• Award guidelines

Registration deadline: March 19, 2025 at 16:00 EST

• Registration form (fill in online)
• Registration form (MS Word)

Application deadline: April 9, 2025 at 16:00 EST 

• Application form (fill in online)
• Application form (MS Word)

Application review

June 2025

Notification of decision

August 2025

Award start date 

September 1, 2025

Who can apply

The award is open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada, protected persons within the meaning of subsection 95(2) of the Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), or international students with valid study permit. This award must be held at a Canadian institution.

Professional requirements

Applicants must be a respiratory health professional from a recognized clinically based discipline (e.g., registered nurse, nurse practitioner; physiotherapist; respiratory therapist; pharmacist; cardio-pulmonary technologist; polysomnographic technologist; kinesiologist; dietician; occupational therapist; social worker; or psychologist). MDs are not eligible.

Scholastic requirements

Applicants must be enrolled in a graduate (thesis-based) program at the Masters or Doctoral level during the funding period of September 2025 to August 2026. Applicants must be pursuing a research study with respiratory health as the major focus.

Individuals who have applied to a graduate program but have not received acceptance may apply for a Fellowship. The award, however, will be conditional on acceptance into the program.

Applying for other CLA awards

An applicant may apply for both an Allied Health Fellowship award, CLA Studentship Award, or CLA Allied Health research operating grant in the same competition providing the applicant meets the eligibility requirements of each competition. 

Tobacco, vaping and/or cannabis 

Individuals who currently hold and/or are being supervised by individuals holding funding from the tobacco, vaping and/or cannabis industries are not eligible.

Full-time awardee

• CLA portion: $5,000
• Matching funds from supervisor: $5,000
• Maximum award value: $10,000

Part-time awardee

• CLA portion: $2,500
• Matching funds from supervisor: $2,500
• Maximum award value: $5,000

Full- and part-time status is defined by the awardee's registration status at the university.

Number of awards

It is anticipated that one (1) Fellowship will be awarded. Additional fellowships may be supported by external partners. The total number of additional awards are subject to the financial commitment of these agencies. The award is administered by the Canadian Lung Association

Matched funding

The annual stipend for a Fellowship award is based on a 50:50 match formula between the Canadian Lung Association and the trainee’s supervisor. The matching funds can include funding from the supervisor, the host institution, and/or a research partner, including a provincial lung association. Funds may not be matched by funds from tobacco, vaping, and/or cannabis industry and/or supervisors holding or having held funding, directly or indirectly from tobacco, vaping, and/or the cannabis industry. 

Proof of funds

The awardee's supervisor, department, host institution, and/or a partner agency is required to provide written confirmation of the remaining matched funding ($5,000 or $2,500) for one (1) year. Funds from CLA will not be released until formal confirmation of matching funding is received from the trainee’s supervisor. 

Applications will be received by CLA and screened by administrative personnel for completion and relevancy. 

Review by committee

The Review Committee will review all applications and supporting materials. The application will be reviewed in detail by at least two reviewers. The reviewers rank the applications according to:

• The applicant’s potential for successful program completion.
• The strength of postgraduate program and research project.
• The applicant’s leadership and commitment to respiratory care area and professional development.

The application that receives the highest score by the review committee and who supports the mission of the Canadian Lung Association is given funding priority. Therefore, it is important that all required details are provided to facilitate the review process.

Notification

Once the review committee makes its funding recommendations, funding announcements are anticipated to be made in August. A letter of notification including rationale for the decision regarding funding is sent to all applicants via email. 

Presentations and publication

Successful applicants are expected to facilitate knowledge translation in their field of expertise through presentations at conferences and/or workshops, including, where feasible, conferences/workshops sponsored by CLA. Publication of the research in a peer-reviewed indexed journal is strongly encouraged. Please notify the Manager, National Research Programs of such publications. 

Acknowledgment

Acknowledgement of the Canadian Lung Association support is required in all publications or presentations. 

