Notice of Upcoming Funding Opportunity on School Food Programs - Team Grant: Funding Research for Evidence in School Food and Health (FRESH)

Introduction

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the Team Grant: Funding Research for Evidence in School Food and Health (FRESH).

This funding opportunity is a collaboration between Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), CIHR's Institute of Population and Public Health (CIHR-IPPH) and Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health (CIHR-IIPH).

Overview

School food programs (SFPs) provide children and youth with meals and/or snacks at school, often at no-to-low cost for participating families. In Canada, SFPs largely fall under the jurisdiction of provinces and territories (PTs), with wide variation in programming across the country, reflecting diverse regional priorities and approaches to SFP delivery, both within and across jurisdictions. Launched in 2024-25 with an investment of $1 billion over five years, the National School Food Program (NSFP) is supporting provinces, territories and Indigenous partners to enhance and expand access to SFPs across Canada, with a proposal in Budget 2025 to introduce legislation and provide funding for program permanence.

There are significant gaps in the available school food data and research in Canada, including a fulsome understanding of the barriers and facilitators to program participation, promising practices for program delivery in different contexts and SFPs' social and health impacts for youth, families and communities across regions, populations and settings. These evidence gaps limit our understanding of SFPs in Canada, including their related benefits, limitations and opportunities (in the health realm and beyond), and hamper opportunities for partners and policymakers at all levels (i.e., federal, PT, municipal, community) to make evidence-informed decisions about program design, delivery and policies.

Objectives

This funding opportunity aims to:

• Increase the evidence base on:
  • The health, social, and/or economic impacts of SFPs and policies, including their potential to reduce social and health inequities; and/or
  • SFP and policy design, implementation, and evaluation within/across diverse settings, contexts, and populations;
• Build capacity for collaboration across disciplines, sectors and perspectives (i.e. researchers, knowledge users, decision-makers) to generate actionable evidence on SFPs and policies;
• Increase knowledge mobilization activities and strategies to support equitable, and evidence-informed SFPs and policy at various levels (i.e. schools and school boards, municipal, PT, or national governments; and First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments, organizations, and communities).

Research Areas

Applications must be relevant to at least one of the following research areas:

• The Health, Well-Being and Socioeconomic Effects of SFPs
• Policy and Program Design and Delivery for Equitable Outcomes
• SFPs and First Nations, Inuit and Métis Students, Schools and Communities

Applicant Webinar(s)

CIHR may host a webinar to inform participants about the requirements of this funding opportunity and to answer questions. To find out more information and to join, visit the Webinars page.

Partner Linkage Tool

CIHR is providing a Partner Linkage Tool to facilitate connections between researchers, senior decision-makers, and knowledge users, should there be interest. This is not a mandatory tool. Information is provided on a volunteer basis and does not confer any advantages in the evaluation and funding of applications.

Funds Available

The total amount available for this funding opportunity is anticipated to be $12,600,000, enough to fund approximately 14 grants.

The maximum amount per grant is anticipated to be $300,000 per year for up to 3 years, for a total of $900,000 per grant.

Anticipated Timelines

Launch: April 2026
Applicant Webinar: April or May 2026
Registration Deadline: June 2026
Application Deadline: October 2026
Funding Start Date: January 2027

Note: Exceptionally, the applications funded by PHAC will have a funding start date of April 1, 2027.

Contact Information

For general inquiries please contact:

CIHR Contact Centre
Telephone: 613-954-1968
Email: support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Date modified:

2026-02-13