2026 Challenge Grants

Highlights of the program

The Challenge Grants program will support cancer research projects across the cancer continuum and across disciplines, with an ultimate goal of solving a problem (i.e., a ‘challenge’) in cancer that is meaningful to people affected by or at risk of cancer. Applicants need to demonstrate meaningful engagement of people affected by or at risk of cancer throughout the research process (i.e., in the development, implementation, and/or dissemination of research findings) as well as anticipated contributions towards achieving potential future impacts. Applications from the four pillars of health research (i.e., biomedical; clinical; health services; and social, cultural, environmental and population health) are welcome.

Please review the eligibility and requirements section of our website and the application guide prior to submitting an application. Contact research@cancer.ca with any questions.

Note that Abstracts and Full Applications will be submitted in EGrAMS. Application submissions must be made by 5:00 PM Eastern on the given deadline date(s) for a competition.

Deadline dates

Submission open (EGrAMS):

August 8, 2025

Abstract registration due:

October 8, 2025 (5:00PM EST)

Relevance review results:

October 31, 2025

Full applications due:

January 28, 2026 (5:00 PM EST)

Funding results*:

Mid-June, 2026

Funding start date (retro-active):

June 1, 2026

* These timelines are tentative and subject to change

Program description

The Challenge Grants program will support cancer research projects across the cancer continuum and across disciplines, with an ultimate goal of solving a problem (i.e., a ‘challenge’) in cancer that is meaningful to people affected by or at risk of cancer. Challenges should align with priorities identified under the CCS Research Goals and applicants must clearly articulate the relevance to people affected by or at risk of cancer.

CCS’s Research Goals and priorities are:

Prevent: Reduce risk so fewer people in Canada will develop cancer

Discoveries in the biology of cancer prevention
Research into cancer risk reduction

Detect: Fewer people will be diagnosed with Stage 3 or Stage 4 cancer

Discoveries focused on more effective and/or affordable cancer detection
Research that increases screening (availability, opportunity, participation)

Care: People with cancer will live longer and with improved quality of life during and after treatment

New discoveries aimed at more effective and/or affordable cancer treatments
Research that enhances equitable access to cancer care
Research that improves quality of life for people affected by cancer

Champion: Equitable and timely access to innovative and affordable high-quality prevention and care for more people in Canada

Research that enhances equitable access to cancer risk reduction
Research that enhances equitable access to cancer screening and/or detection
Research that enhances equitable access to cancer care

Funds available

Funding will be provided to support the direct costs of research, including supplies, eligible salaries, and equipment associated with the proposed work. Equipment requests cannot exceed 15% of the requested budget. Indirect costs are not eligible.

Please consult our grant expense policies when creating your budget.

Total budget*:

Approximately $18M

Amount per year:

Maximum $175k

Duration:

Maximum 3 years

Equipment:

15% of the total budget

* Additional partners or access to additional funds may increase this number. Note Special Funding Calls below, which are included in the total funding envelope.

Special funding calls

As a result of designated donations made to CCS by major donors, or through designated donations (such as the Run for the Cure) and strategic priorities, we are pleased to announce several special funding calls to support high-quality research in the following areas within the broader Challenge grant competition:

Breast cancer (revenue from Run for the Cure)
Childhood cancer (donor designated funds)
Dormancy
Immunology
Lymphoma (donor designated funds)
Microbiome
Neurofibromatosis and cancer (UHN - To-ERASEnf)
Prostate cancer (donor/partner funds)

Successful applications must fall within the fundable score range for CCS grants (>3.5).

Eligibility criteria

Please review the eligibility and requirements on our website prior to creating an application. As a condition of funding, grantees will agree to the reporting requirements (see below in the "Additional information" section) and engagement criteria laid out by CCS and partners.

Research project eligibility

A maximum of one application per Principal Investigator is permitted in this competition (applicants may be listed as Co-Principal Investigators on multiple applications).
The research project must include people affected or at risk of cancer as an integral part of the team and demonstrate their meaningful involvement. The Canadian Cancer Society’s Research Strategy places people at the center of our research endeavours. By embedding affected communities throughout the research continuum, we will identify and achieve desired results sooner. We recognize that different approaches to engagement may be better suited to different types of research. See Guidance on Engagement of People Affected by or at Risk of Cancer below for more information.
Each team is encouraged to include early career researchers, trainees and end-users (such as policy makers, healthcare providers, etc.) as an integral part of research teams.

