According to the Tri-agencies: "The purpose of the principle-based approach was to streamline and simplify the administration and use of grant funds, and move to a less directive and burdensome approach for institutions and grant recipients. The project was initiated partly in response to feedback from stakeholders regarding the inefficiencies and unnecessary burden imposed by the existing financial administration guide and to support harmonization efforts within the Tri-agency."

"The TAGFA offers distinct roles and responsibilities for the Agencies, the institutions and the grant recipients. The focus is on principles and directives rather than requirements; it allows an enhanced responsiveness to the evolving research environment, reduces the administrative burden for institutions and grant recipients and offers clearer and more consistent guidance from the Agencies."

In addition to the four principles, five directives have been established to provide a framework for administering institutions and grant recipients to exercise sound judgment and due diligence in their decision making process concerning the use of Agency grant funds:

• Employment and Compensation Expenses
• Goods and Services Expenditures
• Travel and Travel Related Subsistence Expenditures  
• Hospitality Expenditures
• Gifts, Honoraria, Incentives

The directives are detailed in "Part 2: Use of Grant Funds" in the TAGFA guide. 

The three Agencies’ commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is captured in the Tri-Agency Statement on EDI and the Tri-Agency EDI Action Plan. 

UCalgary is responsible for recognizing the importance of EDI in our policies and practices as stated in the Agreement on the Administration of Agency Grants and Awards by Research Institutions. 

The Agencies will continue to collaborate with external stakeholders, and defer to the relevant administering institution’s policies and practices, to ensure that appropriate considerations are applied to support EDI in Tri-Agency grant funding (April 2020).

Relevant handbooks and policies for TAGFA include:

• Travel & Expense Reimbursement Handbook (updated March 2020)
• Hospitality and Travel Expenses Policy
• Meetings and Working Sessions Expense Procedure
• Gifts, Donations and Sponsorship Policy

As of April 1, 2020, expenditures for all active tri-agency grants will be reviewed using the new guidelines. 

The expense submission process has not changed. The review of expenses will be done in accordance with TAGFA. 

According to the Tri-agencies: "An expense is deemed 'effective and economical' when it achieves the intended outcome with due regard for minimizing cost by avoiding unnecessary expense. This means the expenditure is considered an optimal use of the funds, which may not necessarily mean the “lowest cost.”

For example, an unnecessary expense may occur when an item or service, no matter how cheap or expensive, is ineffective in achieving the intended outcome (i.e., it ends up creating undue burden on the funded activities by causing research delays, additional expenses, lost time and/or effort due to overly burdensome administration, etc.)."

To prove cost effectiveness, a screenshot of comparisons made for the expenses will be acceptable. Examples are hotel and flight vs direct flight cost; or luggage fees, seat selection and economy flight vs cost of upgraded economy fare.

The concept of personal gain refers to using grant funds to serve an individual’s interests or attain a personal advantage and/or profit that outweighs the benefit to the grant-funded research/activities.

Examples include:

• Grant recipient wants to use his/her own personal company to translate documents from the research or provide interpretation of results and bill for his/her own service fees  
• Pet kenneling fees for the researcher’s dog, while s/he went on a conference
• Researcher submitting expenses for rainwear necessary for their family member to visit the research project site
• Alcohol and pay-per-view movies included in the hotel receipts while on business trip 

If an item or service that was an eligible expense in the previous Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide and the item or service respects the four key principles and the directives as outlined in TAGFA, the expense would continue to be an appropriate use of grant funds (i.e., eligible).

The directive on Travel and Travel-Related Subsistence Expenditures continues to require:

(1) the affiliation of traveler(s) with the funded research/activities and that 
(2) the grant-related purpose for the travel must be clear.  

As such, these information are still required when submitting the travel related claims. These remain as mandatory fields when completing the online expense claims in PeopleSoft.  

There will be no changes on the level of supplies and equipment that the University will provide to their staff. If office supplies and cleaning supplies used to be covered by the faculty or department, they will continue to be provided to staff as usual. 

For future dated travel $10,000 or more and occurring in the next fiscal year (April onwards) these items will be classified as Prepaid Expenses under the traveler’s name. The prepaid expense will be cleared by submitting proof of travel or receipts confirming that travel has taken place. 

For future dated travel less than $10,000 and occurring in the same fiscal year, they will be booked as current fiscal year expenses against the project and will need to be supported by proof of payment and other applicable receipts or documents supporting the booking.    

Travel expenses and expenses in the context of assemblies or gatherings that facilitate and contribute to achieving the research objectives incurred by individuals who are directly working on the research project are eligible. The information regarding purpose of the travel / conference and the affiliation of the traveler to the research project must be provided when the claim is submitted for reimbursement.

Air travel charged to Tri Council grants is not restricted to economy class anymore. If booking a higher class or a direct flight will be more cost effective and economical for the research project, then the charge will be allowed. Accordingly, business class flights must strictly follow the UCalgary requirements for business class travel. 

The time and cost limits for hiring/paying postdocs, graduate students and visiting researchers have been removed in the new guide effective April 1, 2020. 

The university guidelines will have to be followed when paying these individuals:

Paying Postdocs

Paying Graduate Students

Paying Undergraduate Students - Eligibility
Paying Undergraduate Students - Receiving Payment
 

Gifts that are provided as a token of appreciation, respect and/or goodwill given as a formal courtesy and when prescribed by cultural heritage or established traditions are eligible costs. The annual maximum threshold for gifts per individual is $500. Anything over $500 will have tax implications and will be reported on a tax slip.

The costs associated with regulatory compliance to federal, provincial or municipal regulations and by-laws that are required to conduct the research will be eligible costs.

There will be no changes on the level of supplies and equipment that the University will provide to their staff.  If computer and monitors used to be provided by the faculty or department, they will continue to be provided to staff as usual. 

There will be no change on how lost receipts will be handled. The maximum amount that the University may reimburse for an expense that is not supported by detailed receipt(s) and proof of payment is $CAD 100.  The lost receipt box must be checked on the PeopleSoft expense claim when submitting expenses that are not supported by receipts.

You can review TAGFA in its entirety on the Tri-Agency Financial Administration website, as well as review FAQs and background information on the updates.

The directive on Travel and Travel-Related Subsistence Expenditures requires that expenditures must be authorized by the right level of authority. At UCalgary, the expense claim is automatically routed to the applicable one-up approver of the claimant who could be the department head or the dean.  For travel expenses of non-employees, the electronic/online routing is not yet in place so we have to receive manual/written approval from Department Head or Dean (as applicable) by email.