Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF)

The VPR office is working with the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) to administer the CRCEF for the University of Calgary. The CRCEF will provide funds to the University of Calgary, and the VPR office will distribute funds based on eligibility.

Our committee appointed by the Office of the Vice-President (Research) will undertake an accelerated review process for all stages. Principles of equity, diversity and inclusion will be followed in all stages to prevent systemic barriers from impeding access to funds sought by equity-seeking groups. This is a people-centric program, and we are committed to ensuring our community is supported in an equitable way.

Dr. William Ghali, Vice-President (Research), is overseeing the administration of the CRCEF program and will ensure that the requirements of the program are followed. Questions for Dr. Ghali regarding CRCEF administration can be sent to vpr@ucalgary.ca. 

Stage 1 and 2 are complete. 

The University of Calgary distributed funds to Alberta Health Services in Stage 1 based on their percentage of total sponsored research of non-governmental sources as reported to CAUBO over three years (2015-16 to 2017-18).

Stage 3, providing research maintenance and ramp-up cost support, is now complete.

For Stage 3, the university notional allocation amount identified by the tri-agency secretariat was $6,627,935. Based on our intake process, the total amount we will be requesting, including AHS’ request, is $6,071,467.04. 

The University of Calgary calculated the theoretical Stage 3 notional allocation to Alberta Health Services based on their percentage of total research income from all sources as reported to CAUBO over three years (2015-16 to 2017-18). The calculation came to $135,993, and AHS has claimed $46,167.91.

Stage 4, providing extended wage relief, is now complete.

Stage 3 will provide support for research maintenance and ramp-up costs. Please note that unlike other stages, funding source (government vs non-governmental) does not determine eligibility for Stage 3.

If you incurred any research maintenance or ramp-up costs between March 15 and November 15, 2020, you may be eligible for funding.

This funding is for unanticipated additional costs that would not have been incurred in the absence of the COVID-19 pandemic and cannot be funded by existing sources of funds.

• Projects funded by either governmental or non-governmental sources are eligible. 
• Staff wages associated with maintenance and ramp-up incurred between August 30 and November 15, 2020 are considered an eligible cost.
• Special equipment, fixtures, supplies, or services purchased may be eligible.
• Only direct costs associated with maintenance and ramp-up of research activities and costs borne by research projects are eligible.

EXAMPLE: In order to resume research activities, a lab had to reschedule in-person human trials over an extended time period to ensure physical distancing. As a result, staff hours increased to ensure adequate supervision over the extended time period. The lab also had to purchase additional PPE to ensure participant and staff safety. These expenses would be eligible.

All research activities that meet the eligibility requirements, including alternative research activities or approaches, should be considered.

Intake is now closed.

This funding is for unanticipated additional costs that would not have been incurred in the absence of the COVID-19 pandemic and cannot be funded by existing sources of funds.

• Projects funded by either governmental or non-governmental sources are eligible. 
• Staff wages associated with maintenance and ramp-up incurred between August 30 and November 15, 2020 are considered an eligible cost.
• Special equipment, fixtures, supplies, or services purchased may be eligible.
• Only direct costs associated with maintenance and ramp-up of research activities and costs borne by research projects are eligible.

Expenses that are extraordinary and incremental to those already covered by existing sources of funds and have been incurred between March 15 and November 15, 2020, can be covered by the CRCEF, at up to 75%. It is recognized that the costs incurred must have been paid from the project or from other sources until such time that a partial reimbursement (up to 75%) is received.

Ramping-down expenses are not eligible.

The costs of research personnel can be eligible for partial reimbursement at up to 75% in Stage 3 for the period of August 30, 2020, to November 15, 2020.

We encourage applicants to review the tri-agency CRCEF Stage 3 FAQ for all additional eligibility questions. 

Please note that there are two (2) forms for Stage 3. There is a form for Salary & benefits expenses and a separate form for non-salary related expenses. Please ensure that you fill out the correct form, depending on the expense type for your claim. If you are claiming for both salaries and non-salary related expenses, you will need to complete and submit 2 forms to receive reimbursement.

Intake is now closed.

Please contact finance@ucalgary.ca for any questions regarding the CRCEF Transfer Templates.

1) Claiming for Salary and Benefits Expenses

The eligibility period for salary and benefits expenses incurred to support direct costs associated with maintenance and ramp-up of research activities is August 30 – November 15, 2020. All applicants must fill out the CRCEF Maintenance Ramp-Up Salary & Benefits Transfer Template in order to have the eligibility of their requested transfers confirmed. 

One form is to be filled out per applicant. If maintenance / ramp-up salary & benefits cost is being moved from more than one project please use a separate line for each project.  

