Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
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Annual Funding of Grants

This page will be updated mid-September.

Communication of Competition Results

The Agency will do the following:

  • notify applicants (NSERC/SSHRC) or Nominated Principal Applicants (CIHR) of the outcome of their application;
  • provide applicants with copies of all available assessments of their application;
  • provide the results to the designated research and business officials in each institution for all applications submitted from their institution to the Agencies whether the application is submitted directly to the Granting Agency or through the institution.

Note: The above information is provided in the strictest confidence. The Agency does not publish or otherwise disclose details related to unsuccessful applications.

In addition, for successful applications only, the Agency will:

For details on other information about successful applications the Agency may post on its Web site, consult the relevant program and/or policy literature.

Payment of Grants

  • Most grant funds are paid through a Common Grant Account and sent directly to the institution's business officer for retention on the grantee's behalf. The institution, through its business officer, maintains control of the grant funds, disburses salaries and other expenditures authorized by the grantee and provides periodic reports to the grantee and to the Agency on the status of grant funds.
  • The institution must not disburse any funds on behalf of the grantee until all specified certification requirements required by the Agency, such as animal care, biohazards and ethics, have been met.
  • No grant funds can be released by the Agency until all payment conditions have been met, such as confirmation of receipt by institution of partner's contribution, activity reports, eligibility of applicants and environmental assessment.
  • Some grants are not paid through the Common Grant Account and are made directly to recipient institutions. In these cases, the terms and conditions of the administration of the funds are determined on an individual basis between the Agency and the recipient institution. The terms and conditions could include a memorandum of understanding, reporting requirements and method of payment.
  • To ensure that institutions have complete and accurate funding data on the grants they administer, the Agency will make a list that identifies all new grants and awards and continuing instalments available to the research grants officers and business officers at designated times of the year.
  • All subsequent instalments are subject to Parliamentary appropriations and the conditions that may be attached to them. The Agency reserves the right to defer or suspend subsequent instalments if the need for funds is not demonstrated.

Over-expenditures

The Agency is not responsible for funding expenditures or commitments by grantees that exceed grant funds applied to the grantee's credit at the institution for current and prior fiscal periods.

Continuing Eligibility

To comply with government policy, the Agency must confirm the grantee's continued eligibility before releasing future instalments to the institution. Once a year, the Agency will provide the institution's Research Office and Business Office with a listing of grant instalments for the next fiscal year at which time the institution will be required to confirm to the Agency that the grantees continue to meet the Agency’s eligibility criteria.

However, the institution must contact the Agency's Finance Division as soon as a grantee's eligibility changes at any time during tenure of the grant. These changes could include a change in position at the institution, a change from full-time to part-time status, a change to a term position during the course of the grant, or taking a position outside of Canada (academic or other).

Information pertaining to the documents to be submitted can be found on the Checklist for Confirming Continuing Eligibility.

Extension Period for Use of Funds Beyond a Grant Period

See chart below for a list of programs and extension periods.

  • For some programs, an extension is automatically given to allow the grantees to use funds remaining in their account for a set period following the funding expiry date of their grant. This period allows grantees to bring research activities to a close. Grantees may make and pay new commitments during the extension period but not beyond.
  • Other programs may allow extensions by request. For these programs, a written request must be submitted to the Agency's program staff before the funding expiry date of their NSERC or SSHRC grant, or 30 days before the end of the automatic extension period of their CIHR grant. The request must explain the need for an extension and provide a date when the research activities will be completed.
  • If the extension is not approved, the grantee has three months to pay all commitments made prior to the end of the grant period.
  • The “Authority to Use Funds Period” ends:
    • when the original grant reaches its expiry date;
    • when the extension period ends, whether automatic or approved;
    • three months following the expiry date of the original grant in the case where an extension has been requested, but not approved.
  • If funds remain in the account at the end of the Authority to Use Funds period, refer to the paragraph on "Residual Balances."
  • No requests for extensions will be considered after the account has been closed and any remaining balance has been returned to the Agency (CIHR only) or transferred to the institution’s General Research Fund (NSERC and SSHRC only).
  • It is the responsibility of the grantee to inform co-investigators, other concerned individuals and all involved research institutions of the outcome of extension requests.
  • No requests for extensions will be considered if the Institution Paid has not submitted a Form 300 for each period of the grant ending March 31.
Agency Automatic Extension Period
(1 Year)
Extension by Request Only
NSERC Discovery, Research Tools and Instruments – Categories 1, 2 and 3, Major Resources Support and Supplements to Discovery grants1, 2

