Overview:
Advancing Health Equity by Understanding and Addressing Systemic, Structural and Institutional factors that reinforce stigma in Harm Reduction and Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infections (STBBI) Prevention in New Brunswick.
The Department of Health (DoH), in collaboration with ResearchNB, is opening a competition (independently peer-reviewed) to provide funds for research to examine systemic, structural, and institutional factors that reinforce stigma and discrimination against people who use substances. The research will analyze how these factors differ across provincial populations, settings, and policy-making partners, and how they shape funding decisions, service availability, and the uptake of harm reduction and STBBI prevention supports.
The findings will help provincial partners design and evaluate interventions, policies, and practices that promote inclusion, dignity, and access; reduce stigma; and advance health equity.
Please continue to the online portal by clicking the Apply Now button to see more information related to this call.
Eligibility
To be eligible, the applicant:
- Must have research and/or evaluation experience in one or more of the following areas: Determinants of Health, Population Health.
- Must hold a university faculty appointment or equivalent at a New Brunswick university or Institution.
- Must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or actively pursuing such status.
- Must not have received funding from, or affiliation with, the alcohol, tobacco, vaping product, cannabis, opioid, gambling, ultra-processed food, sugar-sweetened beverage, or fossil fuel industries (or subsidiaries), within the past ten years.
- Applicants may, and are encouraged to, involve community organizations, additional researchers (in New Brunswick or in other provinces/territories) to enhance the depth and scope of the project, provided all are free from conflict of interest (i.e., are not named in another application).
This program is currently:
Open (Closes March 26, 2026)
Funding Program Details
Applications open (1:00pm ADT):
February 3, 2026
Applications close (11:59am ADT):
March 26, 2026
Anticipated notice of decision date:
May 1, 2026
Award Term:
Up to 15 months
Award Amount:
$80,000
Leverage:
N/A
Eligible Expenses:
All expenses are deemed eligible apart from paying compensation of the award recipient, overhead / indirect costs or any retroactive expenses.
Application Process:
Applications for this fund are only accepted through the ResearchNB application portal and are evaluated against the evaluation criteria for this fund. Prior to peer review, the Department of Health will conduct an initial eligibility screening.
Applications that are deemed out of scope at this stage may be declined and will not proceed to the peer review process.
Award Duration & Reporting:
Recipients will be asked to meet virtually with the Department for a kick-off meeting, regular check-in meeting during the project and for a close-out meeting.
Project is expected to be completed within 12 months of receiving the Notice of Decision letter. A final report shall be submitted through the portal 90 days from the end of the project. These reports are to be completed via the application portal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every project need to align with the priority sectors listed on the ResearchNB website? The website lists Health, Energy, Forestry, Oceans, and Agriculture, but there are also Advanced Manufacturing, ICT, and Data & AI included in the portal application?
Advanced Manufacturing, ICT, and Data & AI are enabling platforms that support and enhance advancement within the priority sectors. While some funding programs don’t require direct alignment with these sectors, they do require a demonstrated impact on New Brunswick. Within these funding programs, projects that don’t directly address a priority area will be evaluated equally, as long as the impact on New Brunswick is clearly outlined in the application.
Will the Knowledge Translation Grant be available? What funding is available to support the dissemination of research findings with knowledge users?
The Knowledge Translation Grant will not be offered in the upcoming year. After gathering feedback from across the province, we’ve re-designed our programs for 2025-2026 to focus on funding talent, equipment, ideas and strategic projects. However, knowledge translation related costs are eligible expenses under projects funded by ResearchNB.