Strengthening Canada’s Skills with PIAAC Research Call for Proposals
Before consulting this FAQ, we recommend that you first read the guidelines and other materials concerning the call for proposals, which can be accessed here.
General Information about the Call for Proposals
Proposals submitted to the Strengthening Canada’s Skills with PIAAC Research call for proposals will be evaluated by both Future Skills Centre consortium members and external experts. FSC will also establish a review committee which will review all reviewers’ scores, comments and recommendations before finalizing a decision on the package of projects to be recommended for funding.
Proposals will be evaluated according to the Selection Criteria. We encourage all prospective partners to carefully review the guidelines for the call for proposals.
Due to time and capacity constraints, FSC will not provide feedback about reviewers’ scores and comments.
Final research reports submitted to FSC by project partners should be in a publishable, designed format. We strongly encourage the use of the FSC template to ensure consistency with FSC’s brand standards. As FSC is a fully bilingual organization, we strongly encourage partners to submit final research reports in both English and French, whenever possible.
Awarded projects will have the opportunity to discuss timelines, budgets and any necessary adjustments for report design and translation with FSC at the contracting stage.
All proposals are expected to use and analyze the PIAAC Cycle 2 data as one line of evidence in the overall research design. We also welcome supplementary research methodologies including quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. You are encouraged to integrate additional data sources, such as administrative, survey, or qualitative datasets, provided that PIAAC remains a central component of the analysis.
In addition, applicants are expected to demonstrate why PIAAC is relevant to their research questions and how the inclusion of other data sources strengthens their analysis. At the same time, we remain flexible regarding the extent to which findings must be derived from PIAAC, focusing instead on the quality and rationale of data integration.
PIAAC Cycle 2 is the required focus of this call. Applicants must therefore base their analysis on Cycle 2 data and clearly outline their data acquisition strategy to ensure timely access and use of this dataset.
Additionally, we would like to know how the project builds on previous analyses and experience with PIAAC or similar large-scale surveys. Projects may use data from Cycle 1 or other related datasets to support comparative or longitudinal analyses, provided that Cycle 2 remains the central line of evidence in the research design.
Yes, all funded projects through this call are requested to participate in the Research Seminar.
FSC is securing expert technical assistance to advise research teams on their data access plans and how to expeditiously make requests to Statistics Canada for relevant microdata. This technical assistance will be provided to all funded projects in this initiative without cost to the partners.
Eligibility & Instructions to Apply
The application deadline is January 6, 2026 at 5pm EST.
Applicants submit their proposals by completing the online application forms. A link is provided in the guideline document. All supporting documentation can be submitted through the same online application form.
Yes. Organizations that have received or are currently receiving funding from the Future Skills Centre are eligible to apply as long as you meet all eligibility and proposal scope criteria.
In the interests of ensuring fairness in the competitive process and because of capacity constraints, FSC will not be providing feedback on partners’ research ideas.
The Future Skills Centre does not require letters of support from partners at the time that applications are submitted, but it does require a list of project partners. If you do not have confirmed partnerships yet, you may provide information on what types of expertise and partners you will be seeking to complement your organization’s capacity to execute the project.
As per each of the guidelines, FSC is planning to communicate funding decisions in early March, 2026 and it will take several weeks to finalize the funding agreements. We anticipate that most successful projects will begin by April 1, 2026, depending on exact timelines for proposal review and project contracting. Projects must end no later than October 31st, 2026.
You might want to consider this timing when planning the start date of your project. Applicants may be asked to provide additional information throughout the application process. FSC might also ask for additional information before the project begins.
Budgeting & Contracts
Additional details such as unit costs and quantities are not required at this time, but may be requested at a later stage. You are asked to include only funding associated with your project and its scope.
FSC welcomes in kind contributions. In-kind contributions are defined as non-cash contributions from external (non-FSC & non-federal) sources used to cover eligible project expenses. This includes pro bono support (e.g., donated services or volunteer time).
Eligible expenditures include:
- Salaries, including benefits for personnel;
- Expenses related to project administration, up to 12% of the funding requested;
- Project participant costs (i.e. honorariums for surveys, focus group participation,etc);
- Office supplies and services required for delivery of the project;
- Equipment and software required for delivery of the project;
- Costs associated with accessing micro-datasets or supplementary data from Statistics Canada;
- Financial and professional services required for the delivery of the project;
- Telecommunications/courier charges (e.g., telephone, Internet, mail and courier);
- Production costs such as graphic design, printing, translation into other languages, alternative formats;
- Expenses associated with events and sessions directly related to the research;
- Audit costs, notwithstanding they are incurred outside of the Project Period;
- The cost of travel, meals and accommodation in accordance with the rates for public servants set out in the National Joint Council of Canada’s Travel Directive; and,
- Hospitality costs incurred in accordance with rates set out in the Directive on the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences, Appendix A, section 2.3 of Canada’s Treasury Board.
Ineligible expenses include:
- Costs not directly associated with meeting the deliverables and milestones;
- Costs related to proposal development (including personnel costs);
- Capital costs (e.g. land, building, vehicles, leasehold improvements);
- Entertainment expenses, gifts and alcoholic beverages;
- Reimbursement for airfare purchased with personal frequent flyer points programs;
- Fines and penalties;
- Donations in the form of goodwill and other intangibles;
- Opportunity costs;
- Standard discounts;
- Interest charges;
- Allowance for interest on invested capital, bonds, debentures, bank or other loans together with related bond discounts and finance charges;
- Depreciation of assets;
- Expenses and depreciation of excess facilities;
- Annual general meetings, budget deficits, membership fees, fundraising activities, committee and political meetings, or religious activities;
- Costs covered by other government funding;
- Profit;
- Contingency or unexplained miscellaneous costs; and,
- The portion of the cost of any goods and services purchased by the Recipient for which the Recipient may claim a tax credit or reimbursement.
Given the maximum budget for this project is $90,000, an independent financial audit will not be required as a deliverable for the project.
Research Ethics Board (REB)
The Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS2) sets the national standards for research involving human participants in Canada. All partners funded through FSC must comply with TCPS2 and, when necessary, obtain approval from an accredited Research Ethics Board (REB). No data collection with human participants can begin until a REB has approved the project.
Accessing and analyzing PIAAC public-use data does not necessarily require REB review. However, if the project intends to triangulate PIAAC data with any additional data collection involving human participants—including experts participating in a professional capacity through interviews, focus groups, or surveys—REB review may be required. Once a work plan or proposal is submitted, FSC’s Research Ethics Lead will review it to determine the appropriate pathway to approval. Proposals involving direct engagement with participants will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether proposed data collection tools must be submitted to a REB for consideration. FSC’s Research Ethics Lead will provide guidance to grantees throughout this process.
If you, or any team members, are affiliated or cross-appointed with a post-secondary institution or hospital that has its own Research Ethics Board, FSC must defer to the decision of the REB Chair at your home institution. In these cases, it is the responsibility of the FSC-funded partner to consult their institutional REB Chair to determine whether the project requires ethics review or qualifies for an exemption. FSC will request official documentation—such as an ethics approval letter or confirmation of exemption—from the institution’s REB Chair or designated signing authority before data collection can begin.