CIHR Grants: General Conditions of Funding

The following are the general conditions governing CIHR grants. The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) is responsible for ensuring compliance, where relevant to their research, for the tenure of the grant.

1. Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research - 2021 (RCR Framework)
   • Observe the requirements detailed in section 2 pertaining to research integrity, applying for funding, financial management, and the requirements for conducting certain types of research.
   • Immediately inform institutional officials of any changes in the nature of the research that may have an impact on certification or approvals (section 2.4)
2. Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans – TCPS 2 (2022)
   • Ensure approval by a Research Ethics Board (REB) is obtained before commencing research involving humans; inform institutional officials/REB if their research plan changes to include new activities involving humans.
3. Tri-Agency Guide on Research Security
   • Compliance with the Government of Canada's policies on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern and the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships, where applicable, including the implementation of all risk mitigation measures identified in the risk mitigation plan and CIHR results letter.
   • Immediately notify CIHR and the appropriate institutional officials if the nature of the research becomes sensitive or the composition of the team changes such that a team member may be in breach of the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern.
   • CIHR reserves the right to terminate or suspend funding if there is a determination of unacceptable national security risk by the Government of Canada.
4. Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications
   • Adhere to CIHR’s open access requirements on research publications and data.
5. Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration (TAGFA)
   • Ensure grant expenditures are in accordance with the principles and directives governing the Appropriate use of Grant Funds (Part 2).
   • Ensure compliance with the Buy Canadian Policy, where possible when purchasing goods and services for the funded research/activities.
   • Ensure compliance with CIHR’s Transfer of funds requirements when transferring funds to secondary institutions (Part 3);
   • Immediately notify CIHR and the administering institution in writing, in the event of a change in their eligible status with respect CIHR’s requirements for the NPA role (Part 6).
6. CIHR Application Administration Guide Requirements
   • Not apply to CIHR, NSERC or SSHR competitions with the identical/essentially identical application, where the start date of funding will be prior to the end date of the CIHR funded grant. Note this also applies to members of the grant team. (CIHR Guidelines on Identical/Essentially Identical applications);
   • Immediately notify CIHR should they receive additional funding from other sources to accomplish the same research objectives as the CIHR grant (Multiple Funding Sources; Section 5.3).
7. Acknowledgement of CIHR Support
   • Acknowledge CIHR’s contribution to their research in all written and oral presentations of the research results, including scientific articles and public relations activities (e.g., news releases, news conferences, public lectures, media interviews, and web content). All journal articles, where appropriate, must include the Funding Reference Number (FRN).
8. Clinical Trials
   • CIHR is a signatory to the World Health Organization’s Joint Statement on Public Disclosure of Results from Clinical Trials (“WHO Joint Statement”) requiring all clinical trials to be registered and the results disclosed publicly in a timely manner.
   • If your research involves a Clinical Trial, you must comply with the CIHR Policy Guide - Requirements for Registration and Disclosure of Results of Clinical Trials and respond to CIHR’s annual compliance monitoring requests.
9. Intellectual Property
   • You confirm that you have the legal right to any intellectual property necessary for you to carry out the project.
10. Data Management: Indigenous Research
    • Data related to First Nations, Inuit or Métis communities whose traditional and ancestral territories are in Canada must be managed in accordance with data management principles developed and approved by those communities, and on the basis of free, prior and informed consent. This includes, but is not limited to, considerations of Indigenous data sovereignty, as well as data collection, ownership, protection, use, and sharing.
11. Knowledge mobilization products
    • All information intended for public consumption, including for the purposes of informing and engaging partners (e.g., website content, information pamphlets, guidelines, promotional and event-related material, etc.), must be provided in both official languages (English and French), accessible to screen readers, and should be developed using plain language practices.
12. Consent to the Sharing of Personal Information
    • You consent to the sharing among the three federal granting agencies (NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC) and with any