Appropriate use of grant funds

These four basic principles govern the appropriate use of grant funds.

Grant expenditures must:

• be a direct cost of research for which the funds were awarded, with benefits directly attributable to the grant
• not be provided by the administering institution to their research personnel
• be effective and economical
• not result in personal gain for members of the grant team

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 - Human Resources
• Goods and Services Expenditures - Supply Chain Management Policy
• Travel and Travel Related Subsistence Expenditures  - Hospitality and Travel Expenses Policy
• Hospitality Expenditures - Hospitality Expense Procedure
• Gifts, Honoraria, Incentives - Gifts, Donations and Sponsorship Policy

The Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration (TAGFA) Supplement is a reference for University of Calgary’s Principal Investigators and research administration staff to assist in interpreting compliance requirements for Tri-Agency funded grants. The TAGFA Supplement is a reference to, and not a replacement of the TAGFA, Tri-Agency program/funding opportunity specific literature, Tri-Agency agreements and policies, or institutional policies, procedures and guidelines.

The TAGFA Supplement has been created to provide additional guidance on expense eligibility for Tri-Agency funded grants. The TAGFA Supplement summarizes the key sections of the TAGFA and provides specific guidance on Tri-Agency research expenditures, which may or may not be captured in University of Calgary’s policies and procedures. 

A number of training materials and resources have been created to help provide guidance on interpreting eligibility and compliance requirements per the TAGFA, Tri Agency Principles Based Approach - UCalgary including:

• Review Directives in TAGFA Guide
• Tri-Agency Principles Based Presentation
• Travel & Expense Reimbursement Handbook
• Hospitality and Travel Expenses Policy
• Meetings and Working Sessions Expense Procedure
• Gifts, Donations and Sponsorship Policy

The following is the order of precedence and interpretation, applicable to Tri-Agency funded grants:

• The Agreement on the Administration of Agency Grants and Awards by Research Institutions
• Tri-Agency program/funding opportunity specific literature
• Any relevant agency agreements with grant recipients and/or administering institutions, if applicable
• The TAGFA
• The TAGFA Supplement
• University of Calgary’s Policies and Procedures

In the presence of both agency and institutional policies, the agency policy prevails, however the grant recipient must also comply with applicable institutional requirements. If the TAGFA is silent on a specific subject, institutional pronouncements will apply.

The Tri-Agencies will periodically review administering institutions and their use and administration of grant funds to assess the effectiveness of policies, procedures, systems, and internal controls, and to ensure compliance with relevant agency requirements.

Compliance with the TAGFA is a condition of applying, holding or administering agency grant funds. Refer to the Tri-agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research (2021) for information on how the Agencies address allegations about the responsible conduct of research, including the procedures to be followed with respect to a breach of an agency requirement.

Grant recipients and any delegates roles and responsibilities are outlined in the program/funding opportunity literature, any relevant agency agreements (if applicable) and the TAGFA, outlined as follows:

• Conduct their research in a manner that adheres to the Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research (2016)
• Hold the authority to use the grant funds in accordance with the Agencies’ principles
• Delegate to others their authority to use the grant funds (grant recipient only)
• Authorize grant expenditures and any charges or adjustments made to the grant and directives as outlined in this guide recipient’s grant account (grant recipient or duly delegated individual only).

In general, expenditures that were eligible under the previous guide will likely continue to be eligible under the new guide, provided they abide by the principles and directives on the appropriate use of grant funds outlined in the new guide, and are in accordance with University of Calgary policies and procedures.

If you are unsure whether an expense is eligible on a Tri-Agency grant, you may submit an inquiry to finance@ucalgary.ca. 

Tri-Agency contact details are as follows:

CIHR
support@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

NSERC or SSHRC
financialmonitoring@nserc-crsng.gc.ca

Questions regarding the TAGFA Supplement can be directed to Research Accounting by emailing finance@ucalgary.ca

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.