Awarded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council's (SSHRC) Insight Grants program, the funding supports medium- and long-term research initiatives over four to six years.

The projects, led by 91亚色 researchers across multiple Faculties and research units, address issues affecting communities in Canada and around the world with research topics that explore a range of issues with local, national and global significance.

"SSHRC Insight Grants enable researchers to pursue ambitious, long-term programs of inquiry that deepen understanding of complex social issues and generate knowledge with real-world relevance," says Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. "This year's funded projects demonstrate the remarkable breadth of 91亚色's research strengths, spanning health and well-being, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, Indigenous knowledge and cultural resurgence, education, labour markets, environmental and climate challenges, social inclusion, governance and public policy. Together these projects will generate new insights that help inform policy, practice and public dialogue in Canada and around the world."

Among the largest grants is a six-year, $463,646 project led by Stephanie Ben-Ishai () examining the financial and psychological effects of insolvency. Ann Marie Murnaghan (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) received $459,784 for a six-year project focused on cultural resurgence in Witsuwit'en territories, while Michael Kalu () received $456,501 for research examining the needs of Black older adults and developing Afrocentric-informed strategies.

Other significant awards include Andrea Emberly's (LA&PS) six-year study exploring community connection and musical arts among young people, funded at $435,379, and Shital Desai's () six-year, $417,127 project investigating approaches to strengthening communication and relationships in dementia care. Enakshi Dua (LA&PS) received $411,890 for a five-year project that explores the changing landscape of diversity, equity, inclusion and decolonization initiatives.

Several funded projects examine the social implications of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Christo El Morr (Faculty of Health) received $396,562 for Mapping Workplace Racism in Canada: A Community-Driven AI Platform Grounded in Ontario, while sava saheli singh's (LA&PS) Machine Learning or Learning Machines: Critical AI Futures in Education received $111,678. Isha Sharma (LA&PS) received $123,659 to study the adoption and impact of agentic AI in financial crime compliance.

Health and social well-being are also prominent themes. Mary Fox (Faculty of Health) received $400,708 to develop an e-learning intervention aimed at disrupting ageism in social work education, while Nazilla Khanlou's (Faculty of Health) $390,389 project will examine supports for racialized families of children and youth with developmental disabilities. Kerry Scott (Faculty of Health) received $286,282 to investigate public trust and engagement with Ontario's health system.

Other projects, listed below, explore immigrant inequality, labour market barriers, disability and education policy, climate and energy transitions, Indigenous resurgence, entrepreneurship in the age of AI, anti-human trafficking and cultural heritage, and more, reflecting the breadth of 91亚色's research strengths.

Russ Patrick P. Alcedo, AMPD
Project: From Field to Stage: Choreographing for Theatre Philippine Folk Dance Practices through Ethnographic Research
Funding: $163,951

Lalaie Ameeriar, LA&PS
Project: We Inherit Each Other: Racialized Care Work and Reproductive Labour during and after COVID-19
Funding: $109,580

Ilya Archakov,
Project: Measuring and Modeling Economic Correlations: Robust, Valid, and Large-Scale
Funding: $59,770

Godfred O. Boateng, Faculty of Health
Project: A Cross-Cultural Validation of Housing Insecurity Scale in Slums and Informal Settlements
Funding: $362,992

Rebecca Caines, AMPD
Project: Interfacing, Playtesting, Resetting: Reframing Technology Use Through Improvised Creative Technologies
Funding: $118,750

Barnali Choudhury, Osgoode Hall Law School
Project: Improving Modern Slavery Reporting in Canada: Legal Ripple Effects and Insights from Australia
Funding: $185,789

Elicia A. Clements, AMPD
Project: Interventions in Early Twentieth-Century Opera: Gender, Race, Coloniality
Funding: $104,553

Matias Cortes, LA&PS
Project: The Role of Firms in Lifecycle Earnings Growth and Inequality
Funding: $109,052

David B. Goldstein, LA&PS
Project: Imagined Tables: Eating and the Articulation of Community
Funding: $111,875

Luann M. Good Gingrich, LA&PS
Project: Places and Spaces of Social Inclusion: A Contextual Analysis of Immigrant Inequality in Canada
Funding: $254,831

Philip A. Harland, LA&PS
Project: Criminalization of Minorities and Subject Peoples in Antiquity
Funding: $116,231

Robert J. Heynen, LA&PS
Project: Mediations of Anti-Human Trafficking: Technology, Securitization, and Policing at the Border
Funding: $218,627

Alice J. Hovorka,
Project: Animal Performativity: 鈥楤ecoming Primate鈥� in Human Society
Funding: $207,650

Hong Kal, AMPD
Project: Grievable Images: Visualizing State Violence and Resistance in South Korea Since 1948
Funding: $115,556

Magdalena J. Kazubowski-Houston, AMPD
Project: Performing Eco-Grief: Youth, Theatre, and Climate Mourning in Canada and Poland
Funding: $217,657

脡tienne Lal茅, LA&PS
Project: Foot Traffic, Consumer Spending, and Employment: New Insights from Cell Phone Data
Funding: $105,346

Margaret E. MacDonald, LA&PS
Project: Governing Reproduction in Senegal: Discourses and Images in the Postcolonial Archive
Funding: $105,490

Raymond A. Mar, Faculty of Health
Project: Learning Social Content from Stories
Funding: $124,843

Yuka Nakamura, Faculty of Health
Project: Community and Connection: Understanding the Growth and Social Impact of Ethnic, Cultural and Religious Sport Organizations in Toronto
Funding: $172,229

