The Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), Northern Health (NH) and University of Northern BC (UNBC) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on November 12, 2013 to collaborate in establishing a mutually beneficial research partnership for northern BC. The UNBC Health Research Institute (HRI) serves as the Secretariat to support PHSA, NH and UNBC in their commitment to enhance research collaboration between the three organizations.

This partnership is guided by the following principles:

• Attends to the needs and realities of northern British Columbia in the overall context of British Columbia, including issues of equity, diversity, and inclusivity. 
• Builds sustainable research capacity in the North, for the North. 
• Builds capacity for partnered research and leaves a legacy of capacity across all three organizations. 
• A research-based collaborative relationship for the purpose of improving the quality of health services and improving population health. 
• Attends to the issues of sustainability of each party's contribution to the research partnership. 
• Recognizes and respects the intellectual property rights of individual researchers and each Partner. 
• Mutual respect and acknowledgement of the skills and expertise each Partner brings to the partnership. 
• Open and transparent communication between the Partners. 

Collaboration for Health Research In Northern BC Seed Grant Program

The goal of the Seed Grant Program is to enable researchers and knowledge users at PHSA, NH and UNBC to work in partnership and initiate new research projects that focus on improving the quality of health services and improving population health in northern BC.