Financial administration

1. Host Institution/Canadian Cancer Society Agreement

Grants and awards are made only with the consent and knowledge of the administrative head of the institution at which they are to be held and institutions must abide by the policies contained in the Host Institution/Canadian Cancer Society Agreement. Funds will not be released to successful applicants without these approvals.

2. Notification of awards

Successful applicants will receive an official “Notification of Award” (NOA) which will set forth the duration of the grant/award period and the amount approved that is to be paid by CCS. The financial office and the research office of the university or institution concerned will be informed of the details of the grant/award at the same time. A revised Notification of Award will only be sent if there is a change in the amount or terms of the grant or award.

3. Start date

The start dates for grants and awards are varied. The start date will be noted clearly on the Notification of Award (NOA).

4. Authorization of expenditures

An individual account must be maintained for each grant/award and all expenditures must be authorized by the grantee/awardee or by their authorized designate.

5. Administration and payment of funds

Funds for all grants and awards are administered through the financial officer of the university or institution concerned. The frequency of installments is noted on the Notification of Award. The NOA will also describe if and how partner funding will be administered, where relevant. See section 13 for details on the Statement of Account.

6. Disbursement of funds by the Host Institution

Payment of accounts for the purposes specified in the grant/award is made by the financial officer of the Host Institution, upon authorization from the grantee/awardee. The total disbursements must not exceed the award and any expenditures in excess of the award will not be assumed by the Canadian Cancer Society nor reimbursed by it to the university or institution concerned. Expenditures are to be made only for the purposes set forth in the terms of the grant/award and any alternative use of funds requires prior approval of the Canadian Cancer Society.

7. Separate accounting

Separate accounting must be kept when more than one grant is received by an Investigator. Interchange of an expenditure from one project to another requires prior approval of the Canadian Cancer Society.

8. End of grant/early termination of a grant

Expenditures incurred after the termination date will not be accepted. The Host Institution is expected to return any unexpended balances as at the termination date. In the case of grants or awards that are discontinued for any reason (e.g., early termination), the Canadian Cancer Society must be notified immediately.

9. Carryover of grant funds

Grantees are permitted to carry forward, into any renewal grant, an unspent balance (surplus only) of up to $50,000 for up to one (1) year beyond the normal termination date of a grant, without in any way affecting concurrently held grants, any subsequent grants, or any pending grant applications. The Principal Investigator of a project within a Program Project may carry forward $50,000 for their individual project. It is not necessary for investigators to apply for formal approval for amounts under $50,000. All monies carried forward beyond the termination date of a grant, regardless of amount, will be subject to the Canadian Cancer Society usual accounting policies and will be subject to the usual end-of-grant financial accounting policies in force at the time. Surpluses in excess of those limits must be refunded to the Canadian Cancer Society and deficits larger than $5,000 must not be carried forward into any renewal grant. Please see Item 10 for retaining funds beyond the normal termination date.

10. Use of unspent funds at the termination date and extending the termination date (no-cost extension)

Surpluses of up to $50,000 may be retained for up to 12 months beyond a grant termination date for expenditures on that grant. A statement of account must be provided for any funds expended beyond the normal termination date.

However, when the expected surplus exceeds $50,000, more than 12 months are required to complete the work or substantive work remains, grantees must apply for a no-cost extension (NCE). This will allow the remaining funds to be expended after the end date, but will not provide any additional funds. Consideration for a no-cost extension will be given where work remains to be completed combined with persuasive justification or where a grantee has taken an extended leave of absence during the term of the award.

Instructions on how to request a NCE is available on the tipsheet located here.

If a no-cost extension is requested before the application deadline falling in the final year of the grant, a deferred renewal date (where applicable) can be considered. A request for a no-cost extension will not be considered in the case where a renewal application is submitted and is unsuccessful in obtaining funding.

The above does not apply to Research Training Awards. Research Training Awards are not eligible for a no-cost extension except in the case of a parental leave or other extenuating circumstance that has been pre-approved by CCS.

11. Extension grants

Extension grants offered to renewal applicants have been discontinued.

