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Research Support Fund

The Link toResearch Support Fund assists Canadian post-secondary institutions and their affiliated research hospitals and institutes with the expenses associated with managing research funded by the three federal research granting agencies:

Every year, the federal government invests in research excellence in the areas of health sciences, engineering, natural sciences, and social sciences and humanities through its three granting agencies. The Research Support Fund reinforces this research investment by helping institutions ensure their federally funded research projects are conducted in world-class facilities with the best equipment and administrative support available.

Through the fund, eligible institutions receive an annual grant, based on funding received by researchers from the three federal research granting agencies in the three most recent years for which data is available, to help pay for a portion of the central and departmental administrative costs related to federally funded research.

The program was introduced in 2003 as part of the federal government’s strategy to make Canada one of the world’s top countries in research and development. It currently has a budget of nearly $400 million. It serves more than 150 post-secondary institutions across the country, helping them defray the indirect costs of research. 

The Research Support Fund benefits research across the entire university. Below are highlights of a few of the areas that were supported through the fund:

  • Administration of research enterprise
    • The Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation was able to support intellectual property and knowledge mobilization activities for the translation of research to society.
    • The VPRI secured a full-time continuing Contracts Officer to assist with streamlining and expediting the negotiation of contracts with research partners.
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  • Research facilities
    • The Office of Campus Infrastructure and Sustainability maintained research facilities and contributed to renovations to existing space to better enable research.
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  • Research resources
    • The Library reported a substantial increase in the number of research holdings and subscriptions available to the research community.
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  • Regulatory requirements and accreditation
    • The Compliance and Safety Committees were able to significantly increase the number of committee members attending training.