April 21, 2020
Given the ever-evolving circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC recognize that grant recipients and/or research team members may continue to incur ongoing research costs, as well as incremental costs that would not normally be incurred (for example, compensation and travel) related to agency-funded research activities. The agencies would like to remain as flexible as possible to support grant recipients during this time and acknowledge that some of these costs may be eligible to be paid from agency grant funds. The agencies will therefore defer to administering institutions to determine if incremental costs are consistent with the principles and directives set out in the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration (and if they are, then those expenses will still be eligible to be paid from grant funds).
The agencies also understand that not all planned research activities are possible as research institutions are closed requiring that the majority of people work remotely, if they are able to work at all. The agencies consider that continuing to pay any members of the research team, eligible to be paid from an agency grant, is an eligible expense in the context of COVID-19 (and that these individuals should continue to be paid).
For Queen’s researchers: Any questions regarding expense eligibility can be sent to research.accounting@queensu.ca
This information is also available on each agency's page at:
- CIHR: FAQs - Impact of COVID-19 / Will CIHR fund ongoing and incremental costs incurred by funded research activities during the COVID-19 pandemic?
- NSERC: Other general program information / Funding ongoing and incremental costs of research activities during the COVID-19 pandemic
- SSHRC: Latest COVID-19 news from SSHRC / Funding ongoing and incremental costs of research activities during the COVID-19 pandemic