Background

Robust public health systems (PHS) are vital for ensuring disease prevention and health promotion, improving population health and health equity, enhancing health system sustainability, and preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. However, Canada’s PHS are confronted with a polycrisis that compromises public health and exacerbates health inequities, including income inequities, housing shortages, the opioid epidemic, climate-related extreme weather events, food insecurity, infectious disease outbreaks, and an environment of polarization and mis-/dis-information. In parallel, ongoing system challenges – boom and bust funding cycles, health system reforms, a strained workforce and infrastructure, outdated data systems, and the weakening of public health institutions – further hinder PHS’ ability to fulfill their core functions

1.To strengthen equitable and resilient PHS across Canada, a unified approach is needed that combines targeted research investments, evidence-informed policy and action. Public health leaders need rigorous evidence on the building blocks of PHS (as defined below): which governance and finance models produce the best results and for whom2 (including but not limited to the interface/boundaries between public health and healthcare systems); how to organize, build capacity and staff public health; and how PHS (re)structuring impacts population health and health equity1. At the same time, research evidence is needed on the role of the non-governmental, community-based sector in supporting PHS and contributing to its core functions

3.Effective coordination between governmental public health institutions (the public sector) and community-based organizations (the community sector) is essential for ensuring system capacity and resilience, particularly during acute shocks and public health emergencies (as described in the Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2023). PHS must also be responsive to communities’ needs, integrate local knowledge, and share power with equity-denied and rights-holding populations, in order to (re)build public trust, counteract mis-/disinformation (e.g. surrounding vaccinations), and close the gap in health inequities4,5. Finally, research is called for on approaches that promote distinctions-based First Nations, Inuit and Métis self-determination and self-governance within PHS

6.The Strengthening Resilient and Equitable Public Health Systems (STEPS) Team Grants invite research on system-level challenges in public health, and the role the community and public sectors play in addressing them and advancing shared PHS goals. The grants build on past investments in the IPPH Public Health Systems strategic priority area, which seeks to “strengthen the field of public health systems and services research (PHSSR)” and “support decision-making across the public health ecosystem.” The STEPS grants also respond to widespread calls for a national PHSSR agenda, one that is interdisciplinary, intersectoral and informed by multiple knowledge systems, including Indigenous epistemologies

Purpose

This funding opportunity (FO) aims to advance the field of PHSSR by supporting research that focuses on system-level solutions* to improve PHS performance (including the conditions for success). The overarching goal is to generate actionable evidence to build resilient and equitable PHS and support robust decision-making to enhance health equity and population health. The FO will support solutions-focused research on the building blocks** of PHS within:

• The public sector (federal, provincial, territorial (FPT), municipal or Indigenous governmental organizations/institutions) and/or
• The community sector (community-based, non-profit organizations)

* System-level solutions in this competition refer (but are not limited) to policies, structures, standards, models or frameworks, such as: modernized governance frameworks; cost-effective and sustainable financing models (at FPT/municipal/Indigenous or non-governmental levels); models for intersectoral partnerships; workforce planning and deployment at surge times; national or provincial service delivery frameworks.

Building blocks of PHS in this competition are defined as: public health governance, finance and workforce arrangements; policies and service delivery models, systems or frameworks; data, information systems and technologies (adapted from the Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2021).

Design Elements

The STEPS Team Grants must incorporate the following elements:

1. To ensure the research is meaningful, relevant, actionable, and timely, teams must adopt a tripartite co-leadership model in which a researcher, a senior decision-maker, and a public health practitioner or a community representative collaborate to undertake equity-focused research on PHS (see #4, below).
2. Teams must integrate iterative Knowledge Mobilization (KM) strategies in their research program. Team members must meet regularly to 1) co-identify the research question(s) and priorities; 2) co-design the research process and agenda; 3) interpret and contextualize the findings (adapt, refine, and reformulate evidence-informed solutions); and 4) integrate evidence into practice/policy.
3. Teams must address systems-level challenges, focus on system-level solutions (defined above) and incorporate a systems lens in their analyses of PHS building blocks (e.g. be informed by systems/complexity science and systems-thinking). As such, applications that focus on the following will not be considered for this competition:
   • Public health services or interventions in the absence of a systems-level analysis (e.g. investigations of a specific program or service, rather than of a service delivery model, system or framework); and/or
   • Medical or clinical care settings or sectors (e.g. secondary or tertiary care in hospital settings) rather than public health settings or sectors. Exceptions are analyses of public health services that involve medical/clinical care settings or sectors (such as vaccination, harm reduction, or maternal and child health services within primary care clinics).
4. Applications must be equity- and rights-focused in their stated research:
   • Outcome (the overarching goal of the research must be to strengthen equitable PHS and equitable population health);
   • Priority (by adopting an equity-lens in the examination of PHS challenges/solutions and building blocks, such as assessing the embeddedness of (in)equities in public health resource allocation, service delivery models, or workforce organization); and
   • Process (e.g. by adopting a co-leadership model, integrating community perspectives, and/or establishing an accessible/inclusive research environment, as appropriate).
5. Interdisciplinary and intersectoral methods, perspectives, and approaches. Because PHS are intertwined with broader political, social and economic systems and involve multiple sectors, the STEPS grants welcome a wide range of disciplines (e.g. epidemiology, health sciences, health policy, economics, law, political science, sociology, anthropology) and methods and approaches (e.g. comparative, cross-jurisdictional studies [Canadian or international]); natural experiments; quasi-experimental studies; population health intervention research; community-based participatory research; mixed-methods; policy research; economic evaluations, etc.)

