The University of Ottawa is advancing social innovation through its Community-Based Research Grants program, which supports projects that unite academic expertise with community knowledge to address urgent and complex social challenges. This year, 13 research teams are partnering with organizations serving Indigenous, equity-deserving, and marginalized groups to co-produce knowledge on issues such as homelessness, barriers to health care access, and equitable education.
By placing community voices at the heart of the research and using participatory methods like action research, community mapping, photovoice, and Indigenous storytelling, the program ensures that research responds directly to community needs, promotes equity and inclusion, and drives real-world impact.
Funded projects
- Barriers to equitable health-care access for autistic children and their families: Learning from the lived experiences of minoritized-language communities in Nunavut
Researcher: Myriam Beauchamp, Faculty of Health Sciences
Community partner: Pierre Essoh | Nunavimmi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society
- Laying the Groundwork: Advancing community-based research at MAX Ottawa
Researcher: Konrad Czechowski, Faculty of Social Sciences
Community partner: Adam Awad | MAX Ottawa Community Health
- A phenomenological, photovoice exploration of the role of community workers with lived experience in the homelessness field
Researcher: Peggy Kleinplatz, Faculty of Medicine
Community partner: Kim Van Herk | Ottawa Inner City Health
- Aging well in the city: Community-based participatory research on the implementation of municipal strategies for older adults
Researchers: Saouré Kouamé, Telfer School of Business
Community partners: Lisa Lafontaine and Bonnie Schroedder | City of Ottawa, Council on Aging of Ottawa
- LabPartners: Bridging the gap between preclinical researchers and patient partners
Researcher: Manoj Lalu, Faculty of Medicine and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Community partner: Louise Binder | Cancer Community Partnership
- Putting words to pain: Better understanding and addressing the psychological issues related to breast cancer among Black Canadian women
Researcher: Sophie Lebel, Faculty of Social Sciences
Community partner: Anifa Luyinga Kalay | Congolese Women Network
- Integration through education and education through integration: Research and training in inclusive pedagogy in Francophone correctional environments
Researcher: Sandra Lehalle, Faculty of Social Sciences
Community partner: Sara Howdle | Walls to Bridges
- Black community organizing to support parents/guardians with Black Anglophone school-aged youth who experience incarceration in Montreal
Researcher: Lerona Dana Lewis, Faculty of Education
Community partner: Gloria Ann Cozier | The Lasalle Multicultural Resource Centre
- Tahp achimowina/true stories: Visual storytelling and writing about the Lodge family at Gabriel’s Crossing
Researcher: Brenda Macdougall, Faculty of Arts
Community partner: Tenille Campbell | Sweet Moon Photography
- Co-creating space for a good tasting community
Researcher: Mwali Muray, Faculty of Health Sciences
Community partner: Berlin Reed | DESTA Black Youth Network
- Status of mental health rights in Outaouais: Where are we ten years later?
Researcher: Émilie Pigeon-Gagné, Faculty of Social Sciences
Community partner: Amelie-Anne Mailhot | Droits-Accès de l’Outaouais
- A study of the early implementation of a Shelter Diversion for Youth program in Ottawa
Researcher: John Sylvestre, Faculty of Social Sciences
Community partner: Mike Wade | Youth Services Bureau
- Adapting the Aaniish Naa Gegii for a whole child approach in Yukon schools
Researcher: Nancy Young, Faculty of Medicine
Community partner: Erin Pauls | Champagne, Aishihik First Nations
The following units collaborated in the 2025 CBR Grants program, which advances our EDI Action Plan for Research and Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) strategy:
