The Montreal Interuniversity Nursing Research Group, or GRISIM, founded in April 2003, consisted of researchers from the University of Montreal's Faculty of Nursing and McGill University's School of Nursing. The collaboration of these academic and research bodies was not new; they had worked closely together in the past on several activities, including a joint doctoral program established in 1993-1994.

Various factors contributed to the organization's foundation. First, the Quebec Health Research Fund (FRSQ), increasingly aware of developments in nursing research and the contributions such research made to improving public health, increased its support for nursing research. Second, Richard Satoko Ingram, founder and director of the Newton Foundation, had decided to allocate funds for the development of nursing research in Montreal. That commitment was based on the observation that the work of Canada's nurses was undervalued, and nurses were not receiving enough funding to help them advance knowledge in their field. The Foundation hoped to rectify this situation by creating partnerships with granting agencies.

Mr. Ingram was the main catalyst in creating and funding GRISIM; he approached the FRSQ and suggested a partnership between the Foundation, the FRSQ and Quebec's Department of Health and Social Services to fund nursing research.

In 2004, GRISIM received a grant from the FRSQ that was renewed on two occasions: once in 2005 and once in 2008, for the purpose of establishing GRIISIQ.  Now boasting two new more partners - the University of Sherbrooke's School of Nursing and University Laval's Faculty of Nursing - the Group is continuing to grow, enhance its program of scientific and outreach activities, and enjoy a truly international reputation.