Fonds de recherche du Quebec-Sante

What Fonds de recherche du Quebec-Sante does

The Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) is a public corporation (société d'État) established under Quebec legislation and operating as one of three constituent sectoral funds of the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ) system, alongside FRQNT (Nature et technologies) and FRQSC (Société et culture). Founded in 2001 under Article 21 of the Loi sur le ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie, FRQS supports and financially promotes research in health sciences — encompassing fundamental, clinical, evaluative, and epidemiological research, as well as public health and health services research — and funds researcher training through graduate, postdoctoral, and career awards.

FRQS distributes competitive, peer-reviewed funding through scholarships, training grants, career awards (Junior 1, Junior 2, Senior), research project subsidies, and thematic network grants hosted in Quebec health institutions such as CIUSSS. The organization operates FRQnet 2.0, a unified online portal used by researchers across all three FRQ sectors for funding applications, CV submissions (CV-FRQ), and publication tracking via Digital Object Identifiers (DOI), with the Synto portfolio module for research output management. The platform represents a significant modernization of the grants management workflow.

As a government funding body, FRQS does not sell products or services and has no traditional revenue model. It receives annual appropriations from Quebec's Ministère de l'Économie et de l'Innovation under the SQRI2 research and innovation strategy (2022-2027), with nearly $1.2B allocated to the FRQ system over this period. Funding flows through managing institutions (Quebec universities, CEGEPs, and CIUSSS) which administer grants on behalf of researchers. The organization is governed by independent scientific committees, chaired by the Chief Scientist of Québec (Rémi Quirion, in office since September 2011), who also serves as president of the International Network for Government Science Advice.

Name

Fonds de recherche du Quebec-Sante

Legal name

Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé

Website

https://frq.gouv.qc.ca

Company type

Public

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) is a Quebec government public corporation that competitively funds health research and researcher training through scholarships, grants, and thematic networks, serving university researchers, graduate students, and health institutions across Quebec via the FRQ system.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Research Funding

akta.pro primary industry

Health Research Funding Agencies (Public/Quasi-Public) (HLAJALAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

Keywords

• Research grant funding
• Health research programs
• Scholarship administration
• Research infrastructure support
• Public research funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Quebec

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) is a Quebec government state corporation that funds health research through competitive, peer-reviewed scholarships, career awards, research grants, and thematic network funding. It supports fundamental, clinical, evaluative, and epidemiological health research across Quebec universities, colleges, and health institutions. The organization administers programs for graduate and postdoctoral trainees, established investigators, and research infrastructure clusters.

Product overview

Fonds de recherche du Québec is a Quebec government research funding organization comprising three distinct sectoral funds: Santé (FRQS), Nature et technologies (FRQNT), and Société et culture (FRQSC). The organization operates FRQnet 2.0, a unified online portal for funding applications, which includes the CV FRQ module for researcher profiles and DOI system for publication identification. The FRQ portfolio platform (Synto) enables researchers to track their research outputs. The FRQ funds health research (including thematic networks, training grants, and career scholarships), natural sciences and engineering research, and social sciences and humanities research through their respective sectoral programs. Additionally, the FRQ recognizes excellence through awards such as the Prix Relève étoile and Prix Publication en français. Note: FRQ-Santé (FRQS) is the health sector specifically named in the company field, which operates under the unified FRQ infrastructure while focusing exclusively on health sciences research funding.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FRQS Health Research Funding Programs
• FRQnet 2.0
• Prix Relève étoile
• Prix Publication en français
• FRQS Thematic Network Grant Program

