Strengthening Canada’s COVID-19 response and recovery

Since COVID-19 emerged as a threat to Canadians’ health and well-being, members of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) have worked together to strengthen Canada’s response and recovery. They have directed federal support to help sustain the research community, fund rapid-response research, and enable forward-looking, evidence-based decisions in government.

The Committee oversees the Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF), which provides $450 million in temporary funding to Canadian universities and health research institutions to help them maintain essential research-related activities.

As the Steering Committee for the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), the CRCC allocated $7 million to Canada’s initial COVID-19 research response. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research delivered this funding in cooperation with five federal partners in early March 2020, four weeks after the rapid-response call’s launch date. To help researchers effectively manage disruptions, the CRCC extended NFRF deadlines and topped-up the 2018 Exploration grants for early career researchers.

To further strengthen coordination, the CRCC met regularly with representatives from the International Development Research Centre and the Public Health Agency of Canada to share insights across government and help accelerate information-sharing between government and the academic research community through the CanCOVID platform.

Related links

• Coronavirus: Canada’s rapid research response
• Government of Canada funds 49 additional COVID-19 research projects
• Impacts of COVID-19 on the New Frontiers in Research Fund
• New Frontiers in Research Fund awards $7 million to address COVID-19 challenges
• New temporary program announced to support research staff in Canada

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