The CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research recognizes a significant research contribution that helps us achieve our vision that everyone in Canada has access to a home that they can afford and meets their needs.

IMPORTANT
The initiative focuses on completed or near completed research activities.

This research:

• increases knowledge in one of the National Housing Strategy’s priority areas
• addresses a priority action area identified by CMHC’s President — this year the theme is  Modernizing Canada’s Housing Industry 

Your research should aim to address this question:

• Does the research help redefine how housing is built in Canada?   

This year’s President’s Medal theme seeks to highlight research with the potential to advance the modernization of housing in Canada — including the application of manufacturing-based production systems to residential construction, characterized by off-site fabrication, standardized and repeatable designs, integration of digital and automated technologies, and coordinated supply chains, with the objective of increasing productivity, reducing costs and timelines and scaling housing delivery.  

Examples of research eligible for this award include:

• Research related to construction methods and materials (modular, prefabricated housing and other modern methods of construction), as well as industry structure, including firm scale, consolidation and the sector’s evolution from traditional factory-built approaches towards partial or full adoption of emerging technology.
• Research focusing on barriers and opportunities to the modernization of housing, including limited opportunities to evolve and digitize the design process; constraints on design flexibility, transportation and logistics; regulatory and zoning barriers in certain jurisdictions; challenges associated with multiple stakeholders — including developers, manufacturers, lenders, on-site project managers and general contractors — on a project, and market perception related to off-site construction.

To be eligible for the CMHC President’s Medal for Outstanding Housing Research, you must be:

• a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
• an active researcher
• in good standing with CMHC

Current CMHC staff are not eligible to apply.

Your research must:

• be related to one or more of the National Housing Strategy’s priority areas of action
• address the 2026 theme of Modernizing Canada’s Housing Industry

Note: Past award recipients cannot apply for the same award again.

Follow these steps to apply:

• Create an online profile and record of your application in the application portal.
• Upload your application and required documentation.

PRO TIP! Use this Applicant Guide (PDF) to understand and complete the application process.

Required files for your application

Complete these forms and gather the required information then upload to your account in the CMHC portal:

• Award Application Form (PDF)*
• Three letters of reference
• Résumé for each of the lead applicants and all co-applicants

*PRO TIP! To use the interactive PDF, right click (Ctrl + click on Mac) the link to save the file, and then open it in Adobe Acrobat.

A multidisciplinary review committee will evaluate all eligible complete applications using pre-established selection criteria and recommend the recipients of the award.

The committee may include individuals from academia as well as the private, not-for-profit and public sectors. CMHC reserves the right to make the final selection of recipients.

Please refer to the Applicant Guide (PDF) for the evaluation process and scoring criteria.

Other conditions you need to know

• Funding of the award is conditional on the signing of a recipient award agreement.
• You need to submit a report within 6 months of funding disbursement. It must highlight how you used the award funds to promote and extend your research.