The Alberta Land Institute Program 2024-25 (Canada)

ALI’s work focuses on the changing landscape and the ways that planning and policy design can ensure the long-term sustainability of Alberta’s agricultural sector, its water and its natural areas.

Focus Areas

• Wildfire Management: The frequency, severity and intensity of wildfires in Alberta have markedly increased in recent years. This escalation is attributed to rising temperatures, extended fire seasons with a higher incidence of warmer days during the fire season, prolonged dry periods, and heightened fire weather conditions. The recent fires have grown to unprecedented scales, significantly impacting communities on social, economic and environmental levels. Consequently, evacuations have been necessary, substantial damage to properties and infrastructure damage has occurred, and air quality has been adversely affected.
• Implications for Renewable Energy Development for Alberta: Renewable energy generation is expected to approximately triple in the period 2022 – 2030. In Canada the wind, solar, and energy storage sectors grew by 11.2% in 2023 alone. The land that is needed to accomplish this growth may come at the expense of other land uses and the interests that they encompass. In some cases, conflict may arise with agricultural uses; in others with landscapes having high environmental values. Such concerns led the Alberta government to first place a seven-month moratorium on new renewable energy projects, followed by new restrictive policies on renewable energy development.
• Land Use Planning and the Alberta Nature Strategy: The Government of Alberta has held consultation toward the development of a made-in-Alberta nature strategy.  While the nature of the strategy is not yet known, one subject of consultations has been the role of land use planning in nature conservation. Alberta has employed regional land use planning intermittently for several decades, the most recent version being based in the Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA)of 2019. The ALSA planning process, however, has not been fully developed.
• Housing and Residential Development: Canada’s affordable housing crisis has reached a critical juncture, with a significant gap between housing supply and demand. Recent estimates suggest that the country is short by as many as 4 million homes, underscoring the severity of the issue. In response, federal and provincial governments have introduced a series of initiatives aimed at addressing this shortfall and increasing the housing supply.

Grant Streams

• One-Year Research Grant
• Micro Research Grant

Funding Information

• One-Year Research:
  • Grant One-year projects funded to a maximum of $50,000.
• Micro Research Grant
  • Up to a 6-month project – funded to a maximum of $10,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants (i.e., Principal Investigators) must be Tri-Agency eligible (eligible to apply for Tri-Agency funding, i.e. CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) through their respective academic institution.

Evaluation Criteria

• Funding will be based on overall academic merit. In addition, applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
  • Is the research proposal consistent with the purpose and objectives of the Institute and the topics outlined in the call for proposals?
  • Are the contributions of the research to the development of policy options or policy analysis clearly described?
  • Does the proposal clearly describe the research problem and the potential contribution to knowledge?
  • Are the methods clearly described and appropriate for the problem?
  • Does the research team have a strong record of achievement and sufficient experience?
  • To what degree will multiple research disciplines be engaged in the initiative? (Where applicable.)
  • To what degree will collaboration with stakeholders outside of academic institutions (i.e., government policy-makers, NGOs, land users) be engaged in the project?
  • Are there opportunities to build capacity by providing students with opportunities to engage in the research?
  • Are the budget allocations sufficient to complete the work?
  • Is the project feasible and appropriate given the objectives, budget, and methodology?
  • Is the budget appropriate?

For more information, visit University of Alberta.