Lilian K. Ng, Schulich School of Business
Project: Giving Where They Operate: Biodiversity Governance and Corporate Philanthropy
Funding: $161,035

Ken Ogata, Schulich School of Business
Project: Legitimacy and the Hierarchy of Artefacts Along the Entrepreneurial Journey: Evidence from the Introduction of Third-Party Certification Agencies into the Collectible Comic Books Industry
Funding: $101,646

Nathanael Ojong, LA&PS
Project: Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals in the Age of AI
Funding: $286,219

Salewa Olawoye, LA&PS
Project: Towards An Inclusive Monetary Theory: African Entrepreneurship and Money Creation
Funding: $124,927

Oyemolade Osibodu, Faculty of Education
Project: Navigating Blackness: Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Parents' and Youth's Perspectives on the Racialization of Mathematics Education
Funding: $106,237

Gillian Parekh, Faculty of Education
Project: Constructing Disability in Education: Disability Identity, Policy Enactment and Academic Outcomes
Funding: $342,757

Jennifer R. Pybus, LA&PS
Project: Extracting Intimacy: FemTech, Surveillance, and Sovereignty
Funding: $98,892

Amanda Ricci, LA&PS
Project: At the Heart of the City: A History of the Garment Industry in Montreal, 1930鈥�1990
Funding: $81,855

Perry Sadorsky, Schulich School of Business
Project: Energy Transition Systemic Risk in Times of Uncertainty
Funding: $109,082

Akolisa Ufodike, LA&PS
Project: Gatekeeping Growth: Immigration, Credentialing, and the Hidden Drivers of Canada's Productivity Decline
Funding: $375,300

Daniel J. Wigfield, Faculty of Health
Project: Systemic Integrity: Institutional Logics and Misconduct in Federated Sport Governance
Funding: $242,431

91亚色 researchers are also directly involved as co-applicants for 15 other projects awarded a total of $3.85 million. See the of projects and recipients.

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This summer, YFile examines how 91亚色-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice 鈥� how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

In an era where health information is only a few clicks away, finding answers that are accurate, trustworthy and easy to understand can still be a challenge.

Scientific databases contain vast amounts of knowledge about human health and disease, but much of it is written for researchers and clinicians using specialized language and technical terminology. For other individuals trying to understand a diagnosis, assess a health risk or learn about a specific condition, navigating this complex landscape can be overwhelming.

91亚色 is collaborating with researchers at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) to break down these barriers through an AI-powered chatbot that provides accessible, easy-to-understand health information.

The chatbot serves as a conversational interface for Reactome, one of the world's largest curated databases of biological pathways and processes that drive human health and disease. While widely used by biomedical researchers, Reactome's technical language can make its information difficult for non-experts to understand.

Amin Mawani, director of the Master of Health Industry Administration (MHIA) program at 91亚色鈥檚 , contributes patient and user perspectives to the project, which also brings together Lincoln Stein, scientific director (interim) and head of Adaptive Oncology at OICR; Helia Mohammadi, a graduate student at the University of Toronto; and Adam Wright, a scientific software engineer at OICR.

Drawing on the power of AI, the chatbot allows users to search Reactome in natural language and receive answers in a clear, user-friendly format tailored to their level of understanding. Whether someone wants to know what causes diabetes, learn more about a genetic predisposition to cancer or explore why they feel tired after eating carbohydrates, the tool is designed to translate complex scientific concepts into plain language.

Mawani says the broader goal is to make trusted scientific knowledge more accessible and strengthen connections between researchers and the public. 鈥淭his tool helps to close the gaps in understanding between the research community and the citizens whose tax dollars support them,鈥� he says.

The project received support through the Connected Minds Prototyping Award, a program that helps researchers translate promising ideas into practical tools. The funding supported a graduate student and a scientific software developer who moved the project from concept through prototype development and into production. The project's emphasis on accessibility and inclusivity reflects the mission of Connected Minds 鈥� a multi-million-dollar transdisciplianry research initiative led by 91亚色 and Queen's universities to develop socially responsible technologies that benefit diverse communities.

Today, the chatbot is fully operational and serves approximately 500 unique users each month. Users can ask for information on a range of topics, from everyday health concerns to more complex scientific concepts.

As more people turn to online tools for health information, the team notes the source of the chatbot's answers is central to its value.

One of the project's key goals is to combat health misinformation by drawing its responses from curated databases rather than unverified online sources. By providing scientifically grounded answers, the platform helps users make more informed decisions about their health.

The team also sees the chatbot as a tool for improving health equity. By offering information in multiple languages, it is able to serve users from diverse backgrounds, regardless of health knowledge or familiarity with English.

"Our goal is to bring structured and accurate scientific medical information to people from all backgrounds and communities in a way that removes barriers created by technical language and accessibility challenges," says Mawani.

According to Mawani, better access to reliable health information can have impacts that extend beyond individual users. More informed patients may be better equipped to recognize misleading or false claims, seek timely medical care and take preventive steps before conditions become more serious.

In addition to helping members of the public better understand their own health, the technology has potential applications for researchers. Future enhancements will allow users to analyze large biological datasets and interpret results through simple natural-language prompts.

As the project gains momentum, the team plans to expand awareness of the tool through publications, conferences, workshops and tutorials, while integrating the chatbot more deeply within the Reactome platform.

By making trusted biomedical knowledge easier to access while supporting future scientific discovery, Mawani and his colleagues hope the platform will improve health outcomes for communities and offer researchers a more streamlined way to access knowledge.

