How Funds Are Spent

How Our Charity Works

Making the Most of Your Generosity - How funds are spent

Research and Educational Grants

Introduction to Our Research And Educational Grants

How Projects Are Chosen

Grant Eligibility Criteria

How To Apply

Research and Education Projects Supported by the CICF

Grant Review Committees

About Research

Effective and Efficient

How our Charity Works

Nonprofit and voluntary organizations - such as the Canadian Intensive Care Foundation (CICF) - are an extension of the millions of Canadians who direct and support charities. These organizations are cornerstones of Canadian communities and enable Canadians to come together to address the needs that they believe to be important.

Our charity is a highly effective and efficient organization on the expense side. Our director is on contract, assisted by one part-time employee - along with committed volunteers - to hold down administration costs. And, we are continually striving to improve in that area by being open, transparent and accountable while we are in need of your help to pursue elusive charitable objectives.

Our registered charity

The foundation is a registered charity (Registered Charity No. 891 972 663 RR0001). We follow charity sector body codes of practice and support initiatives to improve the effectiveness and reputation of the sector. Along with other respectable charities we want to help develop, promote and champion excellence in professional fundraising. And, we want Canada to continue to create an environment in which voluntary organizations can flourish.

We believe non-profit and voluntary organizations are an expression of our values and the capacity of these organizations to serve Canadians helps to shape the quality of our lives and our communities.

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How Funds Are Spent

Making the Most of Your Generosity

The Canadian Intensive Care Foundation (CICF) receives no Federal government funding. The continued support of private sources, individuals, families and corporations, enables us to support critical research and education. And, we ensure that we make wise use of the money we receive.

The Canadian Intensive Care Foundation wishes to thank the Alberta Government, through the Alberta Community Spirit Donation Grant Program,  for their generous financial support in their 2008-2009 grants program.

Visit  www.communityspiritprogram.ca to learn more.

Where we do research

We conduct research into all aspects of critical care, and support investigators across Canada. To see past research and educational opportunities that the CICF has supported, see our Grant Recipients page.

Deciding what research to fund

A rigorous screening and peer review process underpins all the research we fund. Find out more about our screening process on the below. This process ensures that we protect every penny of our research investment. On average - more than $100,000 per year June to July - goes toward research and education of the highest quality. The funds go as far as they can for advances in critical care.

How much does research cost?

Critical care research and education is expensive. The examples below and on our Grant Recipients page give some sense of the resources secured through CICF needed to fund critical care knowledge. In some cases, the Foundation contribution may only be only a portion of the total cost for a project shared by two or more critical care associations.

Research project examples

$24,000 - Randomized trial of educational intervention Severe Renal Failure
$20,000 - Study of Severe Trauma Brain Injury
$20,000 - Severe Renal Failure
$20,000 - Resuscitation Strategies
$20,000 - Variability in Weaning Critically Ill Adults from Invasive Mechanical Ventilation
$20,000 - Prevention of Delirium in the Critical Care Population

Educational programming

$5,000 - WOHC ICU Day: Decision Making at the End of Life
$5,000 - Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists 2006 Educational Forum
$5,000 - Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses, Dynamics of Critical Care Conference 2006
$5,000 - CSRT Educational Forum and Trade Show 2007
$5,000 - CACCN Fields of Change in Critical Care Dynamics 2007
$4,000 - Educational Opportunities through videotaped records of Critical Care Rounds

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In Search of Critical Care Knowledge

Our Research and Grants

The foundation has supported dozens of research group leaders throughout Canada in recent years; through project grant funding that involves doctors, research institutes, hospitals and clinical centers. We are also committed to educational grant funding to support learning opportunities for all health disciplines in Canada’s ICUs.

On this page you will find links to other critical care organizations, web pages including our history and achievements, our list of grants from the past, how we fund research, how to apply for a grant, our list of current research grant recipients and our current educational grant recipients.

Links to CICF partners

We work with other organizations to encourage growth in funding and the highest standards for ICU research.

History of the CICF

The foundation was established in 1992 with its mandate to support the development of new knowledge through research and education.

Our list of achievements

Many Canadians will see or experience ICU first-hand in their lives. See a list of the research projects we helped support over the past two decades.

How we fund research

We accept applications for grants from researchers working in Canadian universities, hospitals and other health care centers

How we fund education

We accept applications from conference, planners who organize critical care, educational forums and other opportunities.

Recent  research and educational grants

For 2007, we allocated, or earmarked, conference $100,000 in grants for research projects.

We set aside $26,000 in 2007 to support learning opportunities, conference for ICU health care professionals across our nation.

Research and Education Grant Application Forms:

Research Grant application form - Education Grant Application Form

Apply Online

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Choosing the Best

How We Fund Research

What sorts of ICU research and education do we fund?

All types - from researchers trying to reduce ventilator-associated complications with infants, to investigators working to prevent delirium in critical care populations, to doctors studying family members’ perspectives on care provided in ICUs. We also sponsor speakers at educational conferences and forums that attract young investigators, nurses, respiratory therapists or other ICU team members.

How do we fund research projects?

We accept submissions for grants from all ICU team members (e.g., doctors, nurses, pharmacists) working in Canadian universities, hospitals and other health care centers. These grants pay for salaries as well as the resources and equipment to do the work. Our grants may be used to:

• get a piece of work started (small awards of a year)
• train critical care providers from the ICU
• fund meetings at which researchers and other critical care providers can talk about their work.

What do we do with applications?

We treat each application as fairly as possible. First, we send it out for peer review by our grant review committees which largely consist of other doctors working in the same area. They bring in two external adjudicators who also give their expert opinion on:

• the quality of the research
• if the work is feasible
• if it should be funded.

Next, our expert committees look at the application and the comments of the reviewers and decide if the investigator should be funded. Our committees meet regularly and have a great deal of knowledge of the Foundation, critical care research and science throughout the world. They decide if the work:

• is unique and is not being done elsewhere
• offers value for money
• meets the goals of the charity.

How do we make the most of the money?

We invest in the best submissions - big or small - as far as our resources can take us. Because research costs a lot we sometimes work with other fund sources for critical care research to make sure we invest in important, large pieces of work. We also make sure that all our funds are well spent and that the work is of the highest standard.

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Applying For A Grant

Grant Eligibility

To be considered for a grant from the Canadian Intensive Care Foundation, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Must be a current member of the CICF (see our Membership page)
• research or educational projects must work towards the Foundation's Vision and Purpose

How do Individuals apply?

Eligible individuals complete an application to explain:

• what research or education they plan to do
• how the work will improve ICUs and critical care for patients
• how they are qualified to do the research
• how much it will cost
• the link to the CICF mission
• ethical conditions

Remember, you must be a member of the CICF to be eligible for grants.

Research Grant application form - Education Grant Application Form

Apply Online

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Research and Education Projects We Support

Achieving the Greatest Impact

Our vision is about working with others to achieve the greatest benefit for people in need of critical care - with doctors and nurses, with other research organizations; and with ICU patients and their families. And, perhaps most importantly, with supporters we depend on for the funding we need for life-saving research and education.
Through the years of donated time and money:

• we have supported world-class research and education to provide better care of the critically ill and injured.
• we have ensured that findings are used to improve the lives of all ICU patients
• we have worked in partnership with others to achieve the greatest impact in critical care research and education
• see past research and education grant recipients

For 2007, the Canadian Intensive Care Foundation (CICF) has allocated $126,000 in grants ($100,000 to research and ($26,000 for education) to healthcare professionals who practice critical care across Canada. The release of 2007 grants achieves the $1-million mark for the foundation in its fundraising role to initiate studies by researchers in intensive care and related fields.

Past Grant Recipients

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Grant Review Committees

System of Peer Review

CICF grant adjudication and allocation of annual research and education funds continue to be a priority. The skill and experience adjudicators bring to the process is invaluable to the foundation’s reputation.

CICF leadership maintains the only sure strategy for success in the mission of the foundation is to invest in the most talented people. With this in mind, the Foundation has consistently supported talented young researchers seeking to break into the competitive world of research and senior investigators embarking on new research directions.

Foundation leaders are proud of our system of scientific peer review in making awards to support critical care research and education. We are equally as pleased with our rigorous and fair approach to this competitive process. The collaboration of our review committee members continues to satisfy applicants from across Canada at a variety of universities, research centers and other settings.

2009/2010 Research Grant Review Committee

• Chair, Cindy Hamielec - Hamilton
• Andreas Freitag - Hamilton
• Richard Witlock - Hamilton
• Alison Fox-Robichaud - Hamilton
• Rizwan Manji - Winnipeg
• Michael Jacka - Edmonton
• Margaret Herridge - Toronto
• Sandra Matheson - Halifax

2009/2010 Educational Grant Review Committee

• Chair, Paul Boiteau - Calgary
• Rizwan Manji - Winnipeg
• Catherine Farrell

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Encouraging the Best

Our Research Portfolio Archives - 2001 to 2007

Our research portfolio showcases the wide variety of ways in which we fund ICU researchers across Canada. CICF tries to make sure there are talented investigators in every field of ICU research. We support researchers throughout their careers - based on their successful project applications.

We encourage talented and highly-trained specialists across all areas of ICU research. Many CICF-funded researchers are leaders in their fields. The continued success of our work also depends on the expertise of the next generation of researchers. That’s why we provide top-drawer review committee members to adjudicate different project submissions from young investigators as well as senior practitioners. This process helps to ensure we have the skills to continue transforming discoveries made in the laboratory into innovative treatments for patients.

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