NSERC Alliance Quantum Grants 2026: What Canadian Applicants Need Before October 5

Eligible applicants invited to continue from the letter-of-intent stage must submit the full Alliance Quantum application by October 5, 2026, before 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
The application is submitted through NSERC’s online system and must use the call-specific proposal template, Form 101, applicant CCV information, and any required security forms.
Partner organizations do not need to provide cash, but they must play an active role and contribute meaningful in-kind support to the project.

What the NSERC Alliance Quantum deadline means

The 2026 NSERC Alliance Quantum grants call is open for Canadian university researchers developing or advancing quantum technologies through partnerships with private, public, or not-for-profit organizations.

The key date now approaching is October 5, 2026, before 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. This is the deadline for the full application, not the earlier letter of intent. Only applicants whose letter of intent was accepted by NSERC can move forward to the full application stage.

The letter-of-intent deadline was July 27, 2026. NSERC says accepted letters of intent were converted into full Form 101 applications in the applicant’s portfolio by August 19, 2026. If you submitted an LOI and have not yet located the converted application, contact your institution’s research grants office and review your NSERC portfolio rather than starting a separate application.

The opportunity supports grants of $100,000 to $650,000 per year for up to two years. NSERC can cover 100% of eligible research costs, but the application remains competitive and funding is not automatic.

Review the official NSERC Alliance Quantum grants call

Who can apply and what projects qualify

The principal applicant must be a Canadian university researcher eligible to receive NSERC funds. Eligible academic co-applicants may join the project, and college faculty or certain adjunct professors may participate as co-applicants when they meet NSERC’s requirements.

The project must support at least one mission of Canada’s National Quantum Strategy. Eligible technology areas include:

Quantum algorithms and encryption, including post-quantum cryptography
Quantum communications
Quantum computing
Quantum materials
Quantum sensing

A proposal can connect quantum technology with other natural sciences and engineering research, but the main thrust still needs to advance one or more National Quantum Strategy missions. Projects that do not meet that basic alignment will not be considered.

At least one partner organization must be involved. Partners may come from the private, public, or not-for-profit sectors. NSERC does not require partner cash contributions for this call, but each partner must contribute actively through research participation, access to equipment or data, staff time, knowledge mobilization, or another meaningful in-kind contribution.

At least one partner should also have a demonstrated ability to use, apply, or otherwise exploit the project’s results. That connection should be clear in the partnership section rather than left for reviewers to infer.

What the grant can cover

Alliance Quantum funding is intended for direct research costs and related training and collaboration activities. Eligible expenses can include student and postdoctoral salaries, research staff, materials, supplies, knowledge mobilization, technology-transfer activities, and essential equipment.

This is not an infrastructure grant. Equipment must be essential to the research objectives and incremental to equipment already available at the university or partner location. If total equipment costs, including operation and maintenance for new and existing equipment, exceed $400,000 over the project, you must secure another funding source to complement NSERC support.

The application should also include a meaningful training component for undergraduate or graduate students or postdoctoral researchers. Research professionals alone do not satisfy that requirement.

Project management expenses may be eligible up to 10% of total direct research costs, but the need must be explained in the budget justification. Costs connected with collaborations outside the natural sciences and engineering can represent up to 30% of project costs covered by NSERC and must be clearly identified.

Full-application checklist for October 5

Before submitting, confirm that your application includes the pieces NSERC expects for this specific call:

Converted Form 101: Select the application created from your accepted LOI. The title should match the title created at the LOI stage.
Call-specific proposal template: Use the Alliance Quantum grants template for this call. Do not casually redesign its headings, bullet text, font, margins, or spacing.
Personal data forms: The applicant and all co-applicants need the NSERC Form 100A with Canadian Common CV attachment.
Partner information: Make sure each partner’s authorized contact has completed the required partner organization information.
Security risk assessment: If the project includes one or more private-sector partners, complete the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships risk assessment and mitigation information when applicable.
STRAC attestations: Because the call concerns sensitive technology areas, the applicant, co-applicants, and collaborators must complete the required attestation forms.
Budget and justification: Enter planned spending by year and explain why each major cost is necessary.
Institutional approval: Leave enough time for your research grants office to review and submit the application.

NSERC’s application instructions list the full set of Form 101 components and explain which forms apply to different partnerships and research teams.

Download the STRAC attestation form

Download the National Security Guidelines risk assessment form

Complete the NSERC Form 100A instructions
Read the official Form 101 application instructions

Proposal page limits and evaluation criteria

The maximum proposal length depends on the average annual amount requested from NSERC. For requests of $100,000 to $300,000 per year, the maximum is 11 pages, or 13.2 pages for French content. For requests above $300,000 and up to $650,000 per year, the maximum is 22 pages, or 26.4 pages for French content.

Those limits include the NSERC template text. Pages beyond the limit may be removed and not considered. NSERC may return or reject an application that exceeds the maximum.

Proposal area	What reviewers need to understand
Background	Why the problem matters and how it connects to the call
Partnership	What each partner contributes and why the collaboration is necessary
Research plan	Clear objectives, methods, milestones, and expected results
Team	Why the researchers and partner participants can deliver the work
Training plan	How trainees will gain research and professional skills
Impacts and benefits to Canada	How results could create economic, social, environmental, or other benefits

These areas map closely to NSERC’s review criteria: partnership, research plan and team, training, and impact and benefits to Canada. A strong technical idea is not enough if the partner role, trainee experience, or path to Canadian benefits is vague.

How to submit the full application

Use NSERC’s online system and select the Form 101 application that was converted from your accepted letter of intent. The relevant program is Alliance Grants, and the application title should be the one created at the LOI stage.

Complete the proposal template and the remaining Form 101 sections, attach the required forms, and invite or confirm co-applicants and partner contacts as needed. Your institution’s research grants office must submit the application to NSERC, so its internal deadline may be earlier than October 5.

Do not wait until the final afternoon to resolve missing co-applicant forms, security attestations, partner details, or institutional approvals. The official deadline is before 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, and a late institutional submission can still cause you to miss the agency deadline.

NSERC Online services

What happens after submission

NSERC first performs an administrative assessment to check whether the application is complete and follows the requirements. Eligible applications then proceed to merit assessment through peer review. Reviewers may include experts from universities, government, private organizations, and not-for-profit organizations.

Applications involving private-sector partners may also undergo a research-security risk assessment. NSERC says risks that cannot be appropriately mitigated will not be funded.

The current NSERC deadline table lists a notification period of approximately 24 weeks for this Alliance Quantum call. That is an estimated notification timeline, not a promise of an award date.

Common problems to resolve before the deadline

Confusing the LOI with the full application

The July 27 letter of intent was a mandatory first step. It was not the final proposal. If NSERC accepted your LOI, use the converted Form 101 in your portfolio and expand it into the full application.

Changing the dedicated template

NSERC specifically requires the call-specific Alliance Quantum proposal template. Keep its required text and formatting intact, and make sure your content fits within the applicable page limit.

Assuming partner cash is required

Cash contributions are not required for this call. Active participation and in-kind support are still required, however, and partner involvement affects the merit assessment.

Forgetting security forms

Private-sector partnerships can trigger the National Security Guidelines risk assessment. The quantum focus also means the applicant, co-applicants, and collaborators need to review the STRAC attestation requirement.

Missing the internal university deadline

NSERC receives the application through the institution’s research grants office. Ask your office for its internal cutoff now, because it may be several days or weeks earlier than October 5.

If you are an invited applicant, the safest next step is to open the converted Form 101, compare every required section against the official instructions, and confirm your university’s internal submission date before finalizing the proposal.

Helpful Links

NSERC Alliance Quantum grants call for proposals – Verify the official eligibility rules, funding range, application steps, deadline, review process, and required resources.
Instructions for completing an Alliance Quantum grant application – Form 101 – Review the required Form 101 sections, page limits, budget guidance, applicant forms, and supporting documents.
NSERC online services – Access the NSERC On-line System login and related application support resources.
NSERC application deadlines and notification of decision – Confirm the listed October 5, 2026 deadline and the estimated notification timeline.
NSERC research security resources – Review research-security guidance, risk-assessment resources, and related government tools.
Personal data form with CCV attachment — form 100A: instructions – Official page referenced in the article.
The National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships’ Risk Assessment Form – Official page referenced in the article.
Attestation for Research Aiming to Advance Sensitive Technology Research Areas – Official page referenced in the article.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can a researcher submit a full Alliance Quantum application without an accepted letter of intent?

A. No. NSERC identifies the letter of intent as a mandatory first step for this call. Applicants whose LOI was not accepted cannot submit a full application for the October 5, 2026 deadline.

Q. Do Alliance Quantum partners have to contribute cash?

A. No. Cash contributions are not required for this call, but partner organizations must actively participate and provide meaningful in-kind support. At least one partner must also have a demonstrated ability to use or exploit the project’s results.

Q. What happens if equipment costs exceed $400,000?

A. If total equipment costs, including operation and maintenance for new and already available equipment, exceed $400,000 over the project, the applicants must secure another funding source to complement NSERC support.

Q. Is the October 5 deadline the same for every university?

A. October 5, 2026, before 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, is the NSERC deadline. Universities can set earlier internal deadlines so their research grants offices have time to review and submit the application.