This depends on the terms and conditions of the grant. For Tri-Council grants, NSERC and SSHRC permit the transfer of grant funds (accountable cash advances) to co-applicants and co-directors, but not to collaborators. This means that payments to collaborators must operate on a cost-recovery basis.

Further, SSHRC stipulates that “with the exception of certain travel- and subsistence-related expenses, SSHRC does not cover expenses that research collaborators incur in the conduct of research or research-related activity.” It is thus important to carefully consider whether an individual should be a co-applicant or a collaborator on your project.

NSERC only permits the transfer of grant funds to NSERC-eligible institutions (i.e., only to Canadian post-secondary institutions). All other costs would be treated on a cost-reimbursable basis.

Research personnel can receive a stipend or a salary.

A stipend is a fixed payment made to an individual registered in a graduate program to cover their living expenses during a period of training. To be considered in training, the individual must be actively involved in the research of a faculty member in their related area of study and must be gaining experience in this area as a result of their research assistantship. A stipend is not paid in exchange for quantifiable work performed or for financial gain. There are no deductions at the time of payment, and the individual will receive a T4A for the amount paid during the calendar year. Only graduate students and postdoctoral fellows may be paid a stipend.

A salary is paid when an employee-employer relationship exists and a quantifiable amount of work has been performed. Salary payments, whether hourly, recurring, or lump sum, are subject to mandatory source deductions and will include 4% vacation pay. Personnel with this type of income will receive a T4 denoting the total amount of employment earnings paid during the calendar year.

Carleton does not have established maximum rates of pay for research personnel (minimum rate of pay must follow minimum wage).

For all individuals paid a salary, the researcher must budget for additional costs, above and beyond the rate of pay to the individual, which will be charged to the grant.

For example, if an hourly rate of $25/hr is promised to the research personnel, then the researcher’s account will be charged as follows:

• Hourly rate: $25/hr
• Statutory deductions (includes 4% vacation pay): 12%
• Discretionary benefits, if applicable*: 15%
• Amount Charged to the fund: $32.75/hr

* Discretionary benefits may be included at the request of the researcher in consultation with their research personnel. Discretionary benefit rates vary based on the individual’s circumstances but are usually between 15-17%.

An Adjunct Research Professor can apply for research funds and will be appointed a grant contract for the grant term period. Please ask for assistance from a member of your Faculty Research Facilitation team for this calculation. The Adjunct Research Professor’s payroll profile needs to be approved by the Department Chair or Director.

There are three options for using PI fees in a grant:

1. Course Buyout: A faculty member wants to be free from teaching a course so they can spend additional time working on the project. The budget will have to cover the cost of a contract instructor to cover the course.
2. Salary Recovery. The University receives compensation for the PI’s time, and the budget is thus based on the PI’s salary plus approximately 18% benefits.
3. PI Fees: These are fees the PI is charging in addition to their normal salary, presumably because the project will require additional work over and above the 40% of time allocated to research in the CUASA collective agreement. The PI can charge whatever they want, but they will need to cover any associated Extended Health Benefits and Workplace Safety Insurance associated with the payment (about 2%) that do not have a maximum limit. The rest of the benefits are based on normal salary and do not scale with temporary increased income.

Note: The PI’s fees cannot be paid into a research account because the Canada Revenue Agency does not allow it.