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Agencies to pay postdoctoral fellows through Canadian host institutions
General news Students
July 26, 2021
Effective , new postdoctoral fellows of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) will be paid through their eligible Canadian host institutions. Postdoctoral fellows holding their awards outside of Canada will continue to be paid directly by the agencies.
This new payment method was developed as part of tri-agency efforts to harmonize payment processes across our funding opportunities, and in consideration of ongoing feedback from the postdoctoral community and Canadian postsecondary research institutions.
This change will support ongoing stakeholder requests for NSERC and SSHRC to formalize the relationship between fellows and their host institutions and promote more active inclusion of these award holders within the Canadian research landscape. The agencies will be working with Canadian institutions and stakeholder organizations over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition to this updated payment approach.
NSERC and SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships will continue to be paid as a stipend. As such, no portion of these fellowships can be withheld by the institution without the prior consent of the award holder, except for taxation purposes. Award holders will continue to negotiate the specifics of institutional support with their eligible Canadian host institution.
This new approach to payments will apply only to postdoctoral fellows who start their awards at an eligible Canadian host institution on or after , and will not affect current award holders.
For any questions, please contact harmonization@cgs-besc.gc.ca