Networks of Centres of Excellence

Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering, NSERC John C. Polanyi Award
Strategic Project grants, Strategic Network grants, Strategic Workshops Program, Collaborative Research and Development grants, Idea to Innovation, Research Partnership Agreements, Industrial Research Chairs, Intellectual Property Management program, Chairs in Design Engineering, College and Community Innovation Program, Northern Research Chairs, PromoScience grants and Perimeter Institute, Centres for Research in Youth, Science Teaching and Learning (CRYSTAL), Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering, NRC/NSERC/BDC Nanotechnology Initiative, Research Capacity Development in Small Universities Program, Ship Time, Special Research Opportunity Program (Collaborative Research Opportunities and International Opportunity Fund), Collaborative Health Research Project, Michael Smith Award and Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program
Agency Automatic Extension Period
(1 Year)
Extension by Request Only
SSHRC Aboriginal Research (Research Grants); Knowledge Impact in Society; Image, Text, Sound and Technology (Research,  Workshop/Conference/Summer Institute Grants); Management, Business and Finance (Research Grants, Knowledge Impact in Society, Public Outreach Grants); Northern Research Development Program; Research/Creation Grants in Fine Arts; Sport Participation Research Initiative (Research Grants); Standard Research Grants; Research Development Initiatives. Aboriginal Research (Development Grants); Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences; Aid to Small Universities (address requests to both Fellowships and Finance divisions); BOREAS; CISS Data Training Schools; Community-University Research Alliances; Forest Research Partnerships (CFS/ NSERC/SSHRC); Homelessness and Diversity Issues in Canada; Immigration and the Metropolis; Crossing Boundaries; Research Alliances; Research Grants; Public Outreach Grants; International Opportunities Fund; Major Collaborative Research Initiatives; Management, Business and Finance (International Opportunities Fund), Multiculturalism Issues in Canada (Research Grants); Industrial-Community-University Research Alliances; Ocean Management National Research Network; Official Languages Research and Dissemination (Research Grants; Workshop, Conference, and Virtual Scholar in Residence Grants); Presidential Fund for Innovation and Development; SSHRC Institutional Grants (address requests to both Fellowships and Finance divisions); Strategic Knowledge Clusters; The Social Economy Suite.
Agency Automatic Extension Period
(1 Year)
Extension by Request Only
(1 Year)
CIHR All grants1, 2, 3

The unspent balance of a grant does not lapse at the end of the grant period. Unless otherwise specified on the Authorization for Funding, grantees have a minimum of one additional fiscal year, beyond the expiry date of their grant, to use their unspent funds (i.e., up to March 31 of the next full fiscal year). This authority to use funds is provided to the end of CIHR's fiscal year.

This also applies for grants funded all in one year (unless otherwise specified on the Authorization for Funding).

For example:
  • if a funding expiry date is March 31, 2009, the automatic extension period will end on March 31, 2010;
  • if a funding expiry date is September 30, 2009, the automatic extension period will end on March 31, 2011.
All grants beyond the automatic one-year extension1, 2, 3

1 Additional extensions to the Authority to Use Funds period beyond the one-year automatic extension period will be considered only in the case of extended leaves of absence during the grant period or due to uncontrollable delays to project activities.
2 Grantees can submit another grant application and hold a new grant during the extension period.
3 Grantees must write to program staff for potential further extensions.
People Discovery Innovation