Our Vision

The health and well-being of Canadian military personnel, Veterans and their families are maximized through world-class research resulting in evidence-informed practices, policies and programs.

Our Mission

To enhance the lives of Canadian military personnel, Veterans and their families by harnessing the national capacity for research.

What we do

As the Canadian hub for military, Veteran and family health research, we provide the infrastructure to:

Enable more of Canada’s military, Veteran and family health research requirements to be met.

Enhance the accessibility of military, Veteran and family health research.

Engage with stakeholders to foster collaborations, which enables increased research and improves knowledge translation activities.

Enable more of Canada’s military, Veteran and family health research requirements to be met.

There is need for Canadian research that addresses health protection and care across the life course of those who serve Canada in demanding environments, as well as research related specifically to the transition from military to civilian life. There is also an increased awareness of the need to provide relevant research related to families of those who serve, and have served, Canada.

Since 2010, CIMVHR has built a network of 46 Canadian universities who have agreed to work together to address the health research requirements of the Canadian military, Veterans and their families. The institute acts as a conduit between the academic community and research funding organizations.  On behalf of funding organizations, CIMVHR distributes requests-for-proposals to researchers through its network of universities and manages the task through the scientific peer-review process to the completion of the project. To date, CIMVHR has awarded nearly 100 tasks to researchers in its network to fund projects aimed at advancing the health of military personnel, Veterans and their families.

Enhance the accessibility of military, Veteran and family health research.

CIMVHR has a network of 1700 researchers whose research interests improve the health and wellbeing of military personnel, Veterans and their families. Translating the research outcomes of this network to policy-makers, practitioners, students, the global research community, and interested parties primarily happens via:

To empower the next generation of researchers and promote networking opportunities among graduate and post-doctoral students in military, Veteran and family health, CIMVHR established the Student and Postdoctoral Engagement Committee (SPEC) in 2016.

Engage with stakeholders to foster collaborations, which enables increased research and improves knowledge translation activities.

Engaging with the individuals and organizations who can play a role in advancing the health of our military, Veterans and their families is at the core of the work we do. With a Canadian population of 60,600 military families, 71,500 primary force members, 30,000 reserve force members and 639,900 Veterans, there is an inherent need to advance health research for our nation’s heroes. CIMVHR is only able to begin to meet this need with the generous support of its funders from government, industry and philanthropic organizations. This support translates to research, scholarships, JMVFH, conferences, and day-to-day operations of the institute.

CIMVHR creates countless connections each year with individuals and organizations in Canada and around the world who are committed to improving the lives of those who serve and have served. On a global scale, CIMVHR collaborates with international research centres in a coordinated effort to advance health research for military personnel, Veterans and their families; to date, CIMVHR has developed a network of 14 global affiliates.