To optimise knowledge mobilization, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) will support this competition by acting as a knowledge and relationship broker. This may include brokering relationships between research teams and relevant public health networks, decision-makers and knowledge users within FPT or municipal governments and/or non-governmental organisations that share relevant priorities from a public health system perspective. In this role, PHAC will not direct the work of the research teams.

Research Areas

This funding opportunity will support projects relevant to the following research areas.

Note: Applications focused on strengthening intersectoral collaborations between the public sector and community sector are welcome in this competition.

Public Sector
Applications in this area must focus on system-level challenges and solutions within the public sector (i.e. involving governmental public health institutions, defined as federal, provincial, territorial [FPT], municipal or Indigenous government organizations with a legislated mandate in public health) in relation to one or more PHS building blocks (see Additional information for more relevance information and non-exhaustive examples).

Community Sector
Applications in this area must focus on system-level challenges and solutions within the community sector (i.e. community-based organizations with a public health-related mandate) in relation to one or more PHS building blocks (see Additional information for more relevance information and non-exhaustive examples).

Public Health Emergencies and Pandemic Preparedness
Applications must align with either the Public Sector or Community Sector research areas and focus on strengthening the capacity and resilience of PHS to prepare for, or respond to, existing and potential future pandemics and public health emergencies. Teams that apply to this research area must be interdisciplinary. Teams must also protect time and capacity for rapid response research to address decision-makers’ and/or knowledge users’ (i.e. public health practitioners’ or community representatives’) urgent evidence needs and to support timely decision-making on PHS building blocks, in the event of a public health emergency.

Indigenous Communities for Cardiovascular Health
Applications must align with the Community Sector research area, and focus on the role of the First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis community sector in strengthening PHS’ infrastructure and prevention approaches in promoting cardiovascular health and reducing cardiovascular health inequities. This includes, but is not limited to, First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis community infrastructure, policies and programs that promote heart-healthy environments and intersectoral partnerships in early detection, education and increasing awareness of cardiovascular disease and/or stroke (e.g. women’s risk factors, signs of stroke, cardiac arrest, and resuscitation skills).

Public Health Systems for the Prevention of Mental Health and/or Substance Use Disorders in Youth
Applications must align with either the Public Sector and/or Community Sector research area with a focus on system-level issues related to scaling evidence-based models/practices/programs to prevent incidence or severity of mental health and/or substance use disorders in youth. This may include an examination of issues related to the allocation of public financing for community-based and/or school-based mental health programs; the capacity and competency of the public health workforce to deliver youth mental health programs at a population-level, which would also include under-served areas and resource limited settings; policies and service delivery models for mental health promotion at municipal, FPT, Indigenous system levels; public health information systems to monitor mental health outcomes, including data-sharing governance protocols between public health authorities and other sectors/levels of government (e.g., schools, non-governmental organizations, health care systems).

For this research area, “evidence-based” refers to models/practices/programs for which randomized controlled trials have already demonstrated reproducible preventive effects and readiness to scale in the Canadian context.

Role and Contributions of Applicant Partners

CIHR recognizes that a broad range of partners may be relevant to this opportunity and it is expected that applicant(s) describe the role of all applicant partners and how/if they will contribute to research and research-related activities. Any consideration of risk and/or conflict of interest should also be explained, as appropriate.

Funds Available

CIHR and partners’ financial contributions are subject to availability of funds. Should CIHR or partners’ funding levels not be available or decrease due to unforeseen circumstances, CIHR and partners reserve the right to reduce, defer or suspend financial contributions for grants received as a result of this funding opportunity.

