By Siddhi Aubeeluck, Grants Development Associate
Introduction
Education is one of Canada’s biggest public investments; provincial governments spend over $120 billion every year on elementary, secondary, and post-secondary systems.[1] Beyond these core investments, hundreds of grants are shaping the future of learning. From fostering innovation and improving equity to supporting research, infrastructure, and digital transformation, these programs give schools and universities the tools to pilot bold ideas, strengthen resources, and open new opportunities for learners across the country.
This article explores the Canadian education funding landscape, starting with an overview of the main granting bodies and the organizations they support. It then highlights the key themes driving current funding and examines emerging trends that are shaping how schools and post-secondary institutions innovate and evolve.
Who’s Granting? Who’s Receiving?
The education grant ecosystem in Canada is diverse, spanning federal, provincial, municipal, and philanthropic sources. Each level of funding plays a distinct role, and together they create a layered system that supports institutions and organizations of all sizes.
At the federal level, agencies provide the largest and most competitive awards for higher education institutions. Programs from the Tri-Councils, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and various other federal funding bodies fund research, innovation, and large-scale infrastructure projects. These grants can be worth millions of dollars but often require rigorous applications, extensive partnerships, and long review timelines. While highly competitive, federal funding can be transformative for universities, colleges, and other research institutes, providing the necessary monies required to bolster the Canadian research and innovation ecosystem. Moreover, federal funding continues to play a significant role in elementary and secondary education, particularly concerning Indigenous education, overseen by Indigenous Services Canada. Additionally, various federal agencies and departments initiate targeted programs addressing areas such as workforce development, digital equity, and digital literacy. A notable example is Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada’s CanCode program. Launched in 2017, CanCode has evolved through multiple phases to enhance digital skills among Canadian youth. The most recent phase, CanCode 4.0, recently closed for applications, allocating $39.2 million to 22 organizations and aiming to provide 1.5 million students and 100,000 teachers with training in coding, artificial intelligence, and other digital skills, particularly focusing on underrepresented groups such as Indigenous youth, Black youth, and students in rural and remote communities.[2] Programs like CanCode demonstrate that federal initiatives still play an important role in supporting K–12 education, providing students and teachers with access to critical skills and resources.
However, provincial and territorial governments remain the main authorities in elementary and secondary education, as responsibility for schools largely falls under each province or territory’s education ministry. Core operating costs, such as staffing, school maintenance, and administrative functions, are funded provincially and distributed as pass-through allocations. Beyond these basics, additional allocated grants often support curriculum development, STEM initiatives, and infrastructure at the school board level.
A key example is the Responsive Education Programs (REP) funding from the Ontario Ministry of Education. REP provides time-limited funding to school boards and other education partners to run temporary projects and pilot programs that address emerging needs and support student learning and well-being. The funding is reviewed annually and is intended to support projects and activities that have the greatest impact in the classroom and on students. Examples of REP-supported initiatives include: STEM programs, mental health and well-being initiatives, job skills training, etc.
Foundations and philanthropic organizations are another key source of competitive education funding. Canada is home to over 11,000 private and community foundations that support projects ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 or more. These grants are often more accessible than federal programs, with simpler application processes and shorter wait times. Examples include the RBC Foundation, the Rideau Hall Foundation, and numerous local community foundations across the country, all of which support a wide range of nonprofit initiatives in education.
Overall, federal grants primarily support higher education and research innovation, providing large-scale funding for ambitious projects and infrastructure. Provincial and territorial programs focus on ensuring access and covering core operating costs for educational institutions, while foundations and philanthropic organizations tend to fund shorter-term, targeted initiatives that respond to community needs. This layered approach allows different types of institutions: large universities, school boards, and local nonprofits, to find funding aligned with their scale, mandate, and priorities.
What kind of projects receive funding?
Across Canada’s education landscape, grant funding tends to orbit four big themes: equity, research and infrastructure, curriculum development, and digital transformation. Each one represents a different way of answering the same question: how do we make learning more accessible, more effective, and more future-ready?
Equity and access are often where the conversation begins. It is one thing to talk about innovation in classrooms, but quite another when whole communities lack the tools and resources needed to participate. Funding programs like the Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s (CIRA) Net Good Grants provide a direct solution to this challenge. Each year, CIRA directs over a million dollars toward projects that strengthen digital infrastructure, promote online safety, and support policy engagement—particularly in northern, rural, and Indigenous communities. Grants of this kind are not about luxuries; they strengthen entire communities by equipping learners with the tools, skills, and frameworks necessary to thrive in an increasingly digital educational environment.