Copyright

Copyright of all publications belongs to the author(s). However, in any publication arising from the Allied Health Fellowship award are to include an acknowledgment of award received as follows: Canadian Lung Association: Allied Health Fellowship Award

Final report

The Canadian Lung Association requires a final report upon completion of the award. A final report template will be provided. The report should include a description of contributions to respiratory health and the future commitment to the field. Please provide a brief summary of any course work or study carried out that relates to respiratory health, detailing results and implications. A list of relevant publications and presentations should be appended. The Financial Officer administering the award must submit a financial report upon completion of the award.

Follow-up surveys

Successful applicants may be requested to complete a survey (Fellowship/Grant Funding Impact Form) at three (3) and six (6) years following receipt of funding support. This information will be used to develop reports on the impact of CLA’s National Research Program for our board of directors and the public.

What the funds can be used for

Funds from CLA (and any partners) are a salary or living stipend and are not to be used to pay for benefits, journal subscriptions, membership fees in scientific societies, travel expenses not specified in the approved budget, or to employ technicians, graduate students or others related to the applicant.

CLA supports only the direct costs of research. No funding is to be used for indirect costs of research including but not limited to general operation and maintenance of facilities (from laboratories to libraries), the management of the research process (from grant management to commercialization), regulation and safety compliance (including human ethics, animal care and environmental assessment).

Funding from other sources

The recipient of a Canadian Lung Association: Allied Health Fellowship Award is permitted to receive funding from other sources. Please inform the Manager, National Research Programs of other amounts received as soon as you know.

Disbursement of funds

The Financial Officer of the supervisor’s University will receive the cheque. Please include the name and address of the Financial Officer responsible for administering the award in the application.

The award term begins September 1, 2025 and ends on August 31, 2026. Awards must start no later than December 1, 2025. Payments will be made in two instalments in September and March (unless otherwise agreed upon). 

CLA reserves the right to terminate further payments and request a refund of the award in the event that the recipient fails to fulfill the conditions specified. A progress report and copy of institutional ethics approval must be submitted in February 2026 before the second instalment is paid. The report will be reviewed to determine whether sufficient progress has been made. If adequate progress has not been made, the second instalment will not be released. 

Reporting and financial statements

A financial statement by the Financial Officer and final report by the awardee are required at the end of the funding period. Any commitments (or expenditures) incurred by an award recipient either in excess of the current training funds or beyond the term of the training award are the responsibility of the recipient.

Liability

CLA (and any of our partners) assumes no responsibility for accidents, illness, or claims arising out of studies, work, or other activities undertaken with financial support provided by CLA.

Notification of withdrawal

CLA reserves the right to terminate further payments and request a refund of the award in the event that the recipient fails to fulfill the conditions specified. In the event of termination of research training and/or graduate study during the award period, the award recipient (or the institution on his/her behalf) shall, if the need arises, must immediately notify CLA in writing of his/her inability, for any reason, to continue in the educational program for which support was awarded. 

Transfers

The awards support studies in a program at specific Canadian institutions with concurrence of the institution’s executive head. Transfers to another institution are not normally permitted during the course of funding.

Unspent funds

Unspent funds in the fellowship account must be refunded to CLA. The recipient must contact the University Financial Officer and request that the funds be reimbursed. 

Special consideration

A 1-year, no-cost extension may be allowed for leaves of absence for personal or medical reason upon written request to research@lung.ca prior to the leave being taken. 

The deadline to register is March 19, 2025

Complete the registration survey and upload one (1) PDF copy of your abstract by March 19, 2025. CLA will confirm receipt of your registration via e-mail on March 20, 2025.

Abstract

The maximum length of the abstract is 1 page, 12-point Times New Roman font, single line spacing, with 1.9cm (0.75”) margins. Changing page margins, table size, or using a condensed font will result in the application being rejected during the administrative review. File must be save using the format AHF_LastName_Registration.pdf. The maximum file size is 10Mb. 

