A curated list of grants and partnership programs that can fund preclinical imaging research at MIRF — for academic teams, industry collaborators, and combined applications.
Whatever stage you're at in your application, our team can provide the imaging-specific documentation that strengthens a grant submission.
Customized letter detailing the imaging infrastructure, methods, and team commitment for your study.
Pre-written or tailored methods paragraphs for grant applications and project descriptions.
Itemized cost estimate for scanner time, consumables, radiotracers, and analysis — formatted for grant budgets.
MIRF team members can join as co-investigators where appropriate, especially for studies requiring specialized imaging expertise.
NSERC, CIHR, and Mitacs offer the major federal funding routes for Canadian preclinical imaging research — both for pure-research grants and industry-partnership programs.
Long-term, flexible support for individual researchers pursuing programs of ongoing, curiosity-driven research in the natural sciences and engineering — including imaging method development.
The program that replaced Engage in 2019. Co-funds collaborative research between Canadian university researchers and partner organizations — including industry, public sector, or non-profits.
CIHR's flagship open competition. Supports projects with the greatest potential to advance health-related fundamental or applied knowledge, healthcare, or health outcomes — spanning preclinical through clinical research.
Short-term seed funding to support pilot projects, novel concepts, and the development of new methods or partnerships — topic-specific calls open throughout the year, sometimes including biomedical techniques and imaging.
Brings together graduate students or postdocs, an academic supervisor, and an industry partner on a defined research project. A go-to for industry-funded imaging studies that train HQP.
Two-year industrial postdoctoral fellowship with structured training. Fellows split time between an academic lab and a partner organization — well suited to translational imaging projects.
Foundation grants are often the right fit for early-stage or high-risk imaging projects that don't fit standard tri-council categories — especially in oncology, neuroscience, and rare diseases.
Support unconventional concepts, approaches, or methodologies addressing problems pertinent to cancer. A strong fit for novel preclinical imaging methods, tracers, or therapy-monitoring strategies.
Larger, team-based grants targeted at high-priority challenges in cancer research — themes change year to year. Worth checking annually for relevance to imaging-driven research questions.
National funder supporting brain research across all neurological conditions. Runs its own Discovery Grants and partners with disease-focused organizations on co-funded programs (e.g. ALS, Alzheimer's, dementia).
Supports research in dementia, including biomedical, clinical, and quality-of-life research. Includes New Investigator Operating Grants and Proof-of-Concept Grants for novel imaging or biomarker work.
Operating funds for important, novel research in heart disease and/or stroke — including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular imaging studies.
BC's provincial health research funder. The Research Trainee Program supports early-career researchers; team awards (e.g. Alzheimer's & Parkinson's) support BC-based collaborative projects.
Local research support including summer studentships and partnered competitions through BC Cancer's Office of Research Administration. Useful for trainees and BC-based oncology imaging work.
Venture-philanthropy funder supporting drug discovery, biomarker validation, and neuroimaging programs targeting Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Open to academic and biotech applicants worldwide.
Funding for preclinical imaging changes year to year. If your target grant isn't listed here, contact us — we maintain a broader internal list of funding routes and can help match opportunities to your project type, stage, and timeline.
Get in touchCost-share programs designed for industry-academic collaboration — useful when a company wants to leverage public funds against their own R&D budget for a defined imaging study.
When an industry partner co-funds, NSERC typically matches the partner's cash contribution 2:1 — a strong mechanism for stretching a company's R&D dollars on a university-led imaging project.
From the industry side: $7,500 partner contribution unlocks a $15,000 research project per intern, with a graduate student or postdoc embedded in your team for 4 or 6 months.
The flagship federal innovation program for Canadian SMEs. Provides non-repayable contributions, advisory support, and technical connections to advance technology development and commercialization.
Designed for academia–industry collaborations where a Canadian "receptor" company can commercialize a genomics-related solution. Worth considering when imaging is paired with a genomics or molecular-readout component.
Need a letter of support, a methods paragraph, or a budget estimate for your grant? Reach out at any point in your application process — the earlier the better.
Customized letter detailing MIRF's commitment to your study.
Get a letterCo-investigator, joint grant, or method-development conversations.
Start a conversationInstruments, infrastructure, and the team behind every study.
See the labExamples of imaging studies and methods supported by MIRF.
See publicationsFunding details current as of May 2026 — please verify all amounts, deadlines, and eligibility on the funders' official websites.