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What is the Research Support Fund (RSF) and what does it cover?

The Research Support Fund (RSF) is a Government of Canada program, awarded annually that assists eligible Canadian postsecondary institutions with the hidden (indirect) costs of managing research funded by the three federal research granting agencies (Tri-Council):

• • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR);
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC);
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Indirect costs may include salaries of staff dedicated to research administration and support; training for health and safety; maintenance of libraries, laboratories and office space (including custodial services, internet access and furnishings), as well as the development of research infrastructures, such as research policies and research ethics boards.

The annual RSF grant amount is based on the funding that the institution’s researchers receive from the three federal research granting agencies (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC). Institutions must apply annually in order to receive RSF funding.

Institutions have flexibility in deciding how to use their grant, provided that it is used for the payment of current indirect expenditures in the following five categories:

For more information on the program, please visit the .

Impact of Federal Investment in Research Support at º£½ÇɬÇø

The support from the RSF allows º£½ÇɬÇø to deliver excellent research administration to our research community and provides support for facilities and resources.

A significant portion of RSF grant funds are used to offset the salaries of the Research Office staff who provide pre-award and post-award support for researchers. The Research Office plays a central role in identifying and advertising funding opportunities, helps researchers write strong grant applications, ensures compliant post-award administration, and provides the tools needed to manage research funds. This includes an allotment used towards professional development activities in research administration. The RSF also provides support in other ongoing indirect costs, such as library resources, administrative functions, facilities upkeep, and building maintenance.

The College has been able to make strategic decisions that support long-term improvement to the research ecosystem. This allows us to attract and retain talented faculty researchers, develop extensive partnerships and collaborations and support student involvement in research across the college.

Affiliated Organizations

– Centre de recherche pour l’inclusion scolaire et professionnelle des étudiants en situation de handicap is a CCTT, centre collégial de transfert de technologie. CRISPESH is affiliated with º£½ÇɬÇø and Cégep du Vieux Montréal and contributes to the inclusion of people with disabilities in Quebec.

Public Disclosure of Funds 2025-2026

For 2025-2026, º£½ÇɬÇø was awarded a notional amount of $53,103 by the Research Support Fund. This will be used in the Management and Administration expenditure category, towards salary offsets for the research support staff and professional development activities in research administration, and implementing equity, diversity and inclusion objects (87%); Research Facilities expenditure category, towards cost offsets for office maintenance of research and finance administration, and custodial, security, maintenance, and utilities costs (5%); Research Resources expenditure category, towards cost offsets for acquisition of library holdings; and Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation expenditure category, towards cost offsets for costs associated with research ethics boards (3%).

The staff play a central role in identifying and advertising funding opportunities, ensuring grant applications are complete and admissible, tracking institutional and REB approval, ensuring compliant post-award administration and internal benchmarking, policy development, and report writing.

Access to appropriate space for office, infrastructure, library holdings is essential for effective research.

Public Disclosure of Funds 2024-2025

For 2024-2025, º£½ÇɬÇø was awarded $36,730 by the Research Support Fund. This was used in the Management and Administration expenditure category, towards salary offsets for the research support staff and professional development activities in research administration.

The staff play a central role in identifying and advertising funding opportunities, ensuring grant applications are complete and admissible, tracking institutional and REB approval, ensuring compliant post-award administration and internal benchmarking, policy development, and report writing.

Salary offset absorbed 32,730$. A portion of the RSF funds awarded ($1,138.62) was used for professional development activities for the Research Officer and Research Administration Technician. These include membership fees and participation in various research administration and professional development events offered by the Canadian Association for Research Administrators (CARA) and the Association pour la recherche au collegial (ARC). The remainder of the RSF funds awarded ($2,861.38) was allocated to support attendance at the CARA national conference.

2024-2025_º£½ÇɬÇø RSF Investment Narrative

Public disclosure of funds for previous years: