The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI's mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians.

Since it was created in 1997 the CFI has been entrusted with $3.65 billion by the Government of Canada. The CFI normally funds up to 40 percent of a project’s infrastructure costs which are invested in partnership with eligible institutions and their funding partners from the public, private, and voluntary sectors who provide the remainder. Based on this formula, the total capital investment by the CFI, the research institutions, and their partners, will exceed $11 billion by 2010.