12. Permanent equipment

Funds awarded for equipment are paid on a reimbursement basis. Funds will be released once an invoice from the Host Institution’s accounting department is received, which indicates that the researcher has taken delivery of the equipment for which the grant was made. The invoice must include an itemized list of the equipment purchased referenced against the approved list, as well as copies of invoices from suppliers. Payment will only be made once encumbrances, if any, have been satisfied.

To ensure that the purchase of approved equipment on a research grant directly benefits the funded project, equipment items must be purchased one year prior to the termination date to be eligible for reimbursement. Purchases made after receipt of the Notification of Award but before the actual start date of the grant will be permitted for Permanent Equipment but not for any other expenses relating to a grant. Invoices must be sent to the Canadian Cancer Society prior to the end of the grant to be eligible for reimbursement. Equipment should be included on statements for all grants.

For Research Grants, unless otherwise indicated in the Notification of Award (NOA), the equipment identified in the original grant application will be eligible for reimbursement. No other equipment will be reimbursed, even if the total cost falls within the originally approved permanent equipment amount, without prior approval by CCS.

For Research Training Awards, eligible expenditures, including any equipment related to training are detailed in 13h, below.

Instructions on how to submit a permanent equipment claim are available in the tipsheet located here.

13. Statement of Account for grant funds

a) Annual reporting requirement

A Statement of Account must be submitted annually to the Canadian Cancer Society, in EGrAMS, for each project for which funds have been awarded. An email will be sent to the Financial Officer and the grantee 60 days prior to the due date advising how to submit the statement for each grant/award. Some programs will still require the statement of account to be submitted by email using the CCS Statement of Account template or the PCC Statement of Account template. Instructions on how to submit the report online are available here. The Statement must be submitted within 60 days of the end of each grant/award year to ensure that subsequent payments are not delayed. Subsequent payments will not be released until an acceptable Statement for the previous year is received and approved. In cases where the unspent balance is significant, future installments will be held by CCS staff. In the case of renewal grants, the final statement from the previous grant must be received and approved. Delayed payments will be released with the next scheduled installment.

b) Declaration and submission

The Financial Officer responsible for overseeing the administration of the grant funds, as well as the grantee, are required to declare that the expenditures reported are accurate and adhere to CCS policies regarding grant spending prior to submitting the Statement of Account in EGrAMS. In addition, the name of the individual who prepared the Statement is required.

c) Committed funds

The reporting of committed funds is not required as grant surpluses or deficits within the term of a grant are allowed. Institutions can make accruals in the final year if the goods were used during the grant period but not billed as of the scheduled end date.

d) Details of expenditures

Where the total amount expended in the year differs by 30% of the budgeted amount found on the NOA, a brief explanation/justification is required with the submission of the Statement of Account. The Canadian Cancer Society may request further information from the grantee or Host Institution at any time (e.g., when expenditures are vastly different from the requested budget or when there is a large under-or over-expenditure in any year). Also, the grantee may be required to provide an itemized account of expenditures supported by vouchers.

e) Audit

The Canadian Cancer Society reserves the right to audit the Statement of Account.

f) Expenditure categories

Note: All charges to a grant account must directly relate to the project for which funds were awarded.

Salaries and benefits: Report the total of all salaries and benefits relating to the grant. It is not necessary to record the name and salary amount for each individual paid on the grant, except in the case of a Research Training Award. However, institutions must have payroll details available for review to support the total salaries and benefits reported on the statement. Also include costs associated with community consultation, remuneration of patient partners on research teams (e.g. patients, survivors, caregivers, at-risk populations). Remuneration should be in line with CCS’s Patient Partner Compensation Policy or the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research.

Expendables/supplies: Report all expenditures directly relating to the grant. Costs may include expendable lab supplies (i.e. tips, tubes, reagents, etc.), animals and housing costs, per patient costs (including honoraria/reimbursement expenses), printing survey instruments and small equipment (<$1,000).

Animals and upkeep: Report all expenditures directly related to the grant.

Publications: Report any publication costs associated with adherence to CCS's Open Access Policy.

Conference travel: Report all expenditures associated with cost of presenting results and/or attendance at scientific conferences.

Research travel: Expenditures reported should relate to the cost of conducting the research (e.g. periodic team meetings for multi-centre studies, mileage charges to conduct interviews with study subjects, travel support for a postdoctoral fellow who is about to take up an initial appointment in the laboratory of the grantee (to work on the CCS-funded grant), travel costs associated with a visiting scientist who will be contributing to the funded project, etc.)