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Cities are often designed with an assumption that residents are able-bodied, leaving many older adults and people with disabilities to face barriers in their daily lives. Gebresselassie, an assistant professor at the , argues that urban planners have an opportunity to better serve both groups by recognizing overlapping needs and developing more integrated planning solutions.

The paper, published in the , emerged from a roundtable co-organized by Gebresselassie at the 2024 annual conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. The discussion brought together researchers examining accessibility issues in transportation, housing and planning processes that affect older adults and people with disabilities.

According to the study, transportation remains one of the most significant challenges for both aging populations and people with disabilities. Older adults may face mobility limitations as they age or stop driving, while people with disabilities often encounter inaccessible transit systems or limited transportation options.

These barriers make it more difficult to reach jobs, services, social activities and health care, increasing the risk of isolation.

Housing presents similar concerns. Most homes lack basic accessible design features such as single-floor living, no-step entry and wide doorways. Accessible homes can be difficult to find and costly. Even when suitable housing is available, it may be located far from transit, amenities and community services, creating additional barriers to participation in daily life.

Although these issues are often examined separately, the researchers argue they are closely connected. Governments, planners and researchers often address aging and disability through separate policies and programs, which can lead to fragmented approaches to transportation, housing and community development.

"Previously, researchers on these topics investigated accessibility issues for the two populations in silos, despite the common challenges they face," says Gebresselassie.

To address these issues, the authors propose an anti-ableist framework that encourages planners to consider accessibility from the beginning of the planning process.

Instead of treating aging and disability as separate concerns, the researchers argue that municipalities should integrate policies, services and decision-making processes. The paper outlines a framework to bring together government departments, community organizations and residents to ensure barrier-free design is considered across transportation, housing and public infrastructure.

"This means moving toward a planning culture that is anti-ableist and can address the accessibility needs of both groups," says Gebresselassie.

The researchers also call for greater involvement from people with lived experience in urban design decisions, as well as enhanced access training in planning education and professional practice.

The authors hope the study will encourage further research on the subject.

"As one of the pioneering studies to illuminate the need to explore the overlap, our study encourages other researchers to follow suit," says Gebresselassie.

The study has also led to an ongoing research collaboration between 91亚色 and the University of Utah. Gebresselassie and collaborator Andy Hong are currently completing another study that examines historical trends in transportation accessibility research involving older adults and people with disabilities.

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鈥淲hen we think of environmental sustainability, we often immediately think about newer energy-efficient technologies. Organic waste treatment becomes rather an afterthought,鈥� says Reema Kumar, a PhD candidate at 91亚色's and lead author of the study.

That perspective is beginning to change as researchers look for new ways to recover value from organic waste. Instead of sending food waste to landfill 鈥� where it can contribute to greenhouse gases and other forms of pollution 鈥� scientists are exploring how it can be converted into useful resources.

One promising approach uses microorganisms to break down discarded food and produce chemicals that are typically made from petroleum-based sources, creating an alternative to landfill disposal and fossil-based production.

While researchers have tested adding microorganisms to increase the production of useful compounds from discarded food, most of that research has focused on systems that operate at relatively warm temperatures. Much less is known about whether the same process can selectively produce compounds under colder, lower-energy conditions.

According to Kumar, maintaining warmer operating conditions can require significant energy input, particularly in colder climates. Seeking a more energy-efficient approach, Kumar and her colleagues turned their attention to lower-temperature systems.

鈥淲e were inspired to optimize this natural system of microorganisms using food waste to produce volatile fatty acids under lower temperature conditions to make it more energy efficient as well as provide a targeted approach for production,鈥� says Kumar.

They honed in on Clostridium butyricum, a bacterium known for generating butyric acid and a commercially valuable chemical commonly used in food, pharmaceutical and industrial products. Yielding such chemicals from organic waste could provide a more sustainable alternative to conventional manufacturing methods that rely on fossil-fuel-derived raw materials.

Their work questioned whether introducing the bacterium into a low-temperature food-waste fermentation system could increase production of butyric acid.

In a study published in , Kumar and her collaborators tested the idea using food waste and wastewater sludge. The research was co-supervised by Lassonde Professor Satinder Kaur Brar, along with Guneet Kaur, associate professor at the University of Guelph.

The team created a series of small-scale experiments using food waste collected from restaurants in 91亚色 Lanes and sludge sourced from the Humber Wastewater Treatment Facility. Together, the food waste and sludge created conditions that allowed naturally occurring microorganisms to break down the waste.

Clostridium butyricum was then introduced into some of the samples to see if the bacterium could steer the process toward producing more butyric acid.

鈥淲e wanted to show that you can 鈥榞uide鈥� a complex microbial community, made up of many different bacteria naturally found in wastewater sludge, toward a specific, useful outcome just by introducing one well-chosen microorganism,鈥� says Kumar. 鈥淚t's a bit like steering a crowd by adding a few people who know where they're going.鈥�

The approach worked even better than the researchers expected. The system that received the bacterium produced more than twice as many acids overall and more than five times as much butyric acid compared to the control.

鈥淲e didn't expect such a strong response at a temperature of 17 C," says Kumar. "That was a genuinely exciting result."

The findings, she adds, point to a future where discarded food can be viewed as a resource rather than waste.

Increasing the production of commercially valuable compouds at lower temperatures could pave the way for more energy-efficient waste-treatment systems that recover greater value from discarded food. Over time, it may help keep organic waste out of landfills while creating renewable alternatives to some petroleum-derived chemicals.

