Fair taxes, child advocacy, violence prevention, Indigenous youth research receive federal funding

Four University of Calgary researchers have received funding through the 2025 Partnership Development Grants program from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), supporting collaborative research projects with advocacy centres, school divisions, Indigenous communities and community organizations.  

The funded projects span three faculties: Faculty of Social Work, Werklund School of Education and Faculty of Arts, reflecting the breadth of UCalgary’s community-engaged research.   

All four projects will seek to answer questions that the communities ask daily. Over the coming years, researchers will work alongside community partners to build evidence that informs practice, policy and decision making. 

“Research in the social sciences and humanities is the cornerstone of a resilient, forward-thinking society,” said Karim Bardeesy, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Industry, making the announcement on behalf of the Hon. Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry. “By supporting these projects, we are empowering scholars to develop the vital insights and collaborative solutions needed to build a more resilient, equitable and innovative future for everyone.”  

The grants provide one to three years of support to develop and test new partnership approaches, bringing together researchers and the organizations, practitioners and communities working directly on complex social issues.  

Four projects, four partnerships  

Transforming Muslim Masculinities: Building Capacity and Advancing Men's Engagement in Culturally Grounded Prevention of Violence Against Women  

Dr. Aamir Jamal, PhD’13, associate professor, Faculty of Social Work  

Building on an earlier SSHRC-funded study across six Muslim-majority countries, this project expands the work into five more, spanning North Africa, Southeast Asia and South Asia, bringing the program of research to 11 countries in total. The project examines how local cultural and religious contexts shape understandings of masculinity and how those perspectives can support efforts to prevent violence against women. The work will produce a prevention training manual grounded in community-based practice, rather than models imported from elsewhere.  

“Too often, Muslim men are viewed through the narrow lens of stereotypes,” says Jamal. “This research shifts the conversation by listening to men across 11 Muslim-majority countries and examining how diverse cultural, religious and social contexts can foster transformative masculinities. At its heart is the concept of ‘Thinking Men,’ men who critically examine inherited norms and choose care, justice, responsibility and accountability, becoming reflective and courageous partners in preventing violence against women and advancing gender justice.”  

Measuring What Matters: Towards a Contextual Understanding and Assessment of Multidisciplinary Responses to Child Abuse at Canadian Child and Youth Advocacy Centres   

Dr. Gina Dimitropoulos, PhD, professor, Faculty of Social Work, Research Excellence Chair in System-level Interventions for Equitable and Accessible Youth Mental Health Services  

Child and youth advocacy centres bring services together in one place for young people under 18 who have experienced abuse, and for their non-offending family members. Together with UCalgary Social Work, Luna, Calgary's youth advocacy centre, established the Kindex Research and Knowledge Centre, which now connects eight academic institutions and seven advocacy centres.  

Although the advocacy-centre model is widely endorsed, consensus on how and what to measure about the services provided is lacking. Led by Kindex, this project will work with centres across the country to agree on a national minimum dataset: a shared, trauma-informed and culturally safe approach to measuring and understanding the services advocacy centres provide.  

“This research has the potential to strengthen how child and youth advocacy centres across Canada understand and improve the services they provide,” says Dimitropoulos. “By collaboratively developing a shared, trauma-informed and culturally safe approach to data collection, we are aiming to build the evidence needed to inform practice, policy and more equitable supports for children, youth and families impacted by maltreatment. 
 
“I am particularly excited about the opportunity to bring together researchers, practitioners, community partners and people with lived experience to better understand what works, for whom and under what conditions. This will help ensure services continue to evolve in ways that are responsive to and grounded in the voices of youth and families.”  

Intercultural Youth Exchange: Why can't school be like this?  

Dr. Jennifer Markides, MEd’13, PhD’20, associate professor, Werklund School of Education, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Youth Wellbeing and Education  

The question in this project's title comes from Indigenous youth themselves, who described gatherings hosted by the Students Commission of Canada as transformational and asked why school could not feel the same way.   

This project will explore how culturally grounded, youth-led learning experiences can support belonging, well-being and educational engagement. Working with Indigenous communities and the Students Commission of Canada, the Intercultural Youth Exchange will bring young people together for a week-long gathering designed by youth and centered on Indigenous languages, cultural teachings and land-based learning.  

Participants will earn graduation credit for their learning while helping researchers understand how these experiences can inform future educational approaches. 

Fair and Accountable Canadian Taxation (FACT): The Fair Tax Initiative  

Dr. Lindsay Tedds, PhD, professor, Faculty of Arts  

This partnership brings together researchers from UCalgary, Carleton University and Université de Sherbrooke, along with the Canadian Tax Observatory and Social Capital Partners. The project is building evidence on who bears Canada's tax burden, what public spending is worth and what administrative barriers prevent Canadians from accessing benefits they are entitled to. By improving understanding of how taxes and benefits function in practice, the partnership aims to support more transparent public policy and strengthen trust in public institutions. 

“Taxes are how we fund everything we share as a society, but Canada's tax system has become so complex and fragmented that most people can't see how it works or whether it treats them fairly,” says Tedds. “That erosion of understanding is also an erosion of trust in government itself. What excites me most is that this work doesn't stop at publication. It's designed from the outset to reach the public and policymakers alike, and to outlast the grant that funded it.”