Reporting and Supporting Evidence

Progress Reporting

Progress reports (or final reports) will be required for CCI grants. Details on the requirements for progress and final reports will be forwarded to the institutions with the award letter.

Financial Reporting

• Institutions are required to submit an annual statement of account to the Agency, signed by a financial officer and the authorized representative designated by the institution, for every individual grant for the period ending March 31 of each year using the Agency's  Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account – College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program (Form 301).
• In addition to the Form 301, each institution must review a reconciliation report provided by the Agency's Finance Division. The institution must return the Form 301, as well as the reconciliation report, by June 30 for the period ending March 31.
• Institutions are required to submit other financial reports as requested by the Agency.

Supporting Evidence

For each grant, the institution and/or the authorized representative must keep complete and accurate records on the use of Agency funding, including verifiable audit trails with complete supporting documentation for each transaction, for a minimum of seven years.

The authorized representative is responsible for authorizing expenditures from the CCI grant account in accordance with the Agency's requirements and conditions of grants, and with the institution's policies. No other party may initiate or authorize expenditures from a CCI grant account without the authorized representative's written delegated authority. All claims must have the authorized representative or delegate's signature. The signatures certify that:

• all expenditures on the claim are for the purpose for which the grant was awarded;
• all expenditures on the claim are eligible expenses;
• all goods and/or services have been received;
• the charges included have not been claimed for reimbursement from other sources; and
• reimbursements for expenditures received from other sources or institutions will be disclosed to the administering institution.

Institutions must be able to provide supporting documentation for all expenditures charged to each of their grant accounts with justification where the link to the funded research is not evident.

Supporting documentation should include:       

• Salaries or stipends paid to research personnel:
  • signed records regarding personnel paid from grant funds, including names, categories, salary levels and payee's affiliation with the grant;
  • length of time supported in each case;
  • details of employee benefits charged and relevant calculations.
• Equipment and supplies:
  • supplier invoices indicating details of purchases;
  • prices paid.
• Internal expense allocations or shared expenditures:
  • documentation indicating the exact charge being made;
  • the method of calculation or attribution;
  • the authorized representative's authorization for those allocations or expenditures being assigned to the CCI account.
• Hospitality for networking and research-related activities:
  • the date(s) of the event(s);
  • number of participants ;
  • the purpose of the event;
  • counter signature by the authorized representative’s supervisor for hospitality expenses claimed by the authorized representative.
• Incentives paid for research recruitment and participation:
  • supplier invoices indicating details of incentive purchases;
  • the application to the Research Ethics Board (REB) detailing incentive plan (method of distribution, value of incentives, number of people receiving incentive);
  • the REB approval of the incentive;
  • proof of payment of incentives (e.g. signed receipt, coded list of recipients, attestation of researcher and/or others involved in incentive payment).

Individuals claiming travel-related expenses from a grant must prepare a separate claim for each trip. These claims must also conform to the standard travel policies and procedures of the authorized representative's institution. For claimants other than the authorized representative, the affiliation with the authorized representative's research group must be specified. If the traveller is a student, the claim must be signed by the authorized representative. In the event that the traveller is the authorized representative, the claim must be countersigned by the traveller's supervisor confirming the relevance of the travel to the grant.

The travel claim must include the following information:

• purpose of trip and link to the research;
• dates and destinations (person or organization visited);
• official supporting documentation (e.g., prospectus or program indicating the dates of conferences and workshops);
• details of daily claims for expenditures relating to those visits;
• details of any vehicle used;
• receipts, such as hotel invoices and car rental agreements (credit cards slips and confirmation of reservations are not valid receipts); and
• air travel ticket receipts and boarding passes (if available), or any other evidence that supports the claimed travel expenses. (e.g., a written attestation from the authorized representative).