Research team eligibility

Applications from any pillar of health research (i.e., biomedical; clinical; health services; and social, cultural, environmental and population health), aligning with priorities identified under the CCS Research Goals, are eligible.
Pilot, first-in-human studies, correlative/secondary studies utilizing existing clinical trial infrastructure, and supportive care trials will be eligible for funding. Partial funding for larger trials is not eligible.

Guidance on engagement of people affected by or at risk of cancer

Applications must demonstrate the meaningful engagement of people affected by or at risk of cancer in research development, implementation, and dissemination of research findings. Engagement can mean many things, and all types of research can benefit from the inclusion of diverse perspectives. We have compiled resources on our website to help inform and guide the engagement process and encourage you to consult these. These include a wide range of resources developed and offered by the CIHR Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) support units, but also articles on engagement in different types of research. We recognize that patient or stakeholder engagement will look different for different types of research and encourage both broader forms of engagement (as part of an overall research or learning program/strategy) as well as creativity in devising engagement strategies.

If you missed it, please watch the recording of our workshop on meaningful engagement of patient partners in research hosted by our team on April 9^th, 2025 here.

There will be a two-stage application and review process:

Applicants will be required to submit an abstract. The abstract registration step is mandatory, but not competitive, and will will help to inform the composition of the review panels. Abstract submissions will undergo a relevance review process to ensure alignment with the Challenge Grants program (i.e. clear identification of a challenge to be addressed that is demonstrably meaningful to people affected by or at risk of cancer, and alignment with priorities identified under the CCS Research Goals). Applicants will also be required to articulate an acceptable plan for meaningful engagement of people affected by or at risk of cancer to be deemed relevant.
Eligible abstract registrations will be invited to submit a full application. Substantive changes that significantly alter the overall goals and aims of the proposal relative to the Abstract Registration are not permitted.

Seven expert review committees, including scientific and patient/survivor/caregiver reviewers, will be assembled to review the full applications:

Applicants will be asked to select 1st and 2nd choices for desired panels as part of the abstract registration and application process, however CCS reserves the right to assign an application to whichever panel possesses the necessary expertise to review the proposal.
The expert review committee will be comprised of relevant and appropriate individuals from diverse geographical, ethnic/racial and gender representation from across Canada. The committee will collectively evaluate applications both at the full application stages with expertise relevant to the submitted applications.

Name	Description	CSO Codes
C1: Mechanisms of risk, initiation, and progression	Research focused on understanding mechanisms of cancer risk, initiation and spread	1.1-1.5, 2.1-2.4, 3.6
C2: Molecular biomarkers	Research focused on identifying and testing cancer-related biomarkers (diagnostic, prognostic, predictive), including clinical testing/application	4.1-4.4
C3: Imaging & Technology	Research aimed at developing new or improving imaging modalities and/or other technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence, machine learning, nanotechnologies, robotics, wearable technologies, etc.), including clinical testing/application, for improved detection, prognosis, or monitoring of cancer	4.1-4.4
C4a: Therapeutics	Research aimed at identifying and developing new therapeutic approaches (including re-purposing and combination therapies) for preventing and/or treating cancer (e.g. therapeutics, radiotherapy, and surgery) - from discovery to clinical testing. Note about clinical trials: Pilot, first-in-human studies, and correlative/secondary studies utilizing existing clinical trial infrastructure are eligible. Partial funding for larger clinical trials is not eligible. *Not including immunologically directed therapies (see 4b).	3.3, 5.1-5.7
C4b: Immunotherapy	Research aimed at identifying and developing new immunologically directed therapeutic approaches (including re-purposing and combination therapies) for prevention and/or treating cancer (e.g. vaccines, antibodies, antibiotics, adaptive cell products, microbiome, abscopal effect, theranostics or other biologics) - from discovery to clinical testing. *Note about clinical trials: Pilot, first-in-human studies, and correlative/secondary studies utilizing existing clinical trial infrastructure are eligible. Partial funding for larger clinical trials is not eligible.	3.4, 5.1-5.7
C6: Prevention & Supportive Care	Research focused on (primary) prevention (behavioural and other interventions), patient centred outcomes related to cancer, the psychosocial and physical needs of people affected by cancer, as well as end-of-life and palliative care research *Note about clinical trials: Supportive care clinical trials are eligible for funding.	3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 6.1, 6.6, 6.9
C7: Health Services & Policy	Research that aims to improve health service delivery related to cancer (including prevention of cancer), such as quality, efficiency, cost effectiveness, equitable access, improving data collection and analysis, screening, epidemiology, surveillance and policy research	6.2-6.5, 6.7

