Granting Philosophy

The Canadian General Surgery Foundation (CGSF) was established in 1983 to support the General Surgery profession’s goal of excellence in patient care. Through a combination of discretionary granting and profiled project fundraising, the Foundation advances this aim in the areas of research, advocacy, and education. The Foundation’s Board of Directors oversees the granting process.

Principles for Non-Operating Grants Principles for Early Career Operating Grants

Principles for Non-Operating Grants

The grant should support and foster the development of a research, advocacy or education project that advances excellence in patient care.
Research grants applications will be accepted in areas such as translational research, health services, quality improvement, innovation, clinical trials, clinical epidemiology, surgical education.
While the early career operating grant amounts are fixed and can be spent over 1 or 2 years, project grants can be a fixed amount granted from the Foundation’s reserve or they can be donation- dependent. In other words, projects will be profiled by the Foundation as endorsed projects and recipients will be encouraged to work with the Foundation to raise funding.
The grant can be used as matching funds for other granting opportunities.

Requirements of the Grantee

The applicant must be a licensed surgeon, a fellow or resident practicing in Canada.
The applicant must be a member of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS) at the time of application. If not already a member, a membership request may be submitted concurrently with the grant application.
Applicants must have a full-time appointment at a Canadian institution which could support the administration of the grant funds (questions of eligibility should be directed to CAGS by email).
Grants are normally of 1 to 2-years duration with potential for an additional 1-year no-cost extension.
Multiple 1-year funded grant extensions may be granted through an abbreviated application process, based on demonstrated progress and impact. An application must be submitted for each extension.
A financial and written end-of-grant report are required. If a 1-year no-cost extension is requested, this must be requested in writing with justification on or before the due date of the end of grant report.
Grantees are strongly encouraged to attend the CSF to accept the award. The registration fee for the CSF would be considered an eligible expense for the grant for that year.
The grantee must agree to partnering with the Foundation in knowledge translation to benefit not only members, but policy makers and the public, where applicable. This may include presenting research findings at the CSF, developing asynchronous videos and learning materials as well as narratives about the work that can be communicated to potential donors.

Evaluation Criteria

All grant applications will be peer reviewed by members of the Foundation Board. If required, external expertise will be sought if the project focus falls outside the expertise of the Board.
The Foundation reserves the right decline all applications, in any given year, if no applications meet the minimum criteria.
The grants will be evaluated based on:
- The importance of the project focus to General Surgery research, advocacy and education and its ability to positively impact patient care (50%).
- The track record of the applicant, program or institution in relation to the project focus and/or the project environment including the availability of project support such as expert advisors and collaborators (25%).
- The feasibility and methodological rigour of the proposed project (25%).
- Incorporation of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) principles and practices (yes or no)

Application Process

Applications must include:

A title page with information regarding all co-applicants and contact information for the principal applicant, including an email address.
A summary/abstract of the application (max. ½ page)
A statement of the impact or the potential impact on General Surgery in Canada (max. ½ page)
A detailed description of the proposed project (maximum 4 pages, including figures)
A list of references cited (no maximum)
A detailed budget explaining how the funding will be spent
A curriculum vitae of the principal applicant (max. 3 pages)
A letter of support from a senior leader (Division Chief, Chair) where the work will be performed
Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strengthens the quality, social relevance and impact of research, advocacy and education. Incorporation of EDI principles into the design and development of a project, its team and its work environment should be demonstrated. (max. ½ page).
An approved REB or lab/animal care protocol for research applications is required prior to disbursement of funds to the grantee.

Applications should be emailed as a single PDF file to: info@generalsurgeryfoundation.ca. Applications not received by the stated deadline or not conforming to these requirements will not be considered.

Grant Reporting

Canadian General Surgery Foundation Project Grants are provided through the generous support of the CGSF and its donors. To ensure transparency in the use of these funds and to engage and provide feedback to donors, all applicants are expected to submit a complete financial report and written summary report, including the impact or potential impact of the project, at the end of the granting period. All grant monies must be reconciled within 1 year of the grant’s end date.

All grantees will also be asked to return as a speaker at the Canadian Surgery Forum two years following receipt of the grant to present their work and to participate in communication of their project’s impact with the Foundation. This may include, when appropriate, participating as a speaker, being interviewed, or identifying patients who might be willing to share their impact story. The grantee should also agree that any practice-changing findings should be translated to practice through the CAGS Education Committee.

