COVID-19 Government of Canada helps over 30,000 research staff through ongoing COVID-19 cr

Saturday, 06 March 2021 12:00.PM

- Emergency fund supports wages and projects at universities and health research institutions. -

During times of crisis and socio-economic disruption, researchers provide key knowledge that can pave the way for a more promising future for Canadians. Their research can offer clear and diverse insights to help Canada navigate complex social, economic, public health and political challenges.

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced that the Government of Canada has provided wage support for up to 32,000 research staff whose salaries were adversely affected by COVID-19, and who were not eligible for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. In addition, the government provided help to about 22,000 research projects to cover unanticipated maintenance and ramp-up costs that would not normally have been incurred if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, and could not be funded by existing sources of funds. This support was essential to safeguard the historic investments made by the federal government in fundamental research and research personnel since 2016.

This $415 million investment was provided through the Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF), announced by the Prime Minister last May. It was distributed to sixty-five universities and sixty-one affiliated health research institutions impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

All institutions funded through the CRCEF complied with the program's equity, diversity and inclusion requirements and took active measures to ensure barrier-free access to funding.

Quick facts

- Among the individuals awarded funding, about 9,300 were students, 3,000 were postdoctoral fellows and 19,500 were other research personnel.
- The four-stage program included:
-- -- wage support of up to 75% for 24 weeks, to a maximum of $847/week, to help retain research staff normally funded from non-government sources
-- -- extraordinary incurred costs associated with maintaining and ramping up research activities that were interrupted during the pandemic
The CRCEF is administered by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat, which is housed at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The Canada Research Coordinating Committee provides strategic direction and oversight of the fund.
- The Canada Research Coordinating Committee advances federal research priorities and the coordination of policies and programs of Canada's federal research funding agencies and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.