Services: Expenditures reported can include the cost of service contracts, consultants, etc. Details must be listed in the services section of the Statement of Account.

Miscellaneous: When the total expense exceeds $5,000, details must be included with the Statement of Account.

These expenditures may include:

advertising costs for recruiting personnel
office supplies and services (e.g., stationary, telephone, photocopying, courier)
cost of reprints and preprints
consumable engagement expenses, such as cost of ceremonial items such as tobacco, tea, food for feasting and gift-giving for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples

Note: All charges to a grant account must directly relate to the project for which funds were awarded.

Please contact the Canadian Cancer Society if you have any questions regarding eligible expenditures.

Permanent equipment specified on NOA: Report all expenditures for Permanent Equipment >$1,000 specifically awarded on the Notification of Award (see Item 12 above).

g) Ineligible expenditures

Expenditures which cannot be charged to grants include, but are not limited to, the following:

deductions for CPP/QPP, Employment Insurance, WCB/WSIB, provincial health taxes, fringe benefits such as medical, dental or private pension plans for students
deductions for CPP/QPP, Employment Insurance, WCB/WSIB, provincial health taxes, fringe benefits such as medical, dental or private pension plans for postdoctoral fellows unless mandated by the Host Institution as a result of a formal agreement (e.g. unionization of PDF’s)
academic fees for students or postdoctoral fellows
top-up charges for maternity leave benefits (see Parental Leave Policy)
secretarial salaries (except for Program Project and Major Program Grants)
overhead or infrastructure charges/levies (e.g. building maintenance, computer network charges, etc.). Only shared services (e.g. glasswashing, etc. on a pro-rated basis) are acceptable. Percentage charges/levies/tithes are not permitted (only actual charges are allowed)
indirect costs (as described in the CCS Indirect costs policy )
laboratory or office furniture
entertainment or hospitality costs
membership fees
activities by researchers not on the grant, or activities related to other grants
cell phone charges unless required for project/study funded
any salaries/charges unrelated to the grant (e.g. union secondments, employee-related benefits such as severance/placement/counselling fees as individuals working on a CCS funded grant are employees of their institution)

h) Research Training Awards - Training budget

The training budget for Research Training Awards is separate from the stipend and is meant to support cross-disciplinary training of the awardee. Only expenditures related to training may be purchased or expensed using the training budget (such as conference fees, workshop registrations, equipment that will directly be used for training, travel or accommodation to attend training or learning). The training budget can also be used to support mentorship with mentors outside of academia (community, patients, caregivers, business leaders, etc.), including remuneration for mentors. Family members, where appropriate, may be considered – for instance, where a band Elder is sought for mentorship and may also be related to the applicant, the mentoring relationship can still be pursued. If unsure, please contact CCS. Tuition for the main program of study, equipment or supplies for ongoing research are ineligible expenses. The training budget is to be managed by the successful applicant, while complying with any institutional policies (i.e., that may require supervisor sign-off or other restrictions).

Training expenses shall be reimbursable expenses (submitted via EGrAMS). Where pre-payment is required, please contact CCS to discuss.

14. Awards for Excellence

The award recipient receives a research prize of up to $20,000. The research award is provided to the Host Institution of the recipient and is intended for use in their research program.

Financial statements are not required for these awards.

15. Travel Awards

The awards are paid on a reimbursement basis by submitting a claim in EGrAMS. Financial statements are not required for these awards.

16. Research Training Awards

These awards are for stipend (salary) support and include a training budget detailed above. Statements of account for the stipend are required, with the training budget paid on a reimbursement basis by submitting a claim in EGrAMS.

Individuals may not concurrently hold an award similar to the Research Training Award (RTA). This includes all awards where the stipend amount is worth at least 40% of the RTA amount. Similar applications may be submitted to other agencies, but awardees cannot hold both where the stipend amount of the other awards is at least 40% of the RTA.

Other partial stipends may be held (equal to less than 40% of the RTA stipend), subject to agreement from each funder, and the RTA stipend would be reduced by the partial amount.

Please contact research@cancer.ca for more information.