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Quebec Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MEI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe FRQ operates under the strategic guidance of the MEI, which sets overall research and innovation policy through the SQRI2 strategy. The Minister of Economy and Innovation receives scientific advice from the Chief Scientist of Québec. The MEI provides the FRQ's primary funding allocations under SQRI2 ($1.2B total, $320M added to base appropriations).
• Innovation Triumvirate (MEI, FRQ, Investissement Québec)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe FRQ collaborates with the Chief Innovator of Québec (Luc Sirois) and Senior Vice-President of Investissement Québec (Sylvie Pinsonneault) as an 'innovation triumvirate' focused on the innovation cycle from basic research to commercialization. MEI's Assistant Deputy Minister Mathieu Gervais also participates. This partnership aims to improve each component of the innovation cycle.
• Quebec UniversitiescoreOthersUniversities are the primary managing institutions for FRQ grants and scholarships. They receive and administer FRQ funding on behalf of researchers, provide institutional infrastructure for funded projects, and participate in joint consultations on research strategy.
• Quebec Colleges (Cégeps)coreOthersColleges (CEGEPs) are managing institutions for FRQ funding, particularly for college-level research programs. The FRQSC sector supports college research and the FRQ has a network of RCR Officers in colleges.
• Health and Social Services Network (CIUSSS, etc.)coreOthersIntegrated University Health and Social Services Centres (CIUSSS) and other health institutions are managing institutions for FRQS health research grants. FRQS Thematic Networks are based in health institutions and the FRQ has dedicated RCR Officers for CIUSSS.
• International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Chief Scientist of Québec, Rémi Quirion, serves as president of INGSA as of September 2021. This international network supports science advice to governments and enables international collaboration on research policy.
• Plan S / Coalition SminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBy adhering to Plan S, the FRQ committed to intensifying support for open science and rapid sharing of scientific results. The FRQ adopted its revised open access policy (2022) requiring immediate open access and open licenses for peer-reviewed publications.
• Coalition for the Advancement of Research Evaluation (COARA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe FRQ is adhering to COARA principles to advance evaluation of research excellence. The organization is planning pilot projects to take open access into account at the scientific evaluation stage.
• Quebec Innovation Zones InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe FRQ is involved in MEI's innovation zones initiative, with additional funding to promote new scientists and facilitate the retention and recruitment of world-class researchers with complementary expertise including technological and social innovation.
• Quebec Universities (Open Access Deposits)minorOthersAll Quebec universities maintain institutional open-access repositories that enable compliance with the FRQ's open access policy. These repositories allow researchers to deposit peer-reviewed publications and meet immediate open access requirements.
• ÉDUQ.info (College Open Access Repository)minorOthersThe college open-access repository ÉDUQ.info serves Quebec private and public college institutions, enabling FRQ-funded college researchers to comply with open access requirements.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research: British Columbia's provincial health research funding agency. Closely comparable in scale and mandate to FRQS as a sub-national health research funder supporting researchers, trainees, and health system partners within a single Canadian province.
• European Research Council (ERC): EU-level frontier research funder awarding individual grants to investigators across Europe. Comparable in funding excellence-driven investigator-led research, though with pan-European rather than provincial scope and a frontier-research focus versus FRQS's broader health mandate.
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI): UK's national research funding umbrella covering health, physical sciences, social sciences, and the arts. Comparable as a multi-sector public research funder with peer-review architecture similar to FRQ's three-sector structure, but operating in the UK rather than Quebec.

Broad incumbents

• National Institutes of Health (NIH): The largest public biomedical research funding agency globally. Directly comparable in funding fundamental, clinical, and population health research plus training/career awards, though vastly larger in budget, scope (US national + international), and program diversity.
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC): Federal counterpart to the FRQNT (Nature et technologies) sector of the parent FRQ system. Highly comparable as a sister Canadian research council funding basic and applied science via competitive grants, scholarships, and discovery grants, though at national scope rather than provincial.
• National Science Foundation (NSF): US federal agency supporting fundamental research and education across non-medical fields (with NIH covering health). Comparable as a large-scale public competitive research funder with peer-review architecture and scholarship/training programs analogous to FRQNT.
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC): Federal counterpart to the FRQSC (Société et culture) sector of the parent FRQ system. Comparable mandate funding social sciences and humanities research, training, and partnership programs, with analogous peer-review architecture but operating nationally.

Direct peers

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): Canada's federal health research funding agency, the most direct comparator to FRQS as it funds health research, training, and career awards nationally. Overlap is direct in mandate (health research funding via competitive peer review) though CIHR operates at a pan-Canadian scale versus FRQS's Quebec-only scope.
• Wellcome Trust: UK-based independent foundation funding health research, training, and open science. Highly comparable as a mission-driven health research funder, with analogous commitments to open access (Plan S signatory) and reformed research assessment (COARA-aligned), though with a global rather than sub-national scope.

Others

• Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI): Federal agency funding research infrastructure (equipment, facilities) at Canadian institutions. Complementary rather than competitive with FRQS, often co-funding infrastructure used by FRQS-grantees; included as a key ecosystem counterpart.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FRQS1

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Fonds de recherche du Quebec-Sante