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, 2023.
Part 2: Use of grant funds
| Subsection | Nature of changes |
|---|---|
| Principles governing the appropriate use of grant funds |
|
Part 3: Financial matters
| Subsection | Nature of changes |
|---|---|
| Transfer of funds | Notes: Agency-specific requirements CIHR permits the transfer of grant funds to individuals supporting the grant activities at other locations, including but not limited to principal applicants. |
| Extension period for the authority to use grant funds Table 1 - NSERC College and Community Innovation program (all funding opportunities) |
The grant recipient may submit a request for an extension to the automatic extension by 1 additional calendar year (i.e., 12 months), under the following circumstances only:
|
Part 4: Intellectual property and other tri-agency funding-related policies
| Subsection | Nature of changes |
|---|---|
| Intellectual property |
CIHR: Intellectual Property and Patents NSERC: Intellectual Property SSHRC: Intellectual Property and Copyright |
Part 5: Provisions for leaves from grant activities
| Subsection | Nature of changes |
|---|---|
| Leaves (grant recipient) | Leaves for research, career, personal or professional development (grant recipient) |
Part 6: Administrative changes
| Subsection | Nature of changes |
|---|---|
| Termination of a grant | The Agencies are responsible for authorizing the termination of a grant when the grant recipient no longer meets the eligibility criteria as per the Continuing eligibility section or is unable to carry out the grant responsibilities. The Agencies may also authorize the termination of an institutional grant when the conditions under which the funding was awarded are no longer being met. |
Appendix 1
| Subsection | Nature of changes |
|---|---|
| Definition of terms | Applicant: This definition is agency specific. Please refer to the appropriate agency’s website. CIHR definition NSERC definition SSHRC definition |
| Definition of terms | Authority to use funds (ATUF) period: the period during which grant funds are to be expended, between the start date of the grant as noted on the formal notification of the award and the end date of the grant; this period also includes automatic extensions (as noted in Table 1: Programs with automatic extensions by agency) or any other requests for an extension. |
| Definition of terms | Equipment: Any item (or interrelated collection of items comprising a system) of tangible and intangible (software, licenses, etc.) property which is used wholly or in part for research. |
Appendix 3: Forms
Tri-agency logos
