Community-University Engagement Support (CUES) Fund

Each CUES Fund application must include two applicants who are the main points of contact for the proposal:

• a co-applicant that represents an eligible BC-based community partner (principal community applicant)
• and a co-applicant that is a current UBC faculty*, staff, or student* at either UBC Vancouver or Okanagan (principal UBC applicant)

* Please note, if you are a student, post-doctoral fellow, adjunct, clinical or emeritus faculty or lecturer applying for CUES funding, you will need to ensure that a current tenured faculty member is willing to co-sign on your project.

Eligible community partners should be a registered charity registered non-profit society or qualified donee listed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If the principal community applicant is not a qualified donee, a community organization that is a qualified donee or a UBC department may be permitted to act as a financial intermediary. If you know who may act as a financial intermediary for your project, please indicate this in the financial intermediary section of your application.

The CUES Fund is not able to support projects outside of Canada.

Funding is paid directly to the principal community applicant organization. However, in cases where a community partner is unable to accept a grant, funds may be disbursed to the partnering UBC department or unit or other qualified donee who is acting as financial intermediary.

Strong CUES Fund applications will address the following criteria:

• Articulates a well-defined, community-identified opportunity, priority area, or need
• Embodies our principles of engagement
• And demonstrates how it supports at least one of the university’s institutional priorities:
  • Equity, diversity, and inclusion
  • Indigenous engagement and reconciliation
  • Health innovation and community wellbeing
  • Sustainability and climate action
  • Teaching, learning, research excellence

You can review our evaluation criteria here.

You can learn more about the CUES program, evaluation criteria and how to develop a strong proposal by reviewing our CUES Applicant Guide.

Funding is intentionally flexible to support the different costs that are associated with community engagement activities. However, eligible expenses must be related to the proposed relationship and/or partnership-building activities and outcomes. Examples of eligible expenses include:

• Salary/stipends for project team members supporting relationship and/or partnership-building activities
• Honoraria for community members, elders, leaders and knowledge keepers or brokers
• Training or education fees necessary for project team members to fully participate or contribute
• Program or organizational evaluations or assessments
• Engagement costs, including travel & accommodation, facilities/space rental fees, for meetings, hospitality, and catering costs
• Equipment and supplies that directly support relationship and/or partnership-building activities
• Administrative costs related to running the project or working with a financial intermediary (if necessary); if you are unsure if a budget item is eligible, please consult with us before including this budget line item in your application

Applying for the CUES fund is a two-step process.

Step 1: Submit a Notice of Intent (NOI); Deadline: September 22, 2025

All co-applicants are required to develop and submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to confirm their eligibility and provide a brief description of their proposed work together. The NOI is for administrative purposes only. It is non-competitive and will not be evaluated. Everyone who meets the eligibility requirements and submits an NOI will be invited to submit a full application. You can download a sample NOI template to prepare your answers in advance with your with your co-applicant.

Step 2: Submit a Full Application; Deadline: November 14, 2025

All eligible applicants who submit an NOI by September 22, 2025, will receive an email invitation to submit their full application for the 2025/26 CUES fund. Email invitations will be sent out no later than October 4, 2024. Applications will be submitted by a webform (a link will be provided in your invitation email) and are due by November 14, 2025. You can access the CUES application questions in advance to collaborate on your responses with your co-applicant. You can also access a sample webform template to prepare the webform questions in advance.

Funding is not intended as a replacement for other sources of direct research funding or daily operational costs. Examples of ineligible expenses include:

• Direct costs of academic research, such as those already covered by tri-agency funding bodies (CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC)
• Administrative or core costs/expenses for community organizations, e.g., salaries associated with an organization’s daily operations or programming or office equipment
• Funding that flows directly to an individual (CUES funds are intended to go to community partner organizations)
• Costs of alcohol (or related costs such as liquor licenses) 
• Retroactive expenses

We ask that all recipients submit some form of project report within two months of the project end date. A link to the reporting form will be provided to all recipients via the Letter of Agreement. Alternative forms of reporting such as an interview or site visit are also accepted and encouraged. Please reach out to us to discuss options.

In addition, CUES Fund recipients are asked to notify us of any materials that were developed with the support of CUES funding. Examples of materials include, but are not limited to, final publications, reports, event materials, and audio or video productions. With permission and in accordance with OCAP (ownership, control, access, and possession) principles, UBC Community Engagement may share these as examples of work supported by the CUES program.

cThis year we are only accepting one application per principal community co-applicant and principal UBC co-applicant. Applicants may participate on more than one project as additional project partners, but cannot be the principal lead on more than one application. Any applicants who have received three or more years of consecutive funding will no longer be eligible.

We expect all payments to be processed by March 31, 2026.

The CUES Fund is highly competitive. On average, the CUES success rate is 27%.

CUES Fund proposals are adjudicated by a multidisciplinary review panel composed of UBC faculty members, staff members, and community representatives from across BC. All proposals are initially reviewed and scored by three separate reviewers using our evaluation criteria.

A review panel then convenes to finalize rankings of applications and make recommendations for funding. 

If you are interested in joining our review panel, please reach out to the CUES Program Manager at cues.fund@ubc.ca.

Absolutely! We recognize that many recipients of the Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) Fund have used PRE funding to build reciprocal relationships between UBC and community partners. Several of these partnerships have gone on to apply to the CUES Fund to further develop and grow their projects. However, the PRE fund is unfortunately closed for the year. It will reopen in May 2026..

Learn more about the PRE Fund and how to apply here.