Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

The Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries in Public Safety Personnel (PTSI in PSP) initiative was announced in Budget 2018, with a commitment of $20 million over five years to support a new national research consortium between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT). This National Research Consortium builds the evidence base related to PTSI among PSP, under the guidance of a Public Safety Steering Committee (PSSC).

This funding opportunity is a re-launch of the Crisis Line and App-based Support for Public Safety from 2022 and is open to the broader research community. This funding will directly build on the work of the research and coordination hubs and will broaden the pool of potential research questions – and research groups – that can be addressed/funded.

There are two streams of research that are supported across all three funding opportunities (i.e., a three-staged approach with two parallel streams).

1. The first stream aims to build the evidence base for a crisis/suicide prevention line, leveraging PHAC's support for the development of a pan-Canadian Suicide Prevention Service (CSPS), as announced in Budget 2019 and housed at the Centre for Addition and Mental Health (CAMH). This is now referred to as the RESPond Hub for Research in Suicide Prevention for Public Safety Personnel.
2. The second stream aims to build the evidence base for app-based peer-to-peer (P2P) support based at McMaster University, building on the work of one of the original PTSI in PSP Catalyst grants to create a pan-Canadian PSP support app ("OnCall"), in partnership with Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).  This is now referred to as the PeerOnCall Hub for App-based Peer-to-Peer Support.

These streams were identified through extensive consultations with key stakeholders, and the two identified hubs representing the leading national activities in each of these areas.

The intent of this funding opportunity is to address innovative research questions related to the efficacy/effectiveness, feasibility, development and/or evaluation of best practices, guidance documents and uptake of both services by PSP.

Funds Available

• The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $900,000, enough to fund approximately nine (9) grants. The maximum amount per grant is $100,000 per year for up to one (1) year, for a total of $100,000 per grant.

Eligibility to Apply

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) must be an independent researcher or a knowledge user, affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution and/or its affiliated institutions (including hospitals, research institutes and other non-profit organizations with a mandate for health research and/or knowledge translation).
2. The NPA must have their substantive role in Canada for the duration of the requested grant term.
3. The NPA must have successfully completed one of the sex- and gender-based analysis training modules available online through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and submit a Certificate of Completion. Select and complete the training module most applicable to your project. 

Deadlines:

Registration: August 1, 2023

Full Application: November 15, 2023

WEBSITE

SFU Signature Sheet, CIHR Routing Slip and Full Applications are due to ORS 3 business days before the application deadline. Note that the CIHR Routing Slip must be signed by ORS and uploaded as part of the application.