2026 Health System Solutions Grant program

Advancing health system solutions through applied research

The Health Research Foundation (HRF) is pleased to launch the 2026 Health System Solutions Grant program to support bold, applied research that improves how patients access and benefit from innovative medicines in Canada.

Too often, patients face system barriers such as delays, fragmented care pathways, and inconsistent referral processes that prevent them from getting the treatment they need, when they need it. The HRF seeks projects that don’t just identify problems, but develop, test, and implement practical, scalable solutions that improve care coordination, health system performance, and patient outcomes.

The 2026 competition is focused on the HRF’s two applied research pillars:

Pillar 1: Health system factors affecting real-world use and outcomes

Focuses on how care pathways, referral processes, system capacity, data, and implementation readiness influence access to and outcomes from innovative medicines.

Projects under this pillar must specifically address the priority research area improving the patient journey through care pathways, referral, and coordination: research that generates new insights into how health systems can better identify patients, streamline care journeys, integrate services, and support the adoption and effective use of innovative medicines.

Pillar 2: Improving the coherence and performance of review and reimbursement

Focuses on how health technology assessment (HTA), pricing, reimbursement, and funding processes interact, and how system fragmentation, delays, and inefficiencies affect patient access and health system performance.

All projects must:

• Improve patient access to innovative medicines through better coordinated care and system processes
• Strengthen care pathways, referral systems, and coordination between care settings
• Address real-world barriers such as delays, fragmentation, and implementation gaps
• Generate actionable evidence for health system leaders
• Demonstrate clear potential for scalability, adoption, and system impact

Collaborative projects involving patients, caregivers, clinicians, researchers, and health system partners are strongly encouraged.

Priority will go to projects that are implementation-focused, technology-enabled, where appropriate, and deliver measurable patient and system performance outcomes. Through this initiative, the HRF aims to accelerate practical innovation that strengthens health system readiness and improves access, quality of care, and patient outcomes across Canada.