Canada Excellence Research Chair

University of Northern British Columbia

Call for Applications

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Rural, Northern, or Indigenous Health

The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is a university both in and for the North. Our mission has instilled a strong sense of ownership, purpose, and adventure among our students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the communities we serve. According to the Times Higher Education Impact rankings, UNBC places among the top third of global universities endeavouring to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ranked second among Canada’s primarily undergraduate universities in the 2025 Maclean’s University Rankings, UNBC continues to gain national recognition for research performance, especially in key areas of importance to the health and wellbeing of rural, remote, northern and Indigenous populations. UNBC values and encourages research and scholarly activity that is locally motivated and relevant with global impact and recognition.
Building on established successes, UNBC is well positioned to strengthen our ongoing commitment to research excellence and innovation to achieve health equity for rural, remote, northern and Indigenous peoples in Canada. UNBC hosts the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH), a national Indigenous organization established in 2005 by the Government of Canada and funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis public health renewal and health equity through knowledge translation and exchange. This commitment is further evidenced by a multi-partner/partnered initiative named the Northern Hub for Health Research (NHHR), a pending $120 Million infrastructure project for a stand-alone health research facility on the UNBC Prince George campus, with additional research facilities located at the University Hospital of Northern BC. Research activities supported by the Northern Hub for Health Research will support the existing interdisciplinary research culture in northern BC and reflect a commitment to a new generation of health research that welcomes Indigenous Knowledges and embraces equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.
To this end, we seek an outstanding candidate to champion health research for rural, remote, northern, or Indigenous communities in British Columbia, Canada, and across the globe.
This call for an Associate/Full Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Rural, Northern, or Indigenous Health, will leverage the partnerships and potential of the Northern Hub for Health Research, to lead a world-class research portfolio that aligns with UNBC’s established strengths, including:
• Knowledge Mobilisation and community-engaged research: Community-engaged research in the areas of health services and systems, including public health, social, cultural, and environmental determinants of health, health humanities, health policy, health education, and patient outcomes is a longstanding strength of UNBC serving as a foundation on which health research has grown over the past three decades;
• Biomedical: UNBC has a growing community of internationally successful life science researchers who integrate techniques in physiology, imaging, molecular biology, biochemistry, and chemistry to conduct foundational and applied research; and
• Clinical: The Northern Centre for Clinical Research (NCCR) is a collaborative initiative of UNBC, University of British Columbia (UBC), and the Northern Health Authority (NHA), as a direct response to the need to expand cohesion in clinical, health, and life sciences research in the north and align with BC’s Life Science and Biomanufacturing Strategy to expand BC’s clinical research capacity.
About the Position:
• Location: University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George Campus and/or its regional campuses

• Fields of Specialisation: Researchers from across the spectrum of health research (e.g. Indigenous health, population health, health systems, clinical, biomedical) who have expertise in and a vision for collaborative health research to generate outcomes to support health equity for rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous people.

• Academic Units: Faculty of Human and Health Sciences (FHHS) or the Division of Medical Sciences, with the possibility of cross-appointment.

• Category of Appointment: Tenured

• Rank/Position Title: Associate/Full Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair

• Start Date: Within 12 months of notice of award;

• Date Posted: 10 July 2025

• Closing Date: 15 October 2025

Awarded Chairs are valued at either $500,000 or $1 million per year for a period of eight years, including salaries and benefits for the Chairholder and their personnel. The dollar value of this Chair Award will depend on the nature of the research and its requirements. Appointment is conditional on the approval of the Tri-Agency Institutional Programs (TIPS) Secretariat through a separate application process and results are expected in Spring 2027. The successful candidate will then have up to 12 months to take up the award and the duties of the position. The Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) Program seeks to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract the world’s top researchers and build a critical mass of expertise in Canada’s science, technology and innovation priority areas .

Further information about the 2026 Canada Excellence Research Chair program may be located here.

