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July 10, 2025

The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, today announced research funding from several Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council programs. $4.2 million will help UVic researchers advance their work on health, climate, environment and social justice.

SSHRC 2024 Partnership Grant

Sean Holman, Wayne Crookes Professor of Environmental and Climate Journalism, has received $2.5 million to build and expand on the award-winning  *Sarah Marie Wiebe, School of Public Administration, is a member of the Climate Disaster Project team.

SSHRC 2024 Partnership Development Grants

Faculty of Social Sciences researchers include:

• Min Zhou, sociology, “Lived Experiences of China’s Rural-to-Urban Migrants: The Interplay of Migration Processes and Policy Environments” (The research findings will contribute to better-informed public debates on China’s controversial household registration or “hukou” system, shrinking population and shifting fertility policy, inequitable urbanization, and social and health inequalities)

• Donn Feir, economics, “Understanding Group-Based Inequality in Canadian Labour Markets: Indigeneity, Gender, and Change” (This research has the potential to empower Indigenous and federal and provincial governments to better serve Indigenous nations by identifying what seems to drive Indigenous economic opportunities, the unique challenges facing Indigenous women, and documenting how earnings and total income measures reflect the actual lived economic realities of Indigenous peoples.)

• Jutta Gutberlet, geography, “Co-Planning of Climate Adaptation and Just Transition Strategies for Waste Pickers in Brazil” (The study will further investigate how principles of a just transition can be applied to protect and integrate waste pickers into broader climate resilience efforts.)

• , “Climate Mitigation: What role for forest carbon sequestration?”

SSHRC 2025 Insight Development Grants

Faculty of Social Sciences researchers include:

• Donn Feir, economics, “The Causal Effects of Foster Care Placement on Children and their Caregivers in British Columbia. (This project aims to estimate the causal effect of placing a child in foster care on the child and their caregivers, focusing on how these effects may have changed over time in BC, Canada.)

• Nigel Mantou Lou, psychology, “Exploring the potential of an AI-powered wellness app to enhance migrant students' social-emotional and academic adaptation: The moderating role of AI acceptance."

• Ke Xu, economics, “Optimal Portfolio with Sustainable Development Goals” (Research explores how the profits generated by AI-driven businesses can be more equitably allocated through financial markets. I aim to develop mechanisms that ensure these gains contribute to broader societal goals, including reducing inequality and promoting sustainable development.)

• Justin Wiltshire, economics, “The impact of international students on Canadian labour and housing markets”

“The variety of these projects reflects the scope of our aspirations to positively impact people’s lives, both locally and beyond,” says Alexandra D’Arcy, associate vice-president of research at UVic. “This funding helps researchers at the ßÉßɱ¬ÁÏ continue to develop novel applications and solutions to a broad range of urgent societal challenges.”

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