At the other end of the spectrum are research and development grants, which are more concerned with building the laboratories, equipment, and platforms that push the Canadian innovation ecosystem forward. The Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) is a prime example. JELF is structured as a competitive program: universities submit proposals that are reviewed by peers, and only the strongest ideas receive support. What makes JELF particularly interesting is its collaborative funding model. The federal program usually covers around 40 percent of a project’s eligible costs, provincial governments often step in to match another share, and the institution itself makes up the rest. By pooling federal, provincial, and institutional resources, JELF enables universities to build and equip state-of-the-art facilities that enhance research capacity, attract top-tier scholars, and provide students with access to cutting-edge infrastructure.
Some grants are less about hardware and more about ideas. Education research grants explore questions of how students learn, how teaching practices can improve, and how educational systems function. The Spencer Foundation, although based in the United States, accepts international applications and has supported numerous Canadian projects in the past. Its Small Research Grants program funds studies up to US$50,000, supporting research on topics ranging from literacy and numeracy instruction to professional learning for teachers. Unlike JELF’s infrastructure focus, these grants concentrate on pedagogical research and evidence-building, providing scholars with the resources to study and improve student learning experiences.
Digital transformation has emerged as a distinct focus in education funding. Corporate funders often step into this space, recognizing both the social good and the workforce development potential. The TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, for instance, works through local Community Boards across the country to fund youth-oriented tech programs. Grants, often in the $10,000 to $20,000 range, help support projects like coding clubs in elementary schools, virtual tutoring for high schoolers, or the provision of devices to families who otherwise could not afford them. Here the focus is not only on digital inclusion but on preparing students to thrive in a technology-driven world.
Understanding the differences between these streams also means understanding who funds them and how. Federal programs like JELF are almost always competitive, peer-reviewed, and designed to build long-term capacity. Provincial governments often mirror these programs, adding their own priorities and ensuring local institutions can take advantage of national opportunities. Foundations, whether international like Spencer or corporate like TELUS, usually operate at a different scale. Their grants may be smaller and faster to apply for, but they are often more nimble, better suited to piloting ideas or addressing immediate community needs.
Taken together, these themes show that education funding in Canada is not monolithic. Equity programs ensure students and their communities can show up; research and curriculum programs push the boundaries of what is taught and how; and digital transformation grants aim to make classrooms future-ready. The type of funder and the structure of the program, competitive or pass-through, federal, provincial, or foundation, shapes not only who can apply but also what kind of impact the grant is designed to create.
Emerging Trends
Where themes reflect the enduring priorities that consistently guide Canadian education funding, trends capture the more recent shifts that signal how these priorities are evolving in practice. In recent years, several notable trends have emerged, offering educators, institutions, and community groups insight into where new momentum and opportunities are developing.
Education Goes Digital
One of the clearest signals in the current funding landscape is the digitization of education. In both K–12 schools and post-secondary institutions, funders are moving beyond the emergency adoption of online tools during the pandemic toward a broader reimagining of how technology shapes learning. COVID-19 demonstrated what was possible with remote delivery. Still, today the focus extends to AI-assisted teaching, personalized devices for students, interactive online modules, and the integration of coding and digital literacy into the core curriculum. In higher education, funding increasingly supports innovative, tech-driven research, the creation of virtual labs, and secure province-wide data systems that strengthen both learning and research infrastructure. The goal is no longer simply to make remote learning feasible, but to embed digital fluency and technological adaptability into the fabric of Canadian education. Most significantly, AI is spreading rapidly across classrooms and campuses, reshaping how students learn, how teachers instruct, and how education itself is defined, opening a vast array of possibilities for personalized learning, interactive curricula, and new pedagogical approaches that are fundamentally transforming the Canadian learning environment. As these developments continue, funding priorities will evolve alongside them, directing resources toward initiatives that harness technology’s potential and support the next generation of learning.
