Funding Opportunities

Protection and Disclosure of Personal Information: Fellowship and Scholarship Programs

All information provided to SSHRC is subject to the Access to Information Act and to the Privacy Act. The purpose of the Privacy Act is to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a federal government institution and to provide individuals with a right of access to such information. The Act also stipulates that personal information obtained shall not be used without the consent of the individual to whom it relates, except for the purpose for which it was collected or for a use consistent with that purpose.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information in Applications for SSHRC Awards

Personal information collected by SSHRC is used for:

• reviewing applications;
• administering awards;
• establishing data bases for program planning and evaluation; and
• developing banks of potential external assessors and committee members.

If necessary, SSHRC may also use this information for:

• consultations with NSERC, CIHR and the Canada Council for the Arts to determine the most appropriate funding jurisdiction for the proposed activity or to monitor overlap in federal support;
• statistical studies on the funding of research and research training in Canada; and
• review of allegations of scholarly misconduct in accordance with the provisions of the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Integrity in Research and Scholarship.

SSHRC uses the information provided in the identification section of the scholarship and fellowship application form strictly for purposes of identification and statistical summaries. Personal information provided in fellowship and scholarship applications is accessible only to SSHRC staff, members of adjudication committees and, as applicable, to external assessors and partners in SSHRC strategic joint initiative programs. Adjudication committees are not privy to personal information about gender and age.

In the case of applicants who have asked to be considered for a fellowship or scholarship supplement offered through a strategic joint initiative program, all information in the application will be accessible to representatives of the partner agency or agencies, for purposes of adjudicating candidates and monitoring and evaluating the program.

SSHRC also forwards competition results for its fellowship and scholarship programs to deans and student liaison officers in the faculties of graduate studies. These individuals are responsible for processing applications from their institutions before submitting them to SSHRC, for informing candidates of the outcome of their applications, and for administering the awards. Such sharing of applicant information is necessary to facilitate adjudication of applications and monitoring and evaluation of the programs. SSHRC and the partnering agencies are bound by the same statutes governing confidentiality and disclosure of personal information.

Successful fellowship and scholarship applicants should note that, for the purposes of requests made under the Access to Information Act, the summary of their program of research and the financial details of their project expenditures are not considered personal information (Privacy Act, section 3 (l)). Accordingly, SSHRC is obliged to make such information available to anyone who requests it.

Applicants' Access to Their Personal Information in SSHRC Files

For both master's fellowships and doctoral awards (fellowships and scholarships), each university compiles two lists from the applications submitted to it by students registered at a Canadian university: an A-list of those recommended for funding, and a B-list of those not recommended for funding. The university then forwards to SSHRC the complete dossier of each A-list application, but only the first page of each B-list application. SSHRC's files therefore include complete A-list applications, the first page of B-list applications, and the full applications of candidates not affiliated with a Canadian university.

For all A-list applications and for all applications from candidates not affiliated with a Canadian university, the candidate has access to the full text of his or her letters of appraisal, departmental appraisals and research appraisals, as applicable—with the exception of the names of the individuals who wrote the letters, and any comments made in the letters about other applicants and their identities. This exception applies because, according to the Privacy Act, the name of the appraiser of a SSHRC fellowship or scholarship application constitutes personal information about the appraiser, not the applicant.

For B-list applications, candidates have access to the single page that is held in SSHRC files. B-list applicants must contact their university to obtain further information about their files.

Applicants have right of access to their personal information held in SSHRC files and may request that any errors be corrected. To request a copy of your file or your letters of assessment, please contact:

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
350 Albert Street
Ottawa, ON K1P 6G4

Tel.: (613) 992-1058
Fax: (613) 992-4010