The 2026 Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) competition has now launched. The CERC program aims to support world-renowned researchers and their teams to establish ambitious research programs at Canadian universities.
The program is funded by the three federal research funding agencies and offers eligible Canadian, degree-granting institutions an opportunity to recruit world-class researchers.
The objectives of the program are to:
- strengthen Canada’s ability to attract the world’s top researchers, in order to be at the leading edge of breakthroughs in ST&I priority areas expected to generate social and economic benefits for Canadians;
- help Canada build a critical mass of expertise in ST&I priority areas identified by the Government of Canada;
- create a competitive environment to help Canadian institutions, in their pursuit of excellence in their research, attract a cadre of world-leading researchers; and
- contribute to branding Canada as a location of choice for world-leading research, science and technology development, alongside other federal programs with similar objectives.
This competition is capped institutionally, with each institution limited to a total dollar value of applications. An internal selection process* has been developed. We encourage faculty members to address questions regarding internal processes to their Associate Dean of Research.
*CWL required