The Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network (EEPRN) has launched a new request for research proposals (RfP) targeting policy-relevant academic research that strengthens the evidence base for Canada’s clean growth and competitiveness strategies in a decarbonizing economy. This RfP is designed to feed into emerging policy-oriented research needs on a clean energy transition that ensures Canada’s continued competitiveness, prosperity and resilience in a low-carbon future.
Areas of particular interest for this funding opportunity include:
Enhancing productivity and competitiveness in a clean growth economy
- What are the productivity and competitiveness impacts of firm-level adoption of low-carbon technologies in Canada, and what barriers or enablers shape uptake across sectors?
- What evidence exists from theory, practice, modelling or case studies that low-carbon policies or clean growth regulatory approaches can increase Canadian productivity, particularly in resource-intensive sectors? How can this evidence be applied to inform clean industrial or major project investments?
- What challenges exist for local and regional governments in the establishment of clean energy value chains and how can local/regional efforts inform federal policy design or investments for greater competitiveness and economic resilience?
Enhancing climate policy resilience and robustness in Canada
- What evidence exists regarding the nature and magnitude of spillovers (positive or negative) arising from Canadian climate and industrial policies to date, and how have governance arrangements shaped which emerged?
- What policy frameworks or institutional arrangements can strengthen Canada’s capacity to generate, diffuse, and capture positive clean innovation spillovers from clean industrial or major project investments? Is there evidence from theory, practice, modelling or case studies that climate or clean growth policies can improve industrial or trade competitiveness?
- What strategic approaches to policy development or implementation can best align Canada’s climate/industrial/trade policies to maximize positive spillovers and minimize negative ones?
- What evidence exists from theory, practice, modelling or case studies of the impacts of increasingly ambiguous or uncertain policy environments on the nature or magnitude of spillovers arising from Canadian climate or clean growth policies to date?
- What new metrics or indicators are needed to inform decision-making, set targets and track progress on clean industrial or major project investments? Are there opportunities for big data or AI applications to support these objectives?
Centering Indigenous rights and title in Canadian clean growth research, and/or advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) outcomes while strengthening Canadian clean growth, competitiveness and economic resilience.
- What innovative regulatory, institutional, or governance reforms are needed to ensure recognition of Indigenous rights and title within clean growth and major industrial or natural resource projects/investments? For example, proposals could explore Free, Prior, and Informed Consent implementation in major projects, recognition of Indigenous rights in regulatory or project governance frameworks, or mechanisms for revenue sharing or co-management.
- What are the impacts (positive or negative) of policies or approaches to drive resource efficiency and lower environmental footprints of major industrial or natural resource projects on Indigenous peoples, equity-deserving groups, or low-income Canadians?
- What policy innovations can strengthen the resilience (understood broadly, and including Indigenous and non-Indigenous understandings of ‘economic resilience’) and long-term sustainability of remote Indigenous and/or resource-based communities facing the combined pressures of climate change, economic transition, and demographic change?
Proposals should be focused on Canada and can be submitted by faculty, graduate students, or post-doctoral fellows. This call is seeking to fund both full research proposals (typically not exceeding $30,000; to be completed by March 31st 2027) as well as shorter research development activities (not exceeding $10,000; to be completed by March 31st 2027). Final deliverables must include a research paper submitted to the SPI Clean Economy Working Paper series and a policy-maker oriented blog post, highlighting main research findings and policy implications.
We encourage submissions led by Indigenous researchers or researchers who identify as members of minority or equity-seeking groups. We also welcome applications that consider Indigenous-defined indicators of sustainability, prosperity and relational accountability in addition to or instead of Western economic metrics.
Deadline for applications is 5:00 pm PT on January 20, 2026
- For more information, see the full Request for Proposals and download the application template here (Word version available upon request).
- To learn more about the Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network click here.
- Questions? Please contact us at research.network@smartprosperity.ca.