For each item claimed, you will need to identify if the salary & benefits cost is for Maintenance, Ramp Up, or Both, by making the selection from the drop down menu. 

The following information regarding each salary and benefits expense line item being claimed must be provided:

• UCID
• Job Title
• Cost Type
• Fund
• Dept ID# 
• Project Number 
• Activity Code
• Account Code
• Internal (if any)
• Transaction Date (between August 30 – November 15, 2020)
• % of salary & benefit eligible for CRCEF Stage 3

The Salary and Benefits form has been completed correctly when Column M is auto-filled.

Download the CRCEF Stage 3 Salary and Benefits Transfer Form

2) Claiming for Non-Salary Expenses 

Stage 3 funding will be awarded to research projects to support direct costs associated with maintenance and ramp-up of research activities. Reimbursements will be made for actual costs incurred between March 15 and November 15, 2020.  

All applicants must fill out the CRCEF Maintenance/Ramp-Up Costs Transfer Template in order to have the eligibility of their requested transfers confirmed. 

One form is to be filled out per applicant. If maintenance / ramp-up cost is being moved from more than one project please use a separate line for each project.  

For each item claimed, you will need to identify if the cost is for Maintenance or Ramp Up.  

Please note special directives for animal related costs as follows: 
    a) Maximum allowed for animal per diems will be 50% of actual costs.   
    b) Justification for animal per diems and purchasing of animals will be required.      

The following information regarding each expense line item being claimed must be provided:

• Finance Reference # 
• Expense Description 
• Fund Code 
• Dept ID# 
• Project Number 
• Activity Code
• Account Code
• Transaction Date
• Amount Claimed 

The Non-Salary Expenses form has been completed correctly when Column K is auto-filled.

Download the CRCEF Stage 3 Non-salary Expenses Transfer Form

Expense validation and research attestation

Research Accounting will verify that the expenses submitted were actual costs charged to project(s) to determine eligibility of the requested transfers. Each submission will contain an attestation from the Project Holder / Dept ID Owner that the expenses being claimed meet the eligibility criteria for CRCEF Stage 3.  

Stage 4 is an extension of wage relief provided in Stage 1. 

If you receive non-governmental funds and have staff who worked any days between March 15 and August 29, 2020, you may be eligible to receive CRCEF funding. If your research has been negatively impacted by COVID-19 in any way, including reductions in staff productivity due to loss of access to campus or family-related absences, you may be eligible.

Those who received funding through Stage 1 may be eligible for additional funds.

Stage 4 wage relief will cover up to 24 weeks of eligible wages. This is an increase of 12 weeks from what was covered by Stage 1.

This funding is intended for researchers who:

1. Have additional eligible wages beyond what they received CRCEF support for in Stage 1, or
2. Did not apply for Stage 1 wage support, but believe they are eligible.

Example: A researcher received Stage 1 wage support for one staff member for the maximum of 12 weeks, even though the staff member was unable to work for 16 total weeks. That researcher may apply for Stage 4 wage support for the additional 4 weeks. 

NOTE: Only non-governmental funds are eligible for this funding. Tri-agency funding and stipend/scholarship or stipend payments (63XXX) are NOT eligible. Non-taxable stipends/scholarships have been deemed ineligible by the tri-agency secretariat.

Stage 4 intake closed on November 20, 2020. All those applying for Stage 4 funding must complete an intake form, even if you did so for Stage 1.

You may be eligible for Stage 4 wage relief funding if:

• You receive non-governmental funds and have staff who have worked or will work any days between March 15 and August 29, 2020, and
• Your research has been negatively impacted by COVID-19 in any way, including reductions in staff productivity due to loss of access to campus or family-related absences.

Any reduced productivity or interruptions to employment (complete or partial) are considered negative impacts, including: restriction of campus workspaces, suspension of funding, absences to care for family members, lack of access to research participants, increased risk related to COVID-19 etc.

Negative impacts present in varied ways within our diverse campus community, and all situations should be considered equally. All research activities that meet the eligibility requirements, including alternative research activities or approaches, should be considered.

If you have staff that have been laid off or furloughed as a result of COVID-19, funding through this program can be accessed to cover costs of re-establishing employment at any time between March 15 and August 29, 2020.

Eligible:

• Wages (or wage portions) for research-related personnel who are normally supported through non-governmental sources, to a maximum of $847 per week for up to 24 weeks of salary support (consecutive or broken up over the eligibility period) per individual, incurred within the eligibility period of March 15, 2020, to August 29, 2020.
• Personnel who have been laid off or furloughed as a result of COVID-19 within the eligibility period can become eligible retroactively, as long as they are rehired and their retroactive pay and status meet the eligibility criteria for the claim period.
• Wage expenses temporarily paid by a governmental grant or operating budget due to regular non-government funding source being suspended may be eligible.

