OICR offers a number of funding opportunities for Ontario researchers throughout the year to help enable world-class cancer research across the province.

2025-26 Clinical Translation CATALYST Funding Opportunity

OICR is currently inviting applications for a new CATALYST funding stream to support research that leverages existing biospecimens and clinical data to validate biomarkers, molecular signatures, immune correlates or other insights that can improve cancer detection, risk stratification or treatment stratification. The vision of the CATALYST funding stream is to honour patient contributions by accelerating discoveries from available clinical samples. No new sample collection is permitted under this funding opportunity.

OICR Cancer Therapeutics Innovation Pipeline (2025)

The Cancer Therapeutics Innovation Pipeline (CTIP) Program was established to capitalize on Ontario’s expertise in cancer biology and drug discovery. Its aim is to create a pipeline of validated cancer targets and First-in-Class (FiC) or Best-in-Class (BiC), novel, selective lead molecules (small molecules or biologics) that will attract partnerships and/or investment for further preclinical and clinical development. To generate a sustainable pipeline, CTIP will support projects that aim to provide increasing evidence of target validation and disease association using data from knowledge bases, functional assays, and drug screening in relevant in vitro and in vivo models of the cancer type of interest.