College and Community Social Innovation Fund grants

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Research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities

The nature and extent of meaningful engagement in a project should be determined jointly by the relevant individuals or communities and the research team and appropriate to community characteristics and the nature of the research.

Engagement must start at the very beginning of project planning, in developing the research question itself and continue throughout the remainder of the research process.

Applicants whose research involves and engages with Indigenous Peoples communities or individuals must:

• consult and consider concepts, principles and protocols in the CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities and other similar guidance.
• consider how the research respectfully involves and engages with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples or other Indigenous nations, communities, societies or individuals
• answer "Yes" to the application question "Does the proposed research involve Indigenous Peoples or communities?"
• demonstrate in the research proposal how you will integrate the relevant principles and protocols for conducting respectful research with Indigenous Peoples and communities into each stage of the research process (i.e., in what ways does the proposed research respectfully and reciprocally involve and engage with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples)
• include evidence of support (e.g., letters of support or an equivalent document) from the Indigenous communities that may be affected by the project or have rights or a stake in the proposed research, confirming that the project is a research need or priority for these communities

Examples of best practices and forms of meaningful engagement that might be appropriate for various types of research are available in the CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities.

We also encourage you to contact your institution for additional resources, policies and guidance.

Review process

CCI program staff will verify the content of the proposals.

For applications that answer “Yes” to the question “Does the proposed research involve Indigenous Peoples or communities?”, CCI program staff:

• may contact applicants to clarify if more information is required (e.g., evidence of support)
• where possible, ensure that reviewers on these applications have experience or expertise in research involving Indigenous Peoples or communities

For applications that answer “No” to the question “Does the proposed research involve Indigenous Peoples or communities?”, CCI program staff:

• may seek guidance from reviewers who have experience or expertise in Indigenous research to determine whether the proposed research involves Indigenous Peoples or communities
• may contact applicants to clarify if more information is required (e.g., evidence of support)
• where possible, ensure that the application is assessed by committee members with experience or expertise in Indigenous research if it is determined that the proposed research is likely to involve Indigenous Peoples or communities

All committee members reviewing applications are also expected to consult and consider the concepts, principles and protocols available in the CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities and other similar guidance.

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