on Monday, February 2, 2026.

A complete package includes:

A supervisor statement from the faculty supervisor (Max two pages)
Research proposal from the nominee (Max two pages plus up to two additional pages for references/citations)
Training statement from the nominee (Max one page)
Nominee’s C.V. (Any format, no page restriction)
Description of the candidate’s research alignment with the DLSPH Academic plan (Max 1/2 page)
Description of the candidate’s considerations regarding inclusivity, diversity, equity, and/or accessibility in their proposed research program and approach to research (Max 1/2 page)

NOTE: This is the same information required for the DLSPH Research Excellence Postdoctoral Fellows Program. Candidates who are interested in applying to both should indicate their interest on the joint submission form (noting the differences in eligibility requirements).

As there is only one spot available and we do not wish to overburden supervisors, we are not requiring applications for the Impact+ competition to fill out the official Tri-Agency nomination form unless they are selected. Please note, though, that this means supervisors and applicants will only have 4 business days to complete the official Tri-Agency form if selected. You can review the form here to plan appropriately. The DLSPH internal review committee will have until February 17 to complete their reviews and divisional submissions are due to SGS by February 23.

Nominee Eligibility

The applicant must:

be currently studying or working abroad,
not be affiliated with a university in Canada at the time of nomination (includes international candidates and Canadian citizens living abroad),
be eligible to commence a postdoctoral (trainee) engagement prior to March 31, 2027,
be proposing to conduct research in one of the eight priority research areas,
not have held previous postdoctoral-level funding from the tri-agencies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC), regardless of institution,
be expected to complete all doctoral degree requirements by the time the fellowship commences and normally be within five years* from the completion of their degree,
not hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment or are not on leave from such an appointment, AND
only be nominated once.

DLSPH Supervisor (Nominator) Eligibility

The supervisor must:

hold an eligible Tri-agency grant (see list of eligible grants) and receiving a payment or have a planned payment between April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2027),
be conducting research within one of the eight priority research areas (the active grant does not have to be for research in the priority research areas),
not be submitting more than two postdoctoral nominations to this specific competition, AND
commit to supervising the nominee to completion and fulfilling the normal funding commitment for postdocs in their fellowship.

DLSPH will prioritize applications from supervisors who are full-time faculty members and whose primary employer is UofT.

FAQ

What should the research proposal include?

The independent research proposal should clearly articulate how the proposed work represents a significant departure from or advancement beyond the candidate’s doctoral research. The proposal should also outline the anticipated long-term impact of the research, including how it contributes to the field and aligns with U of T’s strategic research priorities.

What should the training statement include?

The statement should describe:

Their professional, academic, and extracurricular experiences/achievements and how these contribute to their learning success and ability to develop and implement an independent research plan (1/2 page); and

How the learning they expect to acquire will contribute to their productivity and to the research goals they hope to achieve. Indicate why they decided upon the proposed learning location and what they expect to learn from the learning experience (1/2 page)

What should the supervisor statement include?

The statement should:

Describe the complementarity between the research interests/background of the supervisor and candidate, how the proposed research complements the supervisor’s ongoing projects and/or new research directions, and the anticipated mutual benefits; this includes how the collaboration will support the candidate’s transition to research independence and long-term career success.

Reveal information specific to the field of study (e.g., benchmarks of excellence, publication norms/standards/practices, impact factor of research contributions) that would otherwise not be known outside the discipline.

Provide details regarding the candidate’s proposed research environment, clearly stating the supervisor’s and graduate unit’s commitment. Examples of commitment include (but are not limited to) mentorship, opportunities for collaboration, dissemination, and/or knowledge translation, resources (e.g., funding, facilities, personnel) that will be available to support the candidate as they carry out their proposed research; and how these resources will enable the candidate to establish a sustainable, independent research program.

Illustrate the supervisor’s commitment to the applicant’s academic and professional trajectory and development of an independent research program, clearly indicating the resources and/or mentoring activities that are available through the learning environment to support career development.

What are the evaluation criteria?

Applications will be reviewed and scored using the following criteria, weighted equally:

Research or Scholarship Proposal	Does the candidate outline their considerations regarding inclusivity, diversity, equity, and/or accessibility in their proposed research program and approach to research? Does the candidate make a strong case for how their research aligns with the DLSPH Academic plan? Has the candidate identified a promising independent research agenda? Does the research plan demonstrate clear intellectual independence from the candidate’s doctoral work and supervisor’s existing research portfolio? Are the ideas put forward in the research plan innovative and/or original? Is the research plan relevant to the candidate’s research career objectives? Does the research plan have the potential of significantly advancing our understanding of the area? Does the research plan clearly identify areas of cross-disciplinary collaboration?
Applicant Track Record	Academic and research training received by the candidate Awards or acknowledgments of academic achievement Scholarly activity as relevant to discipline (e.g., publications, chapters, presentations, community-engaged work, public scholarship, creative practice and related scholarly activity) Research accomplished to date – has the candidate started to demonstrate independence and originality? Contributions to team research? Quality of candidate’s training, mentorship, and supervisory activities
Scholarly Potential	Scholarly potential in the field can be demonstrated through the candidate’s engagement as a mentor, their ability to manage research, to contribute novel ideas to their research program, to make decisions that are crucial to the success of a research program, to lead cross-disciplinary and collaborative research, and to have excellent working relationships with those around them, etc. Will the candidate make meaningful contributions while a postdoctoral fellow at the U of T? Will the postdoctoral fellow be launched into a meaningful career trajectory? Does the research or scholarship plan provide evidence of the candidate’s leadership in the design and conduct of the proposed research?
Feasibility & Potential for Impact	How might the proposed research advance UofT’s excellence in the area over the longer term? Has the supervisor demonstrated support for the scholarly development of the candidate and their independent research program? What institutional arrangements or structures will be in place to support the candidate’s development of an independent scholarly program? What space, operating funds, infrastructure and/or other resources will be available to the candidate and how will these supports set the research program up for success? Does the graduate unit or supervisor demonstrate leadership in the candidate’s chosen field? How will the candidate be set up for career success beyond the period of the fellowship?