鈥淲e hope it helps move the needle toward low-cost, low-energy ways of recovering value from food waste, especially in colder countries,鈥� says Kumar. 鈥淥nce this approach can eventually be scaled up, it could support local biorefinery systems that turn organic waste into useful chemicals without requiring expensive heating infrastructure. That has real implications for both sustainability and economics.鈥�

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outlines priorities for higher education institutions as they work to advance sustainable development and contribute to discussions about sustainable development beyond 2030.

Introduced July 13 during the Global Higher Education Symposium at United Nations Headquarters in New 91亚色, the work was developed through a drafting process including global consultation led by Katrin Kohl, co-chair of the UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability at 91亚色.

The project brought together partners including UNESCO, United Nations Academic Impact, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the International Association of Universities and the International Science Council to build consensus around the role of higher education as a catalyst for positive change.

鈥淯niversities have an important role to play in helping society respond to global challenges, including climate change, inequality and emerging technologies,鈥� says Kohl. 鈥淭his statement brings together voices from around the world to identify how higher education can contribute to building a more sustainable future."

Perspectives from higher education leaders, researchers, international organizations, students and policymakers shaped a shared vision for priorities in higher education. The priorities include integrating sustainability across teaching, research and operations; strengthening democratic values and public trust; advancing inclusion and decolonization; using science and emerging technologies responsibly; and supporting changes to governance and funding systems.

UNESCO Chairholder Charles Hopkins says the initiative originated at 91亚色 and grew into an international collaboration with UN agencies concerned with higher education that resulted in the consensus statement.

The final document emerged from a global consultation process involving participants from around the world to build agreement on higher education's role in creating more sustainable, equitable and resilient societies.

The launch marks the latest contribution from 91亚色's UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, established in 1999 as the first UNESCO Chair dedicated to education for sustainable development. For more than two decades, the Chair has worked with governments, international organizations, educators and institutions around the world to advance sustainability through education.

Hopkins says the statement represents an opportunity to strengthen the role of universities as partners in addressing complex issues beyond 2030 as conversations are beginning to emerge.

鈥淭he challenges the world faces do not exist in isolation, and neither can the solutions,鈥� says Hopkins. 鈥淯niversities have an important role to play as conveners, collaborators and catalysts for change.鈥�

The statement is expected to inform ongoing international discussions about the future of higher education and sustainable development and provide a framework for institutions seeking to strengthen their contributions to social, environmental and economic well-being.

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The Partnership Grants funding, announced by SSHRC on July 21, supports large-scale partnerships that bring together universities, governments, community organizations and international collaborators to address complex social, environmental and policy challenges.

The funded projects focus on issues ranging from refugee rights and climate resilience to healthy aging, youth well-being, homelessness and human-animal connections.

Leading 91亚色's participation is Sean Rehaag (), whose seven-year Algorithmic Justice for Refugees Research Network project received $2,499,995 to investigate the growing use of algorithms, AI and other digital technologies in refugee and migration systems.

The international partnership includes researchers and organizations across Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia and the Middle East and will examine how emerging technologies affect refugee rights, access to protection and government accountability.

91亚色 Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Lisa Philipps says the project shows the impact that long-term investment in interdisciplinary reseach can have. "The project grew from years of interdisciplinary research and the strong foundation provided by the Centre for Refugee Studies, one of 91亚色's Organized Research Units to make it possible. 91亚色 is proud to stand with Professor Rehaag and his partners on this meaningful project."

91亚色 researchers are also co-applicants on five additional partnership grants that received funding ranging from $2.4 million to $2.5 million each. Together, the projects position 91亚色 researchers within some of Canada's largest and most ambitious social sciences and humanities research collaborations.

"91亚色 researchers continue to demonstrate leadership in building research partnerships that聽bring together聽scholars,聽governments and organizations to address聽complex challenges facing communities in Canada and around the world,鈥� says聽Amir Asif, 91亚色鈥檚 vice-president research and innovation. 鈥淭hese聽projects聽reflect 91亚色's聽strengths in interdisciplinary, community-engaged research and聽demonstrate how collaboration can聽generate聽knowledge that informs policy, supports聽decision-making聽and聽contributes to聽positive social change."聽

The funded partnerships involving 91亚色 researchers include:

鈥� Aging in the Margins: Building Inclusivity and Goodwill (AIM BIG), funded at $2,500,000 over seven years, with Natalia Balyasnikova (Faculty of Education) serving as a co-applicant. The project will examine the experiences of aging among marginalized populations in Canada and internationally.

鈥� (Re)Thinking Sustainability: Research Network for Global Environmental Humanities, funded at $2,499,814 over seven years, with Andil Gosine () and Jean-Thomas Tremblay (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) as co-applicants. The network will explore environmental challenges through humanities-based research and public engagement.

鈥� Connecting to Place Through Disaster Response: New Opportunities for Community-Campus Partnerships, funded at $2,417,600 over five years, with Ali Asgary and Eva Bogdan (LA&PS) serving as co-applicants. The project focuses on strengthening community resilience and disaster response through collaborative research.

鈥� Establishing a Network for Human-Animal Connections Research and Collaboration, funded at $2,500,000 over five years, with Cheryl van Daalen-Smith (Faculty of Graduate Studies) serving as a co-applicant and Leesa Fawcett (EUC) as a collaborator. The partnership will examine the role of human-animal relationships in health and well-being across diverse settings.

鈥� Pathways from Child Welfare and Community Services to Stable or Precarious Living Conditions, funded at $2,500,000 over seven years, with Stephen Gaetz (Faculty of Education) serving as a co-applicant. The project will investigate the experiences of young people transitioning from child welfare systems and community services and identify pathways to long-term stability and well-being.