Principles for Operating Grants

The grant should support and foster the development of research program by new and emerging surgical researchers (within the first 5 years of primary appointment, not including interruptions and delays for parental leave, relocation, extenuating circumstances related to clinical service, etc.)
The grant is designed to provide seed funding to initiate a project or support one aspect of a larger project, with the goal of increasing the researcher’s success rate when applying for more substantial grants, including CIHR.
Grants will be accepted in any area of research, including translational research, quality improvement, clinical trials, clinical epidemiology, surgical education.
While funding envelopes continue to limit the size of the grant, a grant value of $40-50,000 would be reasonable. The amount of the grant is fixed and can be spent over 1 or 2 years.
The grant can be used as matching funds for other granting opportunities.

Requirements of the Grantee

The applicant must be a licensed surgeon practicing in Canada. Residents are not eligible for this grant competition. Residents/Fellows in their final year with an appointment the following year are eligible to apply with a letter confirming the start date of their appointment.
The applicant must be a CAGS member at the time of application. If not already a member, a membership request may be submitted concurrently with the grant application.
The grant is for a one or two-year duration with the potential for an additional 1 year no cost extension.
A financial and a written end of grant report are required. If a 1 year no cost extension is requested this must be requested in writing with justification on or before the due date of the end of grant report.
The grant will be awarded at the CSF. The grantee is strongly encouraged to attend the CSF to accept the award. The registration fee for the CSF would be considered an eligible expense for the grant for that year.
The grantee must agree to present their research at the CSF 2 years after grant receipt. The registration fee for CSF would be considered an eligible expense for the grant for that year.
The applicant must have some “protected time” for research and how the time is being protected must be defined by their Division or Department Head (within the letter of support).

Evaluation Criteria

The grants will be peer reviewed by members of the Research Committee based on overall expertise. If required, an external review will be requested if the stated research falls outside of the expertise of any of the committee members.
All applicants will receive a short, written assessment and a score.
If no grants meet the minimum score (as determined by the Research Committee) then no grant may be awarded in a given year.
The grants will be evaluated based on:
- The track record of the applicant in relation to the number of years post first appointment (10%).
- The importance and novelty of the research question (20%).
- The feasibility and methodological rigour of the proposed project (20%).The importance of the project to the researcher’s overall research program and the potential for this project to lead to subsequent peer reviewed funding (20%).
- The research environment, including local resources and external collaborations (10%).
- Incorporation of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) principles and practices (yes or no).

Application Process

Applications must include:

A title page with information regarding all co-applicants and contact information for the principal applicant, including an email address
A summary/abstract of the application (max. ½ page)
A statement of the impact or the potential impact on surgery in Canada (max. ½ page)
A detailed description of the proposed research (maximum 4 pages, including figures)
A list of references cited (no maximum)
A detailed budget explaining how the funding will be allocated
A curriculum vitae of the principal applicant (max. 3 pages not including the list of peer reviewed publications)
A letter of support from the Head of the Division of General Surgery or Chair of the Department of Surgery of the institution where the work will be performed. This must include an indication of the amount of protected time for research and how the applicant’s time will be protected to allow successful completion of the project.
Any delays that have impacted research productivity or that extend the new investigator timeline should be described (optional, max ½ page)
NEW THIS YEAR: Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strengthen the quality, social relevance and impact of research. Incorporation of EDI principles into the research design and development and training of the research team CAGS strongly endorses incorporation of EDI principles into surgical research. Please describe how the current research proposal incorporated EDI principles in the development of the research team, the research environment and the conduct and interpretation of the research itself. (max ½ page).
- For additional information on EDI principles and how to incorporate them into you research, please refer to the following resources from CIHR (https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/52553.html).

2024 Submission Deadline To Be Determined.

For further information please contact:
Dr. Rebecca Auer
CAGS Research Committee Chair
Email: info@generalsurgeryfoundation.ca

Grant Receipt
An approved REB or lab/animal care protocol is required prior to disbursement of funds to the awardee.

Grant Reconciliation & Reporting

The CAGS Operating Grants are provided through the generous support from the CAGS Foundation and its donors. To ensure transparency in the use of these funds and to engage and provide feedback to our donors, all applicants are expected to submit a complete financial report and written summary report, including the impact or potential impact of the research, at the end of the granting period. All grant monies must be reconciled within 1 year from the end date of the grant.

All grantees are also asked to return as a speaker to the Canadian Surgery Forum 2 years following receipt of the grant to present their findings. Grantees will also be asked to participate in communication of their research findings and their impact with the CAGS Foundation. This may include, when appropriate, participating as a speaker, being interviewed, or identifying patients who might be willing to share their impact story. The grantee should also agree that any practice-changing research findings should be translated to practice through the CAGS education committee.