Canada Research Continuity Emergency Funds

The Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF) was announced on May 15, 2020, as part of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. The temporary program has been established to help sustain the research enterprise at Canadian universities and health research institutions that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected that the program will help reduce negative impacts of the pandemic and ensure that the benefits of significant investments to date in universities and health research institutions are protected. This will maintain Canada’s international competitiveness in the global, knowledge-based economy, and contribute to Canadians’ health and social and cultural life, as well as the health of Canada’s natural environment. Full program details are available at: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/crcef-fucrc/index-eng.aspx

The University of Regina received an initial grant of $261,905 and a second-round grant of $115,679. The process for distribution of funds can be found below.  The University will contact individual researchers to advise them of the amount of their wage subsidy along with relevant guidelines.

Senior official responsible for ensuring the program’s requirements are followed:
Kathleen McNutt, Vice-President: Research

 
Guidelines and application for Stage 3

The Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF) has announced guidelines for Phase 3 of the program, which supports direct costs incurred between March 15 and November 15, 2020 associated with maintenance and ramp-up of research activities. Only costs that are exceptional and incremental to those already covered by existing sources of funds will be supported, at up to 75%.  Expenses are not restricted by source of funding. If you believe you have expenses related to either of these activities, please fill out the Excel application form.

 It is important to note two things:

  1. The onus is on the researcher to clearly state how the expense is exceptional and incremental. The Committee will not seek additional information from what is provided on the form.
  2. Because the eligible expenses can be varied and are not restricted by type of funding, neither the Research Office nor Financial Services will be able to generate a list of potential expenses. This was only possible in Stage 1 and 2 because only wages from non-governmental sources were eligible for support.

 The applications for funding will be reviewed by the same committee that reviewed Stage 1 and 2 requests. If eligible expenses exceed funds available, the CRCEF Stage 3 grant to the UofR will be distributed proportionally across requests. This method was chosen to eliminate any kind of value judgement between projects.

 Applications are due November 20, 2020.  For questions related to the program, please contact Sally.Gray@uregina.ca 

CRCEF Stage 3 application (13KB).xls

Decision-making process for distribution of funds for CRCEF

The University of Regina has approximately 750 research personnel. Prior to March 15, 2020, there were 60 personnel eligible for support from this program.

 The University of Regina is committed to the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion in managing CRCEF funds. This commitment is foundational to the steps outlined below. 

 1)  Committee formed:

  • Chair: Chris Yost, Associate Vice-President: Research
  • James D’Arcy, University Registrar
  • Bob Gilongos, Research Financial Analyst
  • Emily Grafton, Indigenous Research Lead
  • Sally Gray, Director, Research Officer
  • Pauline Street, EDI Officer for Research

 2)  Representation: More than one of the equity-seeking groups are represented within the committee. Members have received unconscious bias training. The EDI Officer for Research did not identify any barriers with this process.

 3)  A transparent process was used to identify possible eligible wage expenses. An email was sent to the research
list-serve at the University of Regina with an application form, explaining the program, giving a link to the program page, and inviting those who thought they had eligible expenses to apply. In addition, the University ran payroll reports and fund reports to identify potential eligible sources of research funds. Principal Investigators on each of those projects were notified and invited to apply. Further emails were sent to deans and research centre directors in an attempt to capture individuals whose positions are funded by research overhead or user fees.

 4)  Applications received and projects identified were analyzed for eligibility (both source of funds and time period of wages paid) by S. Gray and B. Gilongos and presented to the committee. The committee chose to allocate available funds proportionally rather than choose which applications it would support. This safeguarded against bias concerning ability of individual to work during the pandemic as well as potential bias with respect to research type or subject matter.

 5)  Where demand exceeded supply, the university noted this by applying for Stage 2 funding. Any funds received will be distributed in the same manner, i.e. proportionally across research projects.

6)  Stage 3 process – An email was sent to the list-serve at the University of Regina and posted on the CRCEF web page. Applications for Stage 3 were reviewed by the Research Office and Research Financial Analysts for an initial assessment of eligibility based on program criteria and rationale provided by the researchers. Findings were reviewed by the Committee before final award decisions were made, to ensure that the research of individuals who self-identify as having been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic was considered for funding at a rate equal to other research projects.  Because the overall request for funds was lower than the University’s nominal grant amount, the Committee did not need to consider funding these researchers at a higher level than other applicants. 

7)  Stage 4 process – Financial Services and the Research Office identified wages from the eligibility period (March 15, 2020 to August 31, 2020) that were not funded through either Stage 1 or Stage 2. The University submitted an application for the total amount through a Stage 4 application. If awarded, funds will be distributed on a proportional basis across all research accounts.