The Chairholder will actively contribute to knowledge mobilization within and beyond the academic community, including with northern, rural and Indigenous partners and citizens. The Chairholder will be expected to teach and be involved in graduate and postdoctoral fellowship supervision, as well as provide research leadership and mentorship to undergraduate students in line with the proud history of outstanding undergraduate participation in research at UNBC. As a member of the UNBC Faculty, they will also provide service to the University, including mentorship of junior faculty and potential leadership roles for the Health Research Institute (HRI) and/or the Northern Centre for Clinical Research (NCCR).
UNBC has five Faculties and a Division, within which the Faculty of Human and Health Sciences and the Division of Medical Sciences have a strong focus on health research. In addition to UNBC’s 3000 undergraduate students, UNBC has over 700 graduate students in 28 Master’s programs and three doctoral programs (including a PhD in Health Sciences). The Faculty of Human and Health Sciences supports research and scholarship across Education, Health Sciences, Nursing, Social Work, and Psychology. In affiliation with the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, UNBC’s Division of Medical Sciences supports the Northern Medical Program, the Master of Physiotherapy-North, and the Master of Occupational Therapy-North.

Application Instructions:

Applications must be sent electronically to the Vice-President Research and Innovation (vpr@unbc.ca) in a PDF file(s) which includes the following:

• maximum two-page signed letter of application expressing interest in being nominated for a Canada Excellence Research Chair specifying the research area and describing how UNBC provides an ideal research environment. Letter should include experience in advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in your teaching, service and research and scholarly activities;
• maximum four-page statement of research and leadership in the call area, including proposed research program with description of potential contribution to knowledge in the field and the government science, technology and innovation priority areas.
• an up-to-date curriculum vitae;
• two or three sample research publications or outputs.

The successful applicant will work with the UNBC Strategic Chairs Initiative coordinator and/or the UNBC Office of Research and Innovation to submit a registration (due January 21, 2026) and prepare the full nomination package (due March 18, 2026) for submission to the TIPS Secretariat.

UNBC recognises that life circumstances related to health (and/or disability), administrative, family, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, COVID-19, the introduction of research security measures or other factors are often part of life and are likely to have an impact on an applicant’s record of research achievement. We invite all applicants to provide an optional career interruption statement. These impacts will be taken into careful consideration during the assessment process.

UNBC is committed to employment equity and encourages applications from Canada’s four designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities) as well as the LGBTQ2+ communities.

UNBC is fully committed to ensuring that all who engage with our university experience a welcoming, safe, inclusive campus community. The principles of Indigenization, equity, diversity and inclusion are our top priority, we continue to initiate and implement activities to support our commitment. We recognize that the work of the entire community is required to make positive transformational change and that efforts for change must be ongoing.

At UNBC we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible environment for all members of our community as accessibility is a key aspect of our commitment to equity and inclusion. Contact Aneta Douglass, Access Specialist, at aneta.douglass@unbc.ca for information or assistance regarding accessibility or adaptive measures.
UNBC campuses are situated on the unceded, traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, part of the Dakelh (Carrier) First Nations, on Treaty 8 territory on the traditional lands of the Dane-zaa peoples of the Doig River First Nation, Blueberry River First Nation, and Halfway River First Nation, on Ts’msyen (Tsimshian) territory of the Kitsumkalum First Nation, Kitselas First Nation, Lax Kw’alaams Band and Metlakatla First Nation, on territory of the Lhtako Dene, Nazko, Lhoosk’uz Dené, Lhtako, Nazko, and Lhoosk’uz First Nations which are part of the Dakelh First Nations, and the ?Esdilagh First Nation (formerly Alexandria Band) a member of the Tsilhqot’in Nation. Additionally, UNBC has a federated agreement with the Wilp Wilxo’oskwhl Nisga’a Institute (WWN), established by the Nisga’a Lisims Government in 1993 and situated on Gitwinksihlkw Village Lands within Nisga’a Treaty territory.