• The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $ $8,250,000, enough to fund approximately eleven (11) grants. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate. The maximum amount per grant is $250,000 per year for up to three years, for a total of $750,000 per grant.
• Of this $8,250,000:
  • $2,250,000 is available from IPPH to fund up to 3 applications relevant to the Public Sector pool;
  • $1,500,000 is available from IPPH to fund up to 2 applications relevant to the Community Sector pool;
  • $1,500,000 is available from IIPH, ICRH and Heart & Stroke to co-fund up to 2 applications relevant to the Indigenous Communities for Cardiovascular Health pool;
  • $750,000 is available from INMHA to fund up to 1 application relevant to the Public Health Systems for the Prevention of Mental Health and/or Substance Use Disorders in Youth pool;
  • $750,000 is available from CRPPHE to fund up to 1 application relevant to the Strengthening Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness pool;
  • $750,000 is available from Health Research BC and IPPH to co-fund the highest scored application(s) relevant to the Public Sector and/or the Community Sector pool(s) where the lead researcher and decision-maker are based in a BC-based organization/institution (see Eligibility for further details).
  • $750,000 is available from FRQ-Santé and IPPH to co-fund the highest scored application(s) relevant to the Public Sector and/or Community Sector pool(s) where the lead researcher and decision-maker are located in a Quebec-based organization/institution (see Eligibility for details).
• Applications relevant to each pool will be funded top down in order of ranking.
• If there are remaining funds, non funded applications will be pooled together and funded by percent rank order.
• If a pool is undersubscribed or lacks fundable applications:
  • funds from the Public Sector pool can be redistributed to the Community Sector pool and funds from the Community Sector pool can be redistributed to the Public Sector pool.
  • funds from the Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Pool, Public Health Systems for the Prevention of Mental Health and/or Substance Use Disorders in Youth, and Indigenous Communities for Cardiovascular Health pools will not be redistributed and will be returned to the sponsor.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1️⃣ High Scientific Excellence & Rigorous Methodology (Most Important)

CIHR reviewers heavily weight methodological rigor, including:

Strong theoretical framework

Clear hypotheses or research questions

Robust study design

Adequate controls, power calculations, and statistics

Reproducibility & transparency practices

Clear milestones and contingency plans

Predictor: Methodological strength is the #1 determinant across all CIHR committees.

2️⃣ Strong Significance & Clear Health Impact for Canadians

CIHR prioritizes research that benefits:

The health of people living in Canada

Canadian healthcare systems and policies

Vulnerable or underserved populations

Chronic disease burdens in Canadian demographics

Predictor: Clear articulation of Canadian relevance dramatically improves scores.

3️⃣ Feasible, Focused, Achievable Objectives

Successful CIHR proposals:

Have 2–3 well-defined aims

Present realistic deliverables within the grant period

Include detailed methodologies for each aim

Avoid overambitious or unfocused scope

Demonstrate precise timeline and project management

Predictor: Feasibility + clarity of approach = high reviewer confidence.

4️⃣ Strong Investigator Track Record & Appropriate Team Expertise

Reviewers value:

Publications relevant to the field

Prior successful funding

Expertise aligned to each aim

Multi-disciplinary teams (clinicians, statisticians, biomedical scientists, policy experts)

For early-career investigators: mentorship, protected time, and institutional support

Predictor: A well-matched, credible team is essential.

5️⃣ Compelling Preliminary Data (especially for Project Grants)

Highly competitive CIHR proposals commonly include:

Pilot experiments or feasibility data

Retrospective analyses

Early mechanistic insights

Proof-of-concept findings

For high-risk or exploratory programs, strong rationale can substitute, but evidence is still preferred.

Predictor: Preliminary data significantly boosts chances.

6️⃣ Strong Integration of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

CIHR explicitly evaluates EDI in:

Team composition

Training environment

Research design (sex, gender, intersectionality, inclusive sampling)

Barriers to participation or recruitment

Engagement with under-represented or Indigenous populations

Predictor: Meaningful EDI integration is essential; weak EDI sections lower scores.

7️⃣ Clear Knowledge Translation (KT) & Dissemination Plan

CIHR places high value on:

How findings will reach clinicians, policymakers, communities, or the public

Realistic KT activities (briefs, publications, engagement, partnerships)

Integrated knowledge translation when applicable (co-design with stakeholders)

Predictor: Strong KT plan with defined stakeholders and products.

8️⃣ Alignment With CIHR Priority Areas (If Applying Under Strategic Calls)

High success when aligned with:

Indigenous health

Digital health & AI

Aging and dementia

Chronic disease (cancer, cardiovascular, neurological)

Rare disease

Implementation science

Mental health, substance use

Health system strengthening

Predictor: Direct strategic alignment increases competitiveness.

9️⃣ Access to Required Data, Cohorts, Facilities, or Patient Populations

CIHR reviewers look for feasibility evidence:

Confirmed clinical recruitment sites

Existing cohort or biobank access

Computational / lab infrastructure

Letters of support verifying data access

Agreements for collaboration or sharing

Predictor: Proven resource availability reduces perceived risk.

🔟 Well-Justified, Realistic Budget

Successful budgets:

Are lean and proportional to aims

Avoid unnecessary equipment or inflated salaries

Align with Canadian Tri-Council rules

Include justification for trainees, supplies, analyses

Predictor: A clear, efficient budget strengthens feasibility.

🚫 COMMON PITFALLS (Reasons CIHR Applications Fail)