The 2026 Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) competition will use the following requirements, which are based on the principles of openness, transparency and accountability, for the recruitment and nomination of Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERCs). The following items outline the minimum requirements nominating institutions must meet when recruiting and nominating a CERC. Nominating institutions are encouraged to incorporate the additional best practices developed for the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) within their CERC recruitment processes.
Applicants must describe the CERC recruitment process as part of the application and it will be assessed during the review process.
1) Institutional accountability
The following accountability requirements must be met.
- The requirements for recruiting and nominating a CERC stipulated below apply to all nominations.
- Before beginning the recruitment process, the nominating institution must identify a senior official who will be responsible for ensuring the requirements have been followed and who will attest to this by completing the Attestation module in the Convergence Portal.
- The program will not accept nominations where the job posting and/or recruitment and nomination process do not follow the requirements.
- The Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) reserves the right to ask nominating institutions to provide, at any time within 48 months of submission, documentation that demonstrates the requirements for the recruitment and nomination process were followed. See examples of documentation in Section 8) Review of recruitment and nomination processes below. In cases where the results of a review find that the recruitment process did not follow the requirements, the program reserves the right to withdraw a nomination, suspend future payments or terminate the award of an already active chair.
- The recruitment process used to nominate a CERC could also be used to nominate individuals for the CRCP, provided the job posting clearly indicates that the process is for both programs and that the requirements for recruiting and nominating Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) are fully met. In these cases, the job postings must be sent by email, on the day they are posted, to both program contacts (information@chairs-chaires.gc.ca and information@cerc.gc.ca).
2) Nominees
The nominating institution must:
- ensure that nominees meet the eligibility requirements of the CERC program; and
- consider the potential of drawing a diverse pool of candidates when defining the intended fields of research, and whether outlining broader fields of research is more likely to attract a more diverse pool of candidates.
3) Advertisements / job postings
The nominating institution must:
- publicly advertise all CERC positions on its public accountability webpage for a minimum duration of 30 calendar days prior to the registration deadline of the competition (this applies to all nominations). All postings must be archived and publicly available for a minimum of three years from the date they are posted;
- email information@cerc.gc.ca with all the links to all job postings that advertise chair positions no later than the day they are publicly posted online. The program will verify all job postings to ensure they meet the requirements outlined below. Changes may be made to the publicly posted advertisement to meet the program requirements; however, the updated advertisement must be re-advertised publicly for a minimum of 30 calendar days prior to the registration deadline; and
- advertise the job posting no more than two years prior to the nomination being put forward to TIPS to ensure transparency.
A job posting must:
- clearly state the date on which it was posted online and the closing date;
- clearly state the position is for a Canada Excellence Research Chair, and identify the field(s) of research and award values;
- clearly state that the competition may be used to fill Canada Research Chairs positions (if applicable);
- if the institution requires the chair to have a PhD, stipulate that this is a requirement of the nominating institution and not the program;
- include a statement that recognizes that life circumstances such as illness, disability, family and community responsibilities (e.g., maternity leave, parental leave, leaves due to illness, leaves due to caring for family members, slowdowns due to chronic illness or disability, or COVID 19 impacts) are often an expected part of life and are likely to have an impact on a nominee’s record of research achievement, and that these impacts will be taken into careful consideration during the assessment process;
- include a statement that encourages applications from individuals from all underrepresented, equity-seeking, rights-seeking populations, including racialized individuals, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, women, and individuals from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community;
- include the institution’s commitment statement to equity, diversity and inclusion;
- include a statement on the institution’s accessibility policies, and provide the contact information of someone who can address accessibility or adaptive measures requests (e.g., to provide an accessible process to candidates who are Deaf or hard of hearing, experience barriers related to mobility, or are neurodivergent, etc.); and
- use inclusive, unbiased and gender-neutral language focused only on the qualifications and skills necessary for the job.
4) Search for candidates
Nominating institutions must ensure that:
- proactive efforts are made to identify a diverse pool of potential candidates, which may include:
- ensuring the intended field of research is sufficiently broadly defined;
- advertising in specific venues (professional societies and associations of designated groups); or
- using recruitment firms/agencies.
- the selection criteria and assessment process are finalized prior to the process being undertaken, and are applied consistently and fairly to all candidates;
- the search and hiring committees’ evaluation processes and decisions are carefully documented at each stage of the process;
- real, perceived or potential conflicts of interest within the process are managed in an open and transparent manner;
- the institution’s equity officer (or a committee member / institutional official identified as the equity, diversity and inclusion champion) is involved and consulted at all stages of the process; and
- self-identification data is collected from all candidates using best practices to protect confidentiality to help the institution assess the diversity of its pool.
