CANSES Research Funding

The Canadian Network for Security, Extremism, and Society 2025 call for research proposals is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took time to apply for the first CANSES funding call.

CANSES accepts small, medium, and large project proposals. Check back here for information on the 2026 call for research proposals!

Purpose

CANSES funding is primarily aimed at supporting policy-relevant research projects and initiatives that are smaller in scale and short in duration (i.e., deliverables are normally due three to six months from the date that the contract is signed).

Projects

must:

(a) Directly address issues related to extremism, radicalization, disengagement, or preventing/countering violent extremism, terrorism, and counter-terrorism;
(b) Be relevant to the Canadian context;

(c) Include timely and actionable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and/or other specific stakeholders; and,
(d) Be original research.

Eligibility

Please note: Funding is only available to CANSES members. Become a member here!

There are two primary classes of eligible applicants for CANSES funding:

Lead Applicant is affiliated with a Canadian institution, organization, or company.

Affiliation must be demonstrated through an email address connected to a Canadian institution, organization, or company.

Lead Applicant is a Canadian researcher located in another country.

The Lead Applicant does not have to prove they are Canadian (we’re on the honour system here). The process for distributing funds to a Canadian researcher located in another country is different than for applicants within Canada. Please review the details at the bottom on this page.

Additional Eligibility Notes

  • Lead Applicants are ineligible if their institutions, organizations, or companies are unable to conduct an ethics review of the proposed research.
  • Lead Applicants can partner with anyone on their research proposal.

CANSES Funding Streams

CANSES offers three funding streams:

SMALL PROJECTS

  • Focused on addressing and/or describing particular issues or answering specific questions.
  • Deliverables may be submitted in the form of literature/scoping reviews or research reports detailing the results of limited primary or secondary data collection and analysis.
  • These deliverables should be focused reports (5-10 pages) that present methodology, core findings and implications thereof (i.e., recommendations for policy, practice and future research) without extensive technical detail.
  • Deliverables are due within three months of the date the research contract is signed.

Medium Projects

  • Focused on addressing particular issues or answering specific questions.
  • Deliverables may be submitted in the form of research reports detailing the results of primary or secondary data collection and analysis.
  • These deliverables should be more substantive reports (15-20 pages), consistent with a standard journal article.
  • Deliverables are due within three months of the date the research contract is signed.

Large PROJECTS

  • Focused on addressing particular issues or answering specific questions.
  • Allow for a more exhaustive examination of a particular topic related to extremism.
  • Deliverables may be submitted in the form of research reports detailing the results of more extensive primary or secondary data collection and analyses.
  • These deliverables should be more substantive reports (normally 30-50 pages).
  • Please note that funding will only be made available for a very limited number of large projects and may not be awarded each funding cycle.
  • Deliverables are due within six months of the date the research contract is signed.

All projects require funding recipients to produce a 1- to 2-page accessible Policy Brief that summarizes key research findings and offers actionable recommendations for policymakers and/or practitioners. CANSES will work with funding recipients to create these Policy Briefs.

CANSES deliverables can be provided in either French or English. CANSES will cover the costs of translation to ensure that deliverables will be available in both official languages.

Alternative Products

Applicants may propose alternative product formats for consideration, such as interactive dashboards or community or practitioner toolkits. Please ensure that, if applicable, alternative product formats are identified on the Research Proposal form.

Website Dissemination

All deliverables will be posted on the CANSES website.

Important Funding Notes

  1. Principal Investigators (and your affiliated institutions, organizations, or companies) may not charge overhead for their projects.
  2. Unused funds must be returned to CANSES.

Supported Expenditures

CANSES funding is primarily intended to pay for the labour costs associated with collecting, analyzing and interpreting data, and writing reports and policy briefs. It may also be used to pay small honoraria for research participants. Please see the Proposal Budget form for a more detailed list of expense categories.

Distribution of Funds

Successful applicants can receive funds in one of two ways:

Contract between CANSES (SFU) and the Lead Applicant’s institution.

Lead applicants are able to access funds from the start of the project.

This option is available only for applicants affiliated with Canadian institutions.

Contract between CANSES (SFU) and the Lead Applicant.

Lead applicants’ invoice CANSES at the conclusion of the research. There is no mechanism for providing funds earlier in the research process.

This option must be used by applicants located outside of Canada but may also be used by Canadian applicants.

Ethics Approval

Research funding recipients must receive ethics approval from their institution, organization, or company (where applicable) prior to initiating CANSES-funded projects.

Frequently Asked Questions

The 2025 call for research proposals is now closed. Bookmark this page to check for updates about the 2026 funding cycle.

Applicants must submit two forms: 1) a Research Proposal Form, and 2) a Research Budget Form. These forms will be available to applicants when calls for research proposals are open.

CANSES aims to evaluate proposals and notify applicants of our responses within three to four weeks of receipt of the completed Research Proposal and Budget forms.

Proposals will be evaluated based on policy and/or practical relevance, relevance to Canada, professional and academic rigor, methodological appropriateness, and likelihood of timely completion.

Proposals will be evaluated by a panel composed of representatives from the CANSES Executive Committee and staff, along with policy makers and subject matter experts whose expertise align with the proposed research.

Reports will be evaluated based on clarity, relevance to Canada, professional and academic rigor, methodological appropriateness, and policy relevance.