Please note that the $847 per person-week is the maximum benefit payable under federal rules. The amount that will be paid to eligible university employees has not been determined and will depend on the total number of eligible applicants to the program.

NOTE: Only non-governmental funds are eligible for this funding. Tri-agency funding and stipend/scholarship or stipend payments (63XXX) are NOT eligible. Non-taxable stipends/scholarships have been deemed ineligible by the tri-agency secretariat.

Ineligible:

• Wages paid through funding from federal, provincial or municipal governments.
• Principal investigators are excluded from the research-related personnel definition.
• Expenses for students and trainees paid via scholarship (vs as an employee) are not eligible.
• Personnel normally paid from the university’s operating budget are not eligible.

Applicants cannot claim benefits, salary/wages or portions of these, and expenses covered through:

• other federal research funding agency awards;
• the Canada Foundation for Innovation awards; or
• funding from all levels of government, including COVID-19 relief programs.

Individuals who will have their wages funded by CRCEF cannot receive support from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit for the same period.

All applicants must fill out the CRCEF Salary and Benefit Transfer Form in order to have the eligibility of their requested transfers confirmed. Eligible wages/benefits will be transferred to the university’s CRCEF project from the project/operating department that they are currently being charged to.

One form is to be filled out per applicant. All eligible staff members/projects should be included on a single form.
Please note that minor discrepancies in wages/benefits being claimed between your initial Stage 4 intake form (submitted prior to Dec 11, 2020) and this transfer form are acceptable. If you need to make a significant addition, please include an explanation when you submit your completed form.

NOTE: Wages/benefits were claimed in Stage 1, these amounts need to be subtracted from Stage 4 submission. 

To complete the transfer, we require staff information and accounting strings (example of accounting string – Fund 60, Dept xx511, Project 10017xxx, Account 50130, Activity 00000 or 10-xx511-50130-00000) for the project/operating department that the staff wages and benefits are currently being charged to.

The following information regarding all employees whose wages/benefits are eligible must be provided:

• UCID
• Job title
• Employee type (hourly or salaried)
• Accounting string of project/operating department that the employee’s wages/benefits are currently charged to
• Relevant pay period
• Monthly salary/hourly rate
• Percentage of wages eligible (if applicable) 
  • NOTE: There are two conditions for eligibility of research-related personnel:
    1.  they are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (either from reduced funding or a negative impact on research activities); and
    2.  their salary or portion of salary is paid by non-governmental source.
• Total weeks of salary and benefits being claimed - maximum of 24 weeks between Stage 1 and Stage 4. 
• Eligibility evidence and research attestation (additional details below)

The form has been completed correctly when Columns S and T are auto-filled.

Please send complete forms to crcef@ucalgary.ca by January 15, 2021.

Please contact finance@ucalgary.ca for any questions regarding the CRCEF Salary and Benefit Transfer form.

Eligibility evidence and research attestation

Research Accounting will verify the current source of salaries and benefits to determine eligibility of the requested transfers. For employees currently paid from government-funded projects and operating funds, please use the comments field (column U) to provide all required information as follows:   

• For individuals paid from government-funded project(s):
  1. The Project # where the individual was initially paid from, prior to moving the salary and benefits to the government-funded project; and
  2. Reason(s) why salaries and benefits had to be moved to the government-funded project (e.g. industry funding was suspended; or non-government funds ran out but the individual was still working and had to be paid)  
• For individuals paid from operating funds (Fund 10):
  1. Identify the employee’s task(s) that is directly related to research;
  2. Attestation / confirmation that the identified portion of work directly attributable to research is correct (This attestation pertains to the % of work identified in column M).

Retroactive hires

Sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the employee was to be hired during the period of March 15 – August 29, 2020, but was not because of a loss of non-governmental research funding.

Please highlight the retroactive hire in the submission. HR will be notified and will handle the retroactive hire process. 

Stipends/Scholarships

Please note that stipends/scholarships are not eligible for CRCEF funding due to the fact that the persons have been paid a stipend/scholarship (63XXX) through the scholarship module. These stipend payments are non-taxable. Non-taxable stipends/scholarships have been deemed ineligible by the CRCEF secretariat.
 

Please note that the eligibility outlined below does not apply to Stage 3 maintenance and ramp-up cost wages. Please see Stage 3 eligibility above for more details. 

The Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF) was announced on May 15, 2020 and has a total budget of $450M.  

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.  

Stages 1 and 2 address wage-related expenses incurred between March 15, 2020 and August 29, 2020.  

Stage 3 will address exceptional research maintenance and ramp-up expenses incurred by November 15, 2020.