5) Nomination committee
A group of individuals (a committee and not a sole individual) must use a fair and objective recruitment and nomination process when making all decisions.
The recruitment and nomination committee must:
- have the necessary expertise to fairly consider all candidates (e.g., if Indigenous research is to be a part of the CERC, the committee should minimally include a committee member who is Indigenous);
- have representation from underrepresented, equity-seeking, rights-seeking populations;
- include an equity and diversity officer (or a committee member / institutional official identified as the equity, diversity and inclusion champion);
- have received training regarding the negative impacts unconscious bias can have on assessment and decision-making processes, and on the career paths of individuals from underrepresented, equity-seeking, rights-seeking populations;
- be aware of the institution’s commitment and strategy for meeting (or sustaining) its organizational equity targets and any gaps that need to be addressed; and
- use best practices to protect the privacy and personal information of all candidates (e.g., self-identification data; information related to life circumstances and leaves such as illness, disability, family and community responsibilities).
6) Nomination decision
The recruitment and nomination committee must:
- fairly consider the impact of life circumstances on a potential candidate’s record when assessing research outputs;
- consider that some life circumstances can further contribute to career slowdowns outside of formal time away from work, such as the transition periods before and after a leave (e.g., pregnancy can, in some cases where there may be complications, impact productivity before the individual takes leave) or when individuals have disabilities that impact their daily lives (e.g., barriers related to chronic pain, mental health, neurodiversity, mobility);
- ensure the assessment process does not undervalue scholarship or research that is nontraditional or unconventional, based in Indigenous ways of knowing, outside the mainstream of the discipline, or focused on considerations related to gender, race, disability or other underrepresented, equity-seeking or rights-seeking identities;
- ensure the need for workplace accessibility or adaptive measures does not negatively impact a candidate’s assessment;
- review the final hiring decision (and challenge it, if necessary) to ensure unconscious bias or potential conflicts of interest did not negatively impact the decision-making process, and it is aligned with the nominating institution’s equity, diversity and inclusion policies and practices; and
- provide to the senior official a written nomination committee report, signed by all committee members, attesting to how these requirements have been met.
7) Nomination
Prior to submitting a nomination to TIPS, the designated senior official must review the recruitment and nomination process, the corresponding documentation and the nomination package to ensure:
- the requirements outlined herein have been followed;
- the nomination is aligned with the program’s commitment to equity and diversity; and
- the level of institutional support being provided to the individual is fair. Examples of institutional support include protected time for research, mentoring, training, additional funds, office space, administrative support, and hiring of other faculty members. This support must also be comparable to that provided to other similarly positioned faculty members at the institution (i.e., steps have been taken to avoid inequities in the level of support provided).
The senior official is the delegated representative with the institutional authority to create and sign off on registrations and applications (for example, the provost or vice-president, Research, depending on the institution). The senior official has both read and write privileges in the Convergence Portal. Nominating institutions must take all necessary measures to ensure that the senior official is available to complete the attestation and submission of registrations and applications by the due date and time. The designated senior official must complete the Institutional Attestation – Recruitment and Nomination Process on the Convergence Portal.
8) Review of recruitment and nomination processes
Nominating institutions may be asked to provide, at any time within the 48 months following the submission of a nomination, evidence that the process met all the requirements stated above. In cases where the results of a review find that the requirements have not been followed, the program reserves the right to withdraw the nomination, suspend future payments or terminate the award of an active CERC.
The following outlines examples of documentation the institution may be asked to provide:
- membership details of the recruitment and nomination committee;
- the names of senior institutional personnel responsible for ensuring the recruitment process was in line with the program’s requirements for an open and transparent recruitment process;
- a description of the equity, diversity and inclusion training provided to individuals who participated in the process (including training on unconscious bias);
- a description of the role of the equity and diversity officer or designated equity, diversity and inclusion champion;
- a description of the strategy and proactive efforts made to identify a diverse pool of potential candidates;
- a description of the measures used to ensure barriers related to accessibility or life circumstances that have led to leaves or career slowdowns did not disadvantage candidates during the nomination process;
- evaluation criteria and assessment grids;
- copies of relevant internal policies and guidelines (e.g., equity policies, tenure-track hiring practices/policies, collective agreement or equivalent); and
- a description of the best practices used to collect data on the participation of individuals from underrepresented, equity-seeking, rights-seeking populations, including a copy of the self-identification form.
Questions
If you have enquiries related to these requirements or the program’s equity, diversity and inclusion practices, contact:
General inquiries
information@cerc.gc.ca