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Tri-agency financial administration

Summary of changes

CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC have revised the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration. A summary of the most significant changes appears below.

All changes are effective April 1, 2022.

Part 1: About this guide

Subsection	Nature of changes
Order of precedence and interpretation	The following take precedence over this guide and should be referred to when assessing if an expenditure is an appropriate use of grant funds.
Enquiries	Contact CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC directly for questions related to the use of grant funds: support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca usegrantfunds@nserc-crsng.gc.ca usegrantfunds@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Part 2: Use of grant funds

Subsection	Nature of changes
Travel and travel-related subsistence expenditures	Carbon offset As part of the Greening Government Strategy, travel expenditures may include the cost of carbon offset credits. Please refer to the Tri-agency carbon offset statement.
Gift, honoraria and incentives	Grant recipients and or individuals who conduct research independently as part of the terms and conditions of their employment, including but not limited to researchers in academia, hospitals and research institutes cannot receive honoraria from tri-agency grants.

Part 3: Financial matters

Subsection	Nature of changes
Authorization of grant expenditures	To ensure independent oversight and clear segregation of authorities, the individual approving grant expenditures (grant recipient or delegate) cannot be the same individual who is responsible for approving the resulting financial transaction(s).
Transfer of funds	Notes: agency-specific requirements NSERC and SSHRC permit the transfer of grant funds to co-applicants and co-directors, but not to collaborators.
Deferral of grant instalments	The agencies review the reported fund balances from the annual Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account (form 300) and/or the Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account - College and Community Innovation (CCI) program (form 301) provided by the grant recipient.
Extension period for the authority to use grant funds	The agencies will not consider requests for extensions if the administering institution has not submitted a Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account (form 300) and/or the Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account - College and Community Innovation (CCI) program (form 301) for each of the grant's fiscal periods.
Extension period for the authority to use grant funds Table 1 - NSERC (Alliance Grants)	Automatic extensions do not apply to special Alliance call funded jointly with other organization unless specifically mentioned in the special call literature. Alliance grant recipients may submit a request for an extension to the automatic extension for 1 calendar year (i.e., 12 months), under the following circumstances only: Extended leaves of absence during the grant period Uncontrollable delays to funded research/activities 1 calendar year (i.e., 12 months from the expiry date)
Extension period for the authority to use grant funds Table 1 - NSERC (CCI)	Adding CCI program to the list Applied Research and Technology Partnership grants
Extension period for the authority to use grant funds Table 1 - SSHRC	New funding program Race, Gender and Diversity Two calendar years (i.e., 24 months from the funding expiry date: if an expiry is February 28, 2025, the extension period will end on February 28, 2027)
Residual balances in the grant account	Primary administering institutions are responsible for providing the relevant agency with the final Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account (form 300) and/or the Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account - College and Community Innovation (CCI) program (form 301).
Residual balances in the grant account	CIHR Any residual balance remaining in the grant account must be returned to the agency by direct deposit or by means of a cheque made payable to the Receiver General for Canada.
Residual balances in the grant account	NSERC and SSHRC The following conditions must be met for the transfer to be authorized by the agencies: The requested residual balance transfer must be for a funding opportunity found in the Table of Agencies' Programs Eligible for a Transfer to the Institution's General Research Funds (GRF) Account or a Refund; residual balances that cannot be transferred to the GRF must be returned to the agency by direct deposit or by means of a cheque payable to the Receiver General for Canada.
Residual balances in the grant account	NSERC and SSHRC The administering institution has completed the annual reconciliation of active grants and submitted the Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account (form 300) and/or the Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account - College and Community Innovation (CCI) program (form 301) before the transfer to the GRF.
Residual balances in the grant account	NSERC and SSHRC The administering institution has spent at least 50% of the GRF opening balance during the current year; if not, new requests for transfers will be put on hold and the institution must demonstrate a tangible need for additional funds; if no rationale is provided, a reimbursement of the residual funds is required by direct deposit or by means of a cheque payable to the Receiver General for Canada.
Annual reporting Annual statement of account expenditures	The administering institutions are responsible for completing, approving and submitting an annual statement of account expenditures to the relevant agency using the agency's Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account (form 300) and/or the Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account - College and Community Innovation (CCI) program (form 301), for every grant for the period ending March 31 of each year. The administering institution must return the form by June 30.
Annual reporting Annual statement of account expenditures	The administering institutions are responsible for retaining a copy of the form 300 and/or form 301, signed by the grant recipient and the administering institution, for at least seven years.
Annual reporting Annual statement of account expenditures	Administering institutions that use the online Financial Data Submission and Reconciliation (FDSR) system are not required to return the annual reconciliation report to the relevant agency.
Annual reporting Annual statement of account expenditures	The grant recipients are responsible for reviewing and signing the completed form 300 and/or form 301.
Annual reporting Final statement of account expenditures	The administering institutions are responsible for providing the relevant agency with the final form 300 and/or form 301 for all grants that have expired.
Annual reporting Final statement of account expenditures	The grant recipients are responsible for reviewing and signing the completed final form 300 and/or form 301.

Part 4: Intellectual property and other tri-agency funding-related policies

Subsection	Nature of changes
Policies for grant recipients and administering institutions Other tri-agency policies	Tri-agency policy on the use of funds for federal government employees applying to granting agency programs

Part 6: Administrative changes

Subsection	Nature of changes
For questions related to administrative changes:	CIHR: support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca NSERC: grantsadministration@nserc-crsng.gc.ca SSHRC: grantsadministration@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Continuing eligibility Ongoing eligibility	Upon notification that a grant recipient's status has changed, the agency will conduct a review to determine the continued eligibility of the grant recipient. Upon notification that a grant recipient is no longer eligible to hold an agency grant, the agencies will consider the situation with a view to providing the grant recipient a set time frame to re-establish eligibility prior to terminating the grant. Grant funds cannot be used until an eligible status has been confirmed.

Appendix 1

Subsection	Nature of changes
Definition of terms	Co-director: definition is agency-specific. Please refer to the appropriate agency's website. SSHRC definition

Reference documents

Subsection	Nature of changes
Grant Amendment Form	Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account - College and Community Innovation (CCI) program (form 301)

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