From health care and housing to climate change and food sovereignty, this year’s grant recipients are addressing pressing priorities identified by those closest to the challenges.
By partnering with people with lived experience, community organizations and Indigenous groups, these projects are generating knowledge that can inform more equitable programs, policies, and services.
The Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation (OVPRI) is proud to support social innovators through the Community-Based Research Grants program.
The people and partnerships addressing community priorities
In alphabetical order by last name:
Peer-led approaches to 2SLGBTQ+ community well-being
Konrad Czechowski, Faculty of Social Sciences
Peer-led discussion groups play an important role in creating identity-affirming spaces where diverse 2SLGBTQ+ people can connect and build community. In partnership with Adam Award and MAX Ottawa Community Health, this project will identify the practices that make these groups effective and develop practical tools to strengthen and sustain their impact.
Supporting stable housing through stronger social connections
Nicole D’Souza, Faculty of Medicine
This project will work with Mike Wade and the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa (YSB) to better understand how relationship-based supports can help prevent youth homelessness. By engaging youth with lived experience, it will identify effective approaches to strengthening support networks, preventing youth homelessness and supporting successful transitions to stable housing.
Integrating Indigenous-led approaches to understanding and responding to climate change
Catherine Dussault, Faculty of Social Sciences
Working with Nicole Corbiere and the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory Lands and Natural Resources Department (WLNRD), this project will bring together elders, youth and knowledge holders to document land-based climate knowledge and develop community-led story maps. This knowledge will help strengthen the National Indigenous Climate Compass (NICC) and support climate adaptation informed by both Indigenous knowledge and climate science.
Equitable pediatric care for Indigenous and marginalized families
Rochelle Einboden, Faculty of Health Sciences
Working with Joan Riggs and with the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition, this project will support the co-design of a trauma- and violence-informed approach to pediatric care at CHEO. By engaging families and community leaders, this work will make care safer, more culturally responsive and better equipped to meet the needs of those facing systemic barriers.
Advancing Housing First approaches for people with complex needs
Susan Farrell, Faculty of Medicine
Collaborating with Maryann Roebuck at the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa Branch, this project will evaluate the implementation and outcomes of the Full House program for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, serious mental illness and active opioid use. The findings will help strengthen Housing First practices and inform future approaches to supporting people facing multiple barriers to housing stability.
Empowering future generations in Kitigan Zibi through healing and cultural continuity
Lisa Howell, Faculty of Education
Led by Ms. Anita Tenasco of Nīgannīzin, this project will preserve the stories of Kitigan Zibi residential school survivors for future generations through community-led storytelling, knowledge-sharing, and cultural practices. By centring Algonquin self-determination and lived experience, it will support healing, strengthen cultural continuity and help bring these histories into local education.
Strengthening respiratory virus protection in long-term care homes
Amy Hsu, Faculty of Medicine
In partnership Laura Matthews and the Vaccine in Long-Term Care Community of Practice, this project will work with long-term care staff and leaders across Ontario to co-design practical strategies that address barriers to seasonal respiratory virus vaccination. The resulting tools and resources will support vaccine uptake across diverse long-term care settings and inform future implementation efforts.
Advancing equitable access to primary health care for Francophones
Mélanie Joanisse, Faculty of Medicine
In partnership with Kathleen Lalande and the Équipe de santé familiale communautaire de l’Est d’Ottawa, this project will bring together patients, clinicians, researchers, and health-care organizations to better understand how language and other social determinants influence health outcomes. The findings will help strengthen equity-focused approaches to primary care and improve access to safe, high-quality services.
Improving access to youth mental health services for equity-seeking families
Lysanne Lessard, Telfer School of Management
In partnership with Michelle Crogie and the Parent’s Lifeline of Eastern Ontario, this project will explore how digital technology can help low-income and other equity-seeking families organize information, access services and advocate for their children's needs. Frontline workers who support these families will play a central role in co-designing tools and resources that respond to their needs and experiences.
Fostering social connectedness and healthy aging for older adults
Aliza Moledina, Faculty of Medicine
Working with Safiqa Kara and Generations Calgary, this project will explore how intentional intergenerational communities foster belonging, purpose and well-being among older adults. The findings will support the refinement and expansion of the Generations Calgary model while informing the design of culturally responsive intergenerational communities across Canada.
Advancing mental health rights through lived experience research.
Émilie Pigeon-Gagné, Faculty of Social Sciences
Partnering with Amélie-Anne Mailhot and Droits-Accès de l’Outaouais, this project will work with people who have experienced coercive psychiatric measures in the Outaouais region to better understand how these practices shape care and life trajectories. Guided by an advisory committee of people with lived experience, the research will strengthen understanding of how mental health rights are exercised in the region.
Improving outcomes for young families experiencing housing instability in Ottawa
Nicole Racine, Faculty of Social Sciences
Collaborating with Natasha McBrearty and the Youville Centre, this project will bring together pregnant and parenting youth, researchers and community organizations to co-develop a research agenda addressing housing instability. By centring lived expertise, it will help identify solutions that strengthen supports and improve outcomes for young families.
Responsive and equitable addiction care for Ottawa youth
Jérémie Richard, Faculty of Social Sciences
In collaboration with Lorna Jackson and the Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services, this project will co-develop improved assessment tools and a community-driven research agenda to better understand behavioural addictions, substance use, trauma and wellbeing, strengthening care and improving outcomes for youth.
Strengthening First Nations leadership in environmental stewardship
Kyra St. Pierre, Faculty of Science
Collaborating with Hannes Schraft and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN), this project will support community-led interpretation of glacier and freshwater ecosystem research and help identify priorities for future work. Through knowledge-sharing activities and community engagement, it will strengthen stewardship planning and deepen understanding of environmental change in the Áa Tlein watershed.
Community-led rehabilitation and well-being in contexts of displacement
Pier-Luc Turcotte, Faculty of Health Sciences
Working with Osama Younis of UK-Med’s Gaza Rehabilitation Team, this project will bring together researchers and rehabilitation professionals to co-develop an international research partnership grounded in dialogue, reciprocity and community leadership. It will advance community-led approaches to rehabilitation and explore the conditions that enable community health, participation and collective well-being.
Supporting Inuvialuit food sovereignty through regional knowledge-sharing
Sonia Wesche, Faculty of Arts
The Paulatuk community is a leader in food security and food sovereignty initiatives within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. This funding, facilitated in partnership with Celina Ruben and the Paulatuk Community Corporation, will enable community leaders to share lessons and insights from their community-led programming and research at the Inuvialuit Food Summit. This knowledge exchange will strengthen regional collaboration, inform future priorities, and support Inuvialuit-led approaches to food sovereignty.
The following units collaborated in the 2026 CBR Grants program, which advances our EDI Action Plan for Research and Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) strategy:
Office of Public Policy Research and Outreach
Career Development and Experiential Learning (CDEL)