Applications will be evaluated against the review criteria listed in the rating scales. Two scores – Merit and Relevance and Potential Impact – are averaged together to create a final score upon which applications are ranked. Please refer to the application guides and rating scales when preparing an application.

Applicants are required to submit an abstract by the deadline in EGrAMS. Note that this task is mandatory to be able to submit a full application.

Abstract registration includes:

Applicant and team details
- Principal Investigator (PI), Co-PIs, Co-Applicants, Additional Authors, People affected by cancer (or at risk of), Implementers/Decision-makers, Collaborators, etc.
- Team members may be added at the full application stage
Project title
Scientific abstract (maximum 4,200 characters, spaces included)
Keywords (maximum 10)
Challenge Statement (maximum 2,500 characters, spaces included)
Engagement Statement (maximum 2,500 characters, spaces included)
Panel recommendation
Suggested reviewers

Please consult the application guide for specific instructions.

When preparing the full application, the following additional information is required:

Team member CVs or letters of support, as applicable
Public (non-scientific) summary (maximum 2,000 characters, spaces included).
Scientific proposal (21,000 characters, spaces included) including an additional 2 pages of figures/tables/charts and associated legends (may be embedded in the proposal as images without affecting character count)
Sex and/or gender and/or other dimensions of diversity and their intersectionalities (maximum 4,200 characters, spaces included)
Key milestones and timeline (1 page)
Data management plan (DMP) (e.g. how data will be collected, documented, protected, and shared, with consideration for the First Nations Principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession (OCAP) where relevant)
Knowledge translation/mobilization strategy (4,200 characters, spaces included)
Anticipated Impact (4,200 characters, spaces included)
Terms of Reference (ToR)
AI Use Disclosure (maximum 2,500 characters, spaces included)
Detailed budget
Research tracking information (for administrative purposes: CCS goals, research focus, CSO, etc.)

It is understood that applications may also be made to other agencies to provide support for grants/programs similar to those submitted to CCS. For this competition, duplicate applications submitted to CCS and other agencies will be accepted, but budgetary overlap will not be permitted at the funding stage.

Applicants who submit a full application to the Emerging Scholar Research Grants competition are not eligible for the Challenge grant program. However, those who are unsuccessful at the ESRG Letter of Intent (LOI) stage may submit a full application for the Challenge program, but only if they submitted an eligible abstract (to the Challenge program) by the deadline.

CCS understands that achieving equity, diversity, and inclusivity requires ongoing reflection, effort, and commitment. We continue to take concrete steps to address structural racism and discrimination within the research ecosystem. This involves implementing targeted policies, offering training programs and structuring our funding programs to mitigate biases, and actively seeking input from underrepresented communities. By fostering an environment where diverse experiences and narratives are valued, we aim to enhance the quality and impact of cancer research.

All grant recipients must submit annual scientific reports and statements of account throughout the grant. Principal Investigators will be emailed instructions about completing the report in our online system. Submission of these reports is mandatory. Failure to submit the required reports will result in future installments of a grant being withheld.

CCS is a proud signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and a member of the Impact Funders Forum as well as other coalitions that work to support better research assessment practices and improve how evidence is generated, utilized, and applied across various issue areas and policy sectors. In line with our research strategy, CCS expects to engage with research teams in various ways to promote learning, networking, and knowledge sharing throughout the life cycle of each grant. As part of a successful application, CCS expects that grantees will engage in multiple opportunities as appropriate and able.

Scientific misconduct including, but not limited to, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or misrepresentation of data will not be tolerated and may result in the rejection of proposals in the current program and possibly from all future CCS programs. Misconduct, including but not limited to, racism, discrimination, bullying, harassment of any form (i.e., sexual) will be treated with the same severity.

CCS reserves the right to cancel the support provided through its program were any of this conduct proven to (have) happen(ed).