Investing in Canada’s Academic Future
Another high-visibility trend is the expansion of higher-education support, with a major boost from recent federal allocations. In July 2025, the Government of Canada announced over $1.3 billion in funding to support more than 9,700 researchers and research projects nationwide, distributed through scholarships, fellowships, and research programs across NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR, and other bodies. It included nearly $590 million awarded to hundreds of researchers through NSERC’s Discovery Research Program, hundreds of millions more in scholarships and grants, and increased core funding for Tri-Council agencies. This infusion directly supports graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and faculty, while reinforcing labs and teams exploring everything from climate resilience to artificial intelligence. For universities and colleges, this signals an opening not just to sustain but expand research capacity, providing more entry points for early-career scholars and growing collaborative, interdisciplinary projects.
Rethinking Indigenous Education Funding
Another major shift is the evolution in Indigenous education funding, particularly in elementary and secondary education managed by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). For many years, funding was delivered almost entirely through annual, tightly prescribed program allocations. Communities often had to apply year after year for specific projects, with little flexibility to redirect dollars or plan long-term. That began to change in 2019, when ISC introduced reforms allowing First Nations to opt into new flexible and block funding frameworks, designed to replace this one-size-fits-all model with approaches that emphasize stability and local control. Under the flexible framework, First Nations can enter into multi-year agreements, often five years in length, with the ability to reallocate funds across sub-programs and carry forward unspent amounts. The block model goes further, bundling multiple service areas into a single agreement that can last up to ten years. This enables communities to decide how best to direct resources, whether toward culturally relevant curricula, community-based teacher training, or localized technology initiatives. While accountability requirements remain, these frameworks represent a significant departure from the past. Instead of federal prescriptions dictating priorities, First Nations now have the authority to shape education systems that reflect their cultural values, promote self-determination, and support long-term community priorities.
Operating Grants Under Pressure
Despite these promising developments, there remains a tension: operating grants at both the school-board and post-secondary levels are not keeping pace with inflation. For instance, in Ontario’s public schools, per-pupil funding for 2024–25 is set to rise by just 2.64%, a rate that falls short of inflation and leaves boards struggling to cover basics like staffing and utilities.[3] The same pressure is evident at the postsecondary level nationwide: operating income per full-time domestic student has stagnated across Canada as costs for faculty salaries, campus maintenance, and digital infrastructure rise faster than revenues. Provincial government support for universities peaked in 2007 and has since fallen by about 15%; while rising tuition fees initially offset this decline, in recent years tuition has itself been falling in real terms, leaving institutions with fewer tools to close the gap.[4] With core operating support under strain, competitive grants have taken on greater importance. Universities increasingly depend on them to supplement stagnant budgets, even though their short-term and project-based nature complicates long-term planning. At the same time, these programs can serve as catalysts, offering targeted resources that ease immediate pressures and spark innovation in priority areas.
What Carney’s Austerity Could Mean for Schools
The challenge is amplified by a broader shift in fiscal policy. In September 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that the upcoming federal budget will lean toward “austerity and investment,” calling for operational spending cuts and greater efficiency across government programs. Ministries have been directed to reduce program spending by 7.5% in 2026–27, 10% in 2027–28, and 15% in 2028–29[5]. While core education transfers are expected to remain protected, the broader focus on austerity may limit discretionary and project-based funding that schools and universities increasingly rely on to supplement stagnant operating budgets. Consequently, educational institutions may face a double challenge: needing greater support from competitive grants and pilot programs, even as some of these discretionary funds could be reduced. The full impact on education-related funding will only be clear once the federal budget is released and specific allocations are confirmed.
Taken together, these trends offer a snapshot of where Canada’s education funding landscape is shifting. They are not the whole story, but they serve as vivid examples of where energy, policy attention, and dollars are flowing in the years ahead.
Conclusion
Our discussion highlights just how dynamic and evolving Canada’s education funding landscape has become. Across federal, provincial, and philanthropic streams, resources support everything from research and innovation to equitable access and community-driven initiatives. Emerging trends, such as digital transformation, flexible Indigenous education funding, and new approaches to post-secondary support, point to exciting opportunities for learners and educators alike. At the same time, uncertainty around operating budgets, potential funding reductions, and the specifics of the upcoming federal budget means institutions and communities will need to stay agile as priorities and allocations take shape.
[1] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250205/dq250205e-eng.htm
[2] https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2025/02/government-of-canada-announces-recipients-of-cancode-40-funding.html
[3] https://www.opsba.org/opsba_news/public-education-system-remains-under-significant-financial-strain/
[4] https://higheredstrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025-04-04_SPEC-2024_v6_Publications-1.pdf
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/04/canada-carney-budget-trump