CPRA 2026 Deadlines: CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC Dates and Rules

Who can apply

Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons are eligible without restriction
Non-Canadians must meet one of three conditions: currently registered in a doctoral or health professional degree at a Canadian institution, have previously completed one at a Canadian institution, or currently conducting postdoctoral research at a Canadian institution; there is no route to apply from abroad with no prior Canadian link
Up to 20% of all postdoctoral awards are available to international applicants
Must have completed all requirements of the doctoral or health professional degree no more than three years before 1 September of the application year, with extensions of up to three further years for parental or medical leave, family responsibilities, military service, war, civil conflict, natural disaster, or limited research opportunities
Maximum of three applications to the programme; you may also apply to only one Canada Research Training Award programme (CGRS-M, CGRS-D or CPRA) per academic year across all three agencies, and if you submit to more than one, only the first eligible application is kept
Cannot have previously held a CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC postdoctoral award, including a Banting, and cannot hold a CPRA at the same time as another tri-agency research training award
The proposed research must be significantly distinct from, or contribute significantly beyond, your doctoral thesis; adapting a thesis into a book, editing textbooks, or language translation or acquisition projects are not eligible
Canadian citizens, permanent residents or protected persons who completed their doctorate at a Canadian institution may hold the award at an eligible institution outside Canada; up to 30% of awards may be held abroad

The Banting programme’s successor, paying a stipend only

The Canada Postdoctoral Research Award is the harmonised programme that replaced the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships; Banting’s own site now redirects applicants here directly. It pays $70,000 CAD a year for 24 months, a stipend only, with tuition, travel and insurance left uncovered.

The rule that matters most if you’re not Canadian

The eligibility rule most worth reading carefully if you’re not Canadian: this is not an award you can apply for from outside Canada with no prior connection to the country. You need to already be registered in, or have completed, a doctoral degree at a Canadian institution, or currently be doing postdoctoral research there. International awards are additionally capped at 20% of the total pool, so even meeting the link requirement doesn’t guarantee volume.

Three agencies, three deadlines, all on one page

Apply through whichever of CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC matches your research field, all described on a single joint tri-agency overview page rather than three disconnected ones. The 2026 windows have all closed: SSHRC on 10 September, CIHR on 16 September and NSERC on 17 October. No dates for the next round are published yet. Check your host institution’s own internal deadline separately from the agency date, since CIHR and SSHRC applications need an institutional nomination that typically closes earlier.

You don’t have to stay in Canada to hold it

One detail easy to miss if you assume this only funds research inside Canada: a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or protected person who completed their doctorate at a Canadian institution can propose to hold the award at an eligible institution abroad instead, with up to 30% of all awards available to be held outside the country. That is a separate allowance from the 20% cap on awards to international applicants studying in Canada, and it only applies if you already qualify as Canadian for eligibility purposes.

Extra funding tied to equity and priority research areas

Beyond the base $70,000, meritorious applications aligned with a named priority research area, things like advanced digital technologies, health and biotechnology, clean technology, or food and water security, may receive additional award offers under a 2024 budget expansion. A successful Indigenous applicant (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) can receive a further $10,000 Indigenous Scholars Supplement for one year, and each of the three agencies separately reserves up to six additional awards specifically for Black postdoctoral researchers who self-identify and consent to be considered.

Application limits and what the research itself has to be

You can only apply to one Canada Research Training Award programme, whether that’s this one or one of the linked graduate scholarships, per academic year across all three agencies; submit to more than one and only the first eligible application is kept. Across your lifetime you get at most three CPRA applications, cannot hold this concurrently with another tri-agency training award, and the proposed research itself must be significantly distinct from your doctoral thesis, not a repackaging of it into a book, a translation project, or textbook editing.

Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA)