Funding opportunity
Researchers are invited to apply for a new funding opportunity sponsored by Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) titled, “Improving Early Identification and Early Intervention for CAF Mental Health Needs: Evidence on Measurement-Based Care (MBC) Uptake and the Role of Digital Support Tools and Agentic AI Support Tools.”
Anticipated timeline and budget
- Application Deadline:
- 9 July 2026 23:59 PDT
- Estimated Project End Date:
- 31 March 2028
- Grant funding available in 2026/2027:
- $100,000;
- Anticipated funding for 2027/2028:
- $100,000.
Background
Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members can experience mental health challenges across diverse operational contexts. A recurring challenge is enabling earlier help-seeking and supporting clinicians and members in adopting MBC in ways that are practical, acceptable, and safe. This funding opportunity seeks research that strengthens the evidence base on barriers and enablers to early intervention and MBC uptake and develops actionable guidance for Canadian Forces Health Services (CFHS) decision-making, with a particular focus on the utility of agentic AI systems, e.g., conversational and reliability assurance AI agents. These digital support tools (including conversational interfaces) may be explored as an intervention to support early engagement and navigation to appropriate resources; provided safety, ethics, and privacy are addressed explicitly.
Research objectives
This funding opportunity seeks submissions that will generate practical evidence for CFHS on:
- Barriers and enablers to early help-seeking and early intervention uptake for CAF-related mental health needs (member and clinician perspectives).
- Barriers and enablers to implement and sustain MBC in routine care (workflow, burden, training, trust, and perceived value).
- Safety, ethical, and privacy considerations for digital and agentic AI interventions used to support early intervention and MBC (including risk mitigation approaches).
- Implementation guidance and recommendations to inform future policy, practice, and R&D scoping.
Desired outputs
- Final research report including: (1) evidence synthesis, (2) stakeholder findings, (3) evaluation results, and (4) clear recommendations for CFHS.
- Implementation and evaluation framework/checklist suitable for future scoping and decision-making.
- Annotated bibliography/reference list supporting the evidence synthesis.
- Virtual briefing/presentation of findings to the project sponsor(s) and stakeholders.
- Quarterly progress updates (brief).
Applicant qualifications and requirements
Applicants should demonstrate the following capabilities:
- Expertise in mental health services research, implementation science, clinical psychology/psychiatry, or a closely related field.
- Experience conducting research with sensitive populations, including appropriate ethics and privacy safeguards.
- Applicant team must include investigator(s) with data science and AI-ML background, specifically in large language models, agentic AI, and multiple modality data integration.
- Capability to evaluate digital health interventions, including leveraging agentic AI, for accessibility, utility, safety, and risk management.
- Capacity to translate findings into actionable recommendations for government and health system stakeholders.
Application deadline
Please download and submit the Research Funding Application form by 9 July 2026 23:59 PDT.
Applicants are advised to include six weeks of administrative lead-time in their timelines. This will allow for ethics board submission and approval (when required) and the drafting and signing of the funding agreement.
Enquiries
Questions about this funding opportunity can be sent to the VAC Research office.