The deadline to submit your application by April 9, 2025 at 16:00 EST. 

CLA will confirm receipt of your application via e-mail on April 10, 2025. 

File format

Applicants are expected to include within the body of their application, and not in the appendices, all essential information required to permit assessment of the application. Additional information, such as academic transcripts, are to be included in the appendices. 

Upload a PDF copy of your application, saved using the format AHF_LastName_Application.pdf. A completed copy of the application form with signatures and all the relevant documents must be included. This excludes Referee Forms, which will be sent in separately by the referee. 

Keep your application as clear and concise as possible. Do not use additional pages except where indicated. Copies of your publications are not required. 

Transcripts

Up-to-date official transcripts or certified true copies of transcripts for all post-secondary education, including undergraduate, are required. 

Photographs or screenshots of web transcripts are not allowed. Transcripts can either be forwarded as a .PDF directly to CLA or included with the application submission in the appendices. Transcripts that are sent directly from the educational institution must be sent to research@lung.ca. 

Statement from your proposed supervisor

Include a completed statement from the proposed supervisor that provides an overview of the research and academic training environment. Please give details on resources, programs, technologies, etc. that will be made available to the candidate, and on specific knowledge and skills to be acquired. 

Include a complete copy of the supervisor’s (and co-supervisor’s, if applicable) CV using the CIHR Academic Common CV form. Failure to comply or the submission of an incomplete CV Module will result in the application being rejected. For international investigators, an NIH-biosketch may be substituted for an Academic CCV. 

Confirmation of matching funds

A letter from your supervisor, department, host institution, and/or a partner agency confirming the value and source of matching funds.

Gaps in education

An explanation listing the period and reason for any interruption in pursuit of the candidate career either in or subsequent to training, if applicable. 

Ethics approval

All applications involving human or animal investigations must be accompanied by a letter of approval from the ethics committee of the university or other institution(s) where the work is to be undertaken. If the ethics approval is not available at the time of submission, it must be sent to CLA as soon as possible. The second installment will not be made available until CLA receives this letter of approval.

Referees

Request only two referees to complete the Referee Assessment form. Select your referees with care and have them represent what each knows best of your scholarly, research and clinical abilities, and pertinent personal characteristics. 

One referee will be your current supervisor. Your other referee should either be an academic referee, a recent, or current employer. 

Under no circumstances may a referee be a family member. 

Reference letters will not be accepted. 

The completed forms are not to be included with the submission but emailed directly by the referees to CLA (research@lung.ca). 

It is your responsibility to ensure that we receive academic transcripts and both (2) Referee Assessment Forms via research@lung.ca by April 10, 2025 by 16:00 EDT.

2023

Shirley Quach, McMaster University
Perceptions and usability of publicly available chronic obstructive pulmonary disease apps

2022

Jordana McMurray, University of Toronto (in partnership with Cystic Fibrosis Canada)
Actigraphic and self-reported sleep outcomes and relationships to anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents and young adults with cystic fibrosis: A mixed-methods study

Justin Turner, University of British Columbia
Wildfire Smoke and Emergency Planning for First Nations People Living with Lung Disease in Remote and Rural British Columbia

2021

Shirley Quach, University of British Columbia
A mobile electronic repository to address patients’ support needs in coping with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

2020

Shirley Quach, University of Ontario Institute of Technology 
The pediatric mechanical ventilation in Canada (PeMViC) study: A Delphi survey of pediatric mechanical ventilation practices by Canadian respiratory therapists

2019

Shirley Quach, University of Ontario Institute of Technology 
Common Canadian practices of pediatric mechanical ventilation

2018

Sachi O'Hoski, McMaster University
Beyond function: Exploring participation in life roles in people with COPD

Kenneth Wu, University of Toronto
Characteristics of peripheral skeletal muscles structure and function in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) & its relationship with CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) malfunction

2017

Erin Miller, University of Toronto
Evaluating the effectiveness of using high fidelity stimulation to teach tracheal suctioning to physical therapists