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For nearly five days, the heavy blanket of smoke trapped toxic particles over Toronto, drastically increasing health risks while the wildfires caused catastrophic damage in communities across northwestern Ontario. 

The unprecedented devastation has 91亚色 experts debating whether Canada should explore a new national agency to manage wildfire response 鈥� or revamp the system in place. 

The recent fires in northwestern Ontario are now accelerating conversations about how Canada manages wildfires, which have gained momentum since fires tore through Jasper, Alta. two years ago consuming about a third of the town鈥檚 buildings.  

Since then recovery has remained painfully slow, highlighting the longterm impacts of the shorterm devastation of wildfires. As of March 2026, only 4 per cent of the 374 properties lost to fire have been fully rebuilt. Meanwhile, insured losses have swelled from early projections of $900 million to an estimated $1.3 billion, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Those numbers have made Jasper a test case for a broader question facing Ottawa: should the federal government overhaul how it manages wildfires 鈥� perhaps by creating a national agency 鈥� or focus on fixing the system it already has? 

Across Canada, opinions diverge sharply on what that change should look like. The debate runs straight through 91亚色鈥檚 Disaster and Emergency Management program at the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, where two professors studying wildfires stake opposing positions. 

After a major fire, 鈥渋t is all left to individual communities impacted to manage it themselves,鈥� and a federally mandated framework would be beneficial, says Ali Asgary, 91亚色 professor and director of the Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation (ADERSIM) Lab, which uses large-scale simulations to model disasters and test emergency responses. 

His colleague, Professor Eric B. Kennedy, studies the human dimensions of fire and how people and institutions use evidence to make decisions in wildfire and other emergencies. Like Asgary, Kennedy shares 鈥渢his sense that we need transformative thinking,鈥� but argues that Canada should focus on transforming the systems and programs it already has, rather than building a new national agency from scratch. 

Both agree recent seasons have revealed how fragile Canada鈥檚 wildfire system becomes under extreme pressure 鈥� and that Jasper stands as one of the starkest examples. 

A system under pressure

When the Jasper wildfires erupted in July 2024, scarce resources and confusion over jurisdiction hampered early firefighting efforts, despite what officials described as a well-oiled crisis response. 

Ken McMullen, chief of emergency services for Red Deer Emergency Services and president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC), served as an incident commander on the scene. One fire burned to the northeast of Jasper, while three fires to the south merged into a singular inferno racing toward town. 

Inside the blaze, the heat and winds acted like a convection oven, generating gusts as powerful as an EF-5 tornado with wind speeds exceeding 300 km/hr, uprooting trees and hurling flames up to 50 metres into the ir. When mountainside trees gave way, embers rained down on the town, setting homes and businesses ablaze. 

McMullen and his team coordinated the wildland, municipal and volunteer firefighting teams in evacuating 20,000 people, and deploying high-volume sprinkler systems, a rotating air fleet for water drops and hotspot detection, and continuous fuel removal to steer the flames鈥� path. 

Still, when air tankers were needed that first night, none of Canada鈥檚 106-plane fleet was available 鈥� already committed to fires burning in other provinces. By the next day, the blaze had grown too large for water drops to make a difference. By the third, the wind and smoke made flying unsafe. 

It would take 47 days before the fires were declared under control. By the end of the 2024 fire season, two Canadian firefighters had died, including one in Jasper. 

Now, with wildfires raging across northwestern Ontario, McMullen, Kennedy and Asgary all agree that Canada is not ready, and they鈥檙e urging swift, systemic change at the federal level. 

鈥淎t the height of a wildfire season, everybody鈥檚 interested. Politicians are interested. Industry is interested to learn, what do we do differently?鈥� McMullen says. But once major fires are extinguished, they鈥檙e on the back burner until spring. 

鈥淲e forget in January what we talked about in July,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have to make it a 365-day conversation.鈥�

A changing risk landscape

For Kennedy and Asgary, that conversation requires starting with fire itself and how it has evolved. 

Climate change has generated hotter temperatures and drier landscapes, altering fire behaviour and lengthening wildfire seasons around the world. Kennedy leads YEMERGE, a pan-University research network that studies how people, communities and institutions prepare for and respond to crises such as wildfires. His lab examines how local governments adopt mitigation programs such as FireSmart Canada, and how bureaucratic processes and staff turnover in government can hamper fire mitigation efforts. 

鈥淭he big challenge is the magnitude of what we鈥檙e facing,鈥� Kennedy says. 鈥淲e have huge forested areas. We have a lot of the [urban] interface at risk of exposure, we have a lot of historic building stock that is not necessarily fire adapted, and we鈥檝e got challenges 鈥� like how to make housing more affordable that can, at times, be at odds with doing well on fire.鈥� 

The 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons were among the top five worst in Canada鈥檚 wildfire history. With 16.5 million hectares of land burned from coast to coast, 2023 was the most destructive on record, followed by 2025 at 8.9 million hectares. 

鈥淲hen you have three consecutive years, you can鈥檛 say 鈥榰nprecedented鈥� anymore,鈥� McMullen says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 say it was 鈥榰npredictable.鈥� So if [fires] are predictable, that means that they are preventable.鈥� 

91亚色鈥檚 Disaster and Emergency Management program is instrumental in making those predictions. Asgary鈥檚 team at ADERSIM forecasts the behaviour of existing wildfires with AI modelling, develops drone-based wildfire sensing tools for water quality assessments, and uses virtual reality to help residents make changes related to wildfire. 

