Institutional eligibility—guidelines and requirements

All institutions administering SSHRC funding must be deemed eligible. An institution becomes eligible to administer grants and awards once both SSHRC and the organization sign the Agreement on the Administration of Agency Grants and Awards by Research Institutions or the Terms and Conditions for Not-for-Profit Organizations.

Consult the complete list of SSHRC eligible institutions to see if your institution already holds institutional eligibility.

If your institution wishes to become eligible to administer awards from more than one federal granting agency, your institution can request a joint review. Send the documentation to one of the agencies, specifying which agencies your institution wishes to apply to, and indicate that you authorize the agencies to share the documentation provided. A joint response will be issued once the review is complete. If your institution is already eligible at one of the agencies and wishes to apply to a different one, contact that agency to discuss the course of action and documents required.

Federal, provincial, territorial and municipal government departments (including Indigenous governments, governance bodies and band councils), for-profit organizations and corporations, and foreign institutions are not eligible to administer SSHRC grants and awards regardless of the type of institutional eligibility being sought.

An institution that is federated or affiliated with or a constituent portion of another institution will not normally be accorded its own independent eligibility to administer grants and awards.

Institutions can choose to work out an agreement with an already eligible institution to administer a grant on their behalf. In cases where an eligible institution agrees to submit an application on behalf of another institution, SSHRC does not require that a letter or an agreement be in place between the two organizations. SSHRC recommends that discussions take place between the institutions well in advance of the deadline to confirm that:

• the eligible institution agrees to submit and, if successful, administer the grant according to SSHRC policies
• the eligible institution agrees to allow the research project to be reviewed by its Research Ethics Board, in cases where the research involves human participants (if applicable)
• the ineligible institution agrees that the eligible institution will manage funds according to its own policies, including institutional policies related to compensation and procurement, as well as reimbursement of other project-related expenses

Institutional eligibility can be revoked if:

• an institution is found to have breached the Agreement on the Administration of Agency Grants and Awards by Research Institutions or the Terms and Conditions for Not-for-Profit Organizations and/or the relevant policies for those documents or
• financial monitoring visits determine that the organization is not compliant with the Agreement or the Terms and Conditions

Institutions can re-apply for eligibility once sufficient assurance is provided that the issues have been resolved.

A Canadian postsecondary institution is an entity that:

• is incorporated in Canada
• has a physical presence in Canada (i.e., space that will be used to perform agency-funded research and research-related activities)
• is not under the control of a foreign entity with respect to its financial and other operations (i.e., must be in a position to receive and administer funds in Canada and not through a foreign institution with which it is affiliated)
• must be eligible to issue tax slips in Canada (for all grants or scholarships payments on behalf of the agencies)
• can prove it is officially recognized as a postsecondary institution by the relevant Canadian provincial or territorial government authorities to grant Canadian degrees/diplomas (i.e., its students do not receive diplomas from a foreign-based institution)