The following SSHRC grant mechanisms provide funding for research, research training and knowledge mobilization carried out by new and existing formal partnerships.
To encourage faculty to apply for these grants, UTM and U of T offer a number of supports and resources.
Before submitting a funding application to a sponsor, a Principal Investigator (PI) must secure University approval for the proposal through the My Research Application (MRA) system. Please see the MRA deadlines noted below. For more information, please see How to Submit an Application Through MRA.
Partnership Engage Grants
Overview: Partnership Engage Grants provide short-term and timely support for partnered research activities that will inform decision-making at a single partner organization from the public, private or not-for-profit sector. Partnerships supported by this grant are meant to respond to immediate needs and time constraints facing organizations in non-academic sectors. Partnership Engage Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Research partnerships program. However, Partnership Engage Grants cannot respond exclusively to the objectives of the Research partnerships program.
Value: $10,000 to $50,000 (starting with the March 2026 competition)
Duration: 1 year
Deadlines:
| UTM MRA deadline | RSO MRA deadline | Internal U of T deadline to submit on SSHRC site | Sponsor deadline | Results announced | Award start date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 4, 2026 | March 6, 2026 | March 12, 2026, 9 am | March 16, 2026, 8 pm ET | End of May | June 1, 2026 |
| June 3, 2026 | June 5, 2026 | June 11, 2026, 9 am | June 15, 2026, 8 pm ET | End of August | September 1, 2026 |
| Early September, 2026 (TBC) | Early September, 2026 (TBC) | September 11, 2026, 9 am (TBC) | September 15, 2026, 8 pm ET | End of November | December 1, 2026 |
| Early December, 2026 (TBC) | Early December, 2026 (TBC) | December 11, 2026, 9 am (TBC) | December 15, 2026, 8 pm ET | End of February | March 1, 2027 |
Editorial and budget review:
For SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant (PEG) planning support or for editorial and budget review of draft applications, please contact UTM OVPRI Strategic Research Development Officer Kate Steinmann (kate.steinmann@utoronto.ca) at least one week before the UTM MRA deadline. (We can accept drafts for review later than this, but if a submission is late we cannot guarantee that you will receive feedback before the MRA deadline.)
MRAs
Your completed My Research Application (MRA) should include all required attachments (application and budget) and any relevant documentation of cash and/or in-kind contributions. (Note that your MRA will route to your relevant approvers automatically.)
Links:
Partnership Development Grants
Overview: Partnership Development Grants provide support to teams/partnerships, led by a project director, to:
Partnership Development Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Research Partnerships program.
Value: $75,000 to $200,000
Duration: 1 to 3 years
Deadlines:
Editorial and budget review:
For RSO editorial review, submit one combined Word document including the following to Mark Bold (mark.bold@utoronto.ca) by the above-noted RSO editorial review deadline:
-One-page summary
-Expected outcomes
-Goal and project description
-Description of formal partnerships
-Training and mentoring and knowledge mobilization plan
-Any other text attachments that you would like to submit for review
The documents you share should be in Word format (for ease of use when RSO's Research Development team conducts their editorial reviews).
For SSHRC Partnership Development Grant (PDG) planning support, or for optional editorial and budget review of early drafts prior to the above-noted RSO editorial review deadline, please contact UTM OVPRI Strategic Research Development Officer Kate Steinmann (kate.steinmann@utoronto.ca).
MRAs:
Your completed My Research Application (MRA) should include all required attachments (application, budget, and documentation of all cash and/or in-kind contributions). Note that your MRA will route to your relevant approvers automatically.
Links:
Partnership Grants
Overview: Partnership Grants provide support for new and existing formal partnerships to advance research, research training and/or knowledge mobilization in the social sciences and humanities. This is done through mutual co-operation and sharing of intellectual leadership, as well as through resources as shown by cash and/or in-kind contributions. Partnership Grants are intended for large teams of postsecondary institutions and/or organizations of various types that work in formal collaboration. Partnership Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Research partnerships program. Proposals exclusively for partnered research training initiatives are expected to respond, instead, to the objectives of the Research training and talent development program.
Value: Stage 1: up to $20,000 (to prepare for Stage 2 application); Stage 2 (by invitation only): up to $2.5 million
Duration: 4 to 7 years
Deadlines:
MRAs:
Your completed My Research Application (MRA) should include all required attachments (application, budget, and documentation of all cash and/or in-kind contributions). Note that your MRA will route to your relevant approvers automatically.
Links:
Supports and Resources
For support, inquiries, or more information about any of these resources, please contact the UTM OVPRI at grants.ovpri.utm@utoronto.ca. Our Strategic Research Development Officers are available to support researchers with resources and assistance related to proposal development, including advice on building the partnership; the content, structure and preparation of application modules; and feedback on draft documents.
UTM Funding Application and Awards Repository
Examples of a successful PEG and several successful PDGs are available in the UTM Funding Application & Awards Repository. To obtain access to the repository, please contact kate.steinmann@utoronto.ca or sabrina.sgandurra@utoronto.ca. The Research Services Office has some model PG proposals on file that can be shared in read-only form (without the ability to download) upon request; please contact us for more information. All model grants are for internal (to UofT) use only and are offered as confidential reference material. We ask that they not be copied, shared, or further distributed.
Milestone and Timeline Support
Milestone and timeline documents are available to help with planning and preparation of large partnership grant applications.
Collaborative Research Planning Grants (up to $10,000)
UTM-based lead applicants may request up to $10,000 from the OVPRI to support proposal development for submissions to collaborative grant opportunities (including the SSHRC Partnership Development Grant and SSHRC Partnership Grant) where the total funding envelope is $200,000 or above.
Learn more about Collaborative Research Planning Grants here.
UTM-based lead applicants applying to a Partnership Grant may also request up to $10,000 to support proposal development from the Dean’s Office.
Major Research Project Mobilization Fund (up to $15,000)
The MRPM will provide up to $15K toward the development of applications requesting funding ≥ $2M for a SSHRC Partnership Grant (Stage 1) with U of T as the lead institution. MRPM applicants must be the Principal Investigator and a full-time faculty member whose research is campus-based and administered through the University of Toronto. Eligible requests will be supported to the extent that MRPM budget allows.
MRPM Expense Eligibility
- Grant writing support – This may be provided by contractors who are external to U of T or by internal grant-supported staff members (e.g. postdoctoral fellows, research associates, etc.). MRPM is not intended to underwrite salary of existing staff members paid from divisional operating budgets. NB: Applicants that receive support from the VPRI Strategic Grant Writing Team are not eligible to receive grant writing support from MRPM for the same application.
- Graphics and figure development
- Travel (for the purposes of proposal development only)