鈥淲e can provide a lot of research and training capacities, especially when it comes to the use of new technologies in this area,鈥� Asgary says. 

However, resources have been stretched to capacity across the country, burdened further by a complicated chain of command. In Canada, emergency management for any hazard is usually executed first at the municipal level. As a disaster grows, communities call on their provincial or territorial ministries for more support. 

Fire management in Canada also involves all 13 provincial and territorial wildland fire agencies. Those agencies own and聽operate聽the non-profit Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), a collaborative body that coordinates resource sharing and mutual聽aid聽but聽does not function as a federal agency itself.聽

Federal emergency management currently falls under the purview of Public Safety Canada and its Government Operations Centre (GOC), which focuses on preparedness and response. In the case of Jasper, the GOC provided humanitarian and logistical support for residents, and coordinated the deployment of Canadian Armed Forces heavy-lift aircraft with the team on the ground. 

There are gaps between existing agencies: CIFFC mobilizes personnel but does not hire or train firefighters, and the GOC鈥檚 activities stop short of the other two tenets of emergency management: prevention and mitigation, and recovery. 

Jurisdictional responsibility for wildfires is further complicated by fragmentation at each level of government. If a wildfire occurs on federal lands managed by the Department of National Defence or Parks Canada, those agencies coordinate the firefighting efforts, not the province.

That was the situation with the Jasper wildfires. A 2025 report commissioned by the Municipality of Jasper cited the provincial government鈥檚 interference as a slowdown to response operations. The report found the province of Alberta repeatedly requested information from the command team and attempted to make decisions, even though it had no jurisdictional authority because the town is located within a national park. 

A year prior, the National Risk Profile (NPR), a national disaster risk assessment published by Public Safety Canada, had warned that jurisdictions are not aligned in their emergency management approaches and programming. The NPR identified further challenges, including information-sharing bottlenecks between the health and emergency management systems. 

Asgary says the current system isn鈥檛 working like it used to. Even well-resourced provinces such as Ontario or B.C. have been overwhelmed in recent years, leaving little capacity to support neighbours. Without a top-down framework, Asgary says, municipalities hire consultants and end up with equipment and software incompatible with other stakeholders 鈥� a problem that only surfaces when operations scale up during a disaster. 

鈥淭he time has passed to do reactive policy making,鈥� Asgary says. 鈥淲e are now in the middle of a major climate change-related crisis. It should be clear for everyone that the current system is not sufficient.鈥� 

The resource challenge

As a disaster unfolds, resources are often assigned based on availability rather than what is best suited for the job, Asgary says. 

鈥淭he wildfire is not going to tell us, 鈥業鈥檓 going to happen now,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淭hese resources may be already deployed somewhere else.鈥� 

A national reserve firefighting force is an oft-cited solution, but unlikely without a systemic change in recruitment, says McMullen, who represents fire chiefs across Canada in his role as president of the CAFC. Of Canada鈥檚 126,000 firefighters, about 90,000 are volunteers 鈥� a pool that has shrunk by nearly 29 per cent since 2016. McMullen correlates the drop with recent wildfire seasons that have strained volunteers, who are normally called upon an average of 22 minutes a week to provide support in their local communities. 

If provinces were to increase investment in attracting and recruiting new firefighters or equipment to the pipeline, Kennedy says there would be 鈥渆nough slack in the system to keep trading and sharing and providing mutual aid.鈥� 

The provinces and territories currently own and share an aging fleet of water bombers. The federal government hasn鈥檛 committed to investing in a national fleet, but did announce $316.7 million over the next five years to contract additional aircraft from third parties for the 2026 season and beyond. Provinces, meanwhile, are moving ahead on their own: Alberta announced in February that it would invest $400 million to purchase five De Havilland Canadair 515 firefighting aircraft, with the first delivered in 2031. Manitoba is also in line to acquire three of the new water bombers, with the first to arrive by 2031.

Two paths forward: the debate

Calls for a national wildfire agency surface every year during the height of wildfire season as another potential solution to the resource problem. 

Kennedy says a wildfire agency is a 鈥済reat buzzword,鈥� but notes CIFFC is already working effectively at pooling resources between provinces and navigating equipment procurement with the federal government. 

鈥淭hese 15 fire agencies have been working for decades to build trust with communities, to build relationships, to develop infrastructure and get their systems working well. Why would we want to create a 16th fire bureaucracy?鈥澛燢ennedy says.聽鈥淭his call [acts as] a code word for,聽鈥榃e need more co-ordination,鈥櫬爋r,聽鈥榳e need more collaboration.鈥欌�澛�

He says Canada鈥檚 approach would be better served with continuous injections of funding to existing systems. He sees the Government Operations Centre as a potential springboard for building a solid operational framework for all emergencies, including wildfires. 

Asgary envisions an emergency management agency that also covers floods and earthquakes. He says the current system 鈥渋s not really able to help to the level that these provinces expect, because they don鈥檛 have [the resources]鈥� during the time of the actual emergency. 

He points to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency as an example of an agency with a wide mandate to do anything required to manage a disaster and its aftermath, including waiving bureaucratic processes and pulling resources from governmental departments. 

McMullen and the CAFC have been lobbying for more of a hybrid role in the form of a national fire commissioner or liaison, who would act as point person for all federal fire-related conversations. 

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) echoes Asgary鈥檚 call for a central emergency management agency so communities can avoid creating a new 鈥減laybook鈥� after every disaster. The IBC, which oversaw $2.4 billion in insured loss claims related to weather in 2025, has called on the federal government to discuss their response to emergency management. Talks are underway: Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience Eleanor Olszewski led public and industry consultations through March 2026, with a report forthcoming. 

Canada remains the only G7 country without a national emergency management agency or a national fire administration. 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

A future with fire

Central to whatever comes next is mitigation 鈥� the actions taken before a fire. 

鈥淲e have to accept that we will live with fire,鈥� Kennedy says. 鈥淗ow do we make the landscape less attractive for that fire to spread?鈥� 

One way is to focus on improvements to the wildland itself. Containing every fire means the forest becomes overburdened with healthy trees that act as fuel. Controlled burns can encourage regeneration of the landscape, and clearing long strips of land to form built-in firebreaks can slow the spread of wildfire. 

Another approach is to work within communities on updating building codes so new structures use fire-resistant materials 鈥� which the town of Jasper is doing 鈥� and on educating residents about wildfire-proofing measures they can make to their homes. 

Disaster response already costs the federal government about $1.8 billion a year. However, the National Risk Profile estimates a return on investment of $4 to $10 for every dollar spent on mitigation, with the highest returns related to risk assessment, hazard analysis and mitigation planning. 

Canada is nowhere near international investment benchmarks established by the European Union that suggests governments spend between 0.66 and 1.25 per cent of their GDP annually on climate adaptation, which includes fire mitigation activities. For Canada, that would fall between $21.5 and $40.7 billion. In 2026, the federal climate adaptation spend is $7.1 billion. 

Investments start and stall with shifts in government, which further complicate consistent action, and are often targeted at firefighting instead of systemic change, Kennedy says. 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

鈥淭here is simply no number of firefighters that would be enough in Canada. We will never have enough air tankers. We will never have enough hoses. We will never have enough firefighters. That is a black hole of investment,鈥� says Kennedy. 鈥淲e could pour as much money into firefighting as we want, and it will never be enough, because the root causes of this are not fire suppression alone, but are ecosystem management, addressing climate change and building more resiliently.鈥�

With files from Kristina Urquhart 

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

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Earlier this year, Bronson was in his basement doing something he had never done before: memorizing lines for his first one-person show, The Last Hornblower, which debuted at the Hamilton Fringe Festival this month.

Written and performed by Bronson, the show reflects his career specializing in existentialism, world religions, literature and philosophy by pairing the Norse mythological story of Ragnarok 鈥� a final battle in which the gods knowingly march toward their fate 鈥� with a contemporary story about a pilot living with Alzheimer disease.

By linking modern and ancient narratives, Bronson wants audiences to see themselves as part of a much longer human story.

"It's important to feel your roots and to feel that you're connected, not just to your parents or your background, but to stories stretching back thousands of years, with themes we're still drawn to today 鈥� whether we recognize it or not," says Bronson.

Helping people discover those connections is also central to Bronson's work as an educator in 91亚色's Department of Humanities.

Among his courses are 鈥淕ods and Humans,鈥� which examines interactions between gods and humans in literature, art and philosophy, and 鈥淭he Modern Age: Shapers & Definers,鈥� which explores influential figures who defined modern artistic and intellectual traditions.

Both draw on stories, beliefs and ideas from different eras, cultures and religious traditions 鈥� but rather than treating them as historical artifacts or texts belonging to someone else's belief system, Bronson encourages learners to look for relevance to contemporary life, and to their own lives.

One way he does this is by pairing ancient texts with modern examples from popular culture to illustrate how older works continue to inform the art, narratives and ideas that resonate today.

A discussion of movement and dance in a Hindu scripture, for instance, might lead to a contemporary film, documentary or other example of dance in modern culture, allowing students to consider how similar ideas continue to surface in contemporary life.

"The scripture might be 2,000 years old. That's not changing," says Bronson. "But what's changing is the ways that we see it today."

Those moments when "a light goes on" are among Bronson's favourites. A student who may have had little exposure to a particular religion, philosopher or cultural tradition suddenly recognizes something familiar in an ancient story and, in turn, sees themselves reflected in it.

For Bronson, those realizations can be transformative.

"When they see that their interests or their experiences are connected to something larger, longer, more longstanding, it adds a kind of dignity to it," says Bronson.

It was those moments of recognition that unexpectedly led Bronson toward theatre.

During a visit to the Hamilton Fringe Festival last year, he attended several storytelling-based performances and recognized something familiar: people gathering around stories, wrestling with big ideas and discovering meanings they might not have arrived at on their own.

The experience got him thinking about how those kinds of conversations might take place outside the University and how theatre could provide a space for them.

鈥淭hat's often what we do in academia 鈥� make those connections for students,鈥� says Bronson. 鈥淏ut there are people who aren't going to university, or who have been out of university, or just haven't had that experience.鈥�

Through The Last Hornblower, Bronson hopes audiences encounter something similar to the moments he values most in the classroom: recognizing that ideas they may have thought belonged only to philosophers, religious traditions or ancient myths are also present in their own lives.

More than anything, he hopes they leave with a renewed sense of where they fit within the larger human story.

鈥淲e all appreciate that in art. We all look to art for that,鈥� says Bronson. 鈥淎nd when it happens, we come back to our everyday world, if not elevated, at least slightly changed.鈥�

runs at the Hamilton Fringe Festival until July 26.

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Clark, associate director, program development and academic integrity in 91亚色鈥檚 Office of the Vice-President Academic, will lead 鈥檚 work to support evidence-informed practices across Canada鈥檚 post-secondary sector.

As Chair, Clark will work with colleagues across the country to support institutions, academic integrity practitioners and educators responding to emerging challenges in teaching, learning and assessment.

鈥淧ost-secondary institutions are navigating significant changes in assessment, student learning and academic misconduct, alongside the growing influence of generative AI and other emerging technologies,鈥� says Clark. 鈥淭his environment highlights the need for coordinated approaches that support student success while maintaining public trust in the value and integrity of academic credentials.鈥�

Her appointment reflects her extensive experience leading academic integrity education and prevention initiatives at 91亚色, including collaborating with campus partners, co-facilitating 91亚色 Libraries鈥� Academic Integrity Workshop for Students (offered several times during the year), and delivering workshops and presentations to 91亚色 community members.

As Chair of the University鈥檚 Academic Integrity Community of Practice, Clark works with faculty members, academic units and institutional partners to develop resources, programs and strategies that foster integrity in teaching, learning and research. Her work includes advancing educational approaches that respond to evolving student needs and emerging issues, including the responsible use of new technologies.

"Academic integrity is fundamental to academic quality," says Clark. 鈥淚CAI Canada provides an important space for collaboration, professional learning and the sharing of effective practices."

Clark recently completed a PhD in higher education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Her research examined the roles and experiences of academic integrity practitioners working within post-secondary institutions and contributed to scholarship on how institutions build and sustain cultures of integrity through policy, practice and collaboration.

"I'm looking forward to supporting ICAI Canada's continued growth,鈥� she says, 鈥渁s well as the work to strengthen connections among academic integrity practitioners across Canada.鈥�

Those interested in becoming a member of the Academic Integrity Community of Practice at 91亚色 can reach out to Clark at angclark@yorku.ca.

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鈥淎MR, which is often described as a 鈥榮ilent pandemic鈥�, threatens our ability to effectively treat infectious diseases in humans, animals, plants and the environment around the world,鈥� says Arne Ruckert, director of research at the 鈥檚 (GSL) AMR Policy Accelerator.

In response, international health organizations and policymakers have increasingly turned to a framework known as One Health, which recognizes that the health of people, animals and ecosystems is interconnected. The approach calls for an equally interconnected response.

鈥淥ne Health governance is comprised of the structures, processes and mechanisms that enable and support coordination and collaboration between these sectors, as well as with actors outside government, such as the private sector, academic experts, health professionals and civil society,鈥� says Taylor Hecker, research fellow at GSL, which is headquartered at 91亚色 and the University of Ottawa.

But recognizing the need for collaboration is only the first step. While One Health has gained widespread support among governments, international organizations and public health experts, less is known about how those collaborations should be organized, managed and evaluated, or how policymakers can determine whether they are achieving their intended goals.

To address that gap in knowledge, GSL worked with colleagues from the World Health Organization.

鈥淲e wanted to synthesize what is known about One Health governance globally, and especially how its mechanisms have been implemented in different institutional, social, economic and political contexts,鈥� says Ruckert, adding the team also wanted to understand how success has been defined and measured, and what barriers and facilitators influence implementation.

The researchers reviewed studies and policy documents exploring how governments and organizations were putting One Health into practice. These included national AMR plans, disease surveillance systems, cross-sector coordination bodies and responses to infectious disease outbreaks. After screening more than 3,000 records, the team examined 171 documents representing more than 50 countries.

A key aspect of the review was its focus on how local context shapes the design and implementation of coordination systems.

鈥淓xisting literature and guidance often does not differentiate between different country contexts and how this may impact or result in barriers to certain mechanisms,鈥� Hecker says. 鈥淭herefore, we approached and performed this research through a context-specific lens as there is no one-size-fits-all solution to support effective One Health governance.鈥�

That analysis identified six dimensions that consistently inform One Health governance: participation, leadership, coordination, decision-making, resourcing and accountability. Together, these factors determine who is involved, who is responsible for leading efforts, how information is shared, how priorities are set, how activities are funded and how progress is monitored.

Despite differences in political structures, funding models and government institutions, several barriers appeared repeatedly across the literature. These include challenges coordinating action across multiple levels of government, dependence on donor funding, siloed departments and weak information-sharing. The review also found that while disease outbreaks often created momentum for cross-sector cooperation, many countries struggled to maintain those partnerships once the immediate crisis had passed.

The researchers say the goal was to catalogue the challenges countries face and identify approaches that could help policymakers design more effective and sustainable systems for AMR policy implementation.

鈥淎s the first phase of a broader , this article also provides a conceptual foundation for how governance approaches can be implemented going forward, as well as how they can be assessed across different contexts,鈥� says Ruckert.

Among the factors associated with stronger adoption were political commitment, clear coordination mechanisms and effective systems for sharing information across sectors. Successful initiatives foster a sense of shared ownership, with participants viewing One Health as a collective responsibility rather than the domain of a single department or sector. Previous disease outbreaks, meanwhile, sometimes helped build support for these approaches by demonstrating the value of sustained cross-sector collaboration.

The review calls for more rigorous evaluation of One Health initiatives so policymakers can understand what works, where and why. As countries continue searching for ways to slow the spread of AMR, researchers suggest that building stronger evidence around governance may be just as important as developing new policies.

Effective approaches must account for the political, institutional and economic realities of individual countries, say researchers. Governments also need to move beyond outbreak-driven collaboration and establish lasting structures capable of addressing long-term challenges such as AMR.

鈥淲e hope that this review encourages researchers and policymakers to look beyond one-size-fits-all approaches of One Health governance and pay attention to how context shapes what is feasible, effective and sustainable during AMR policy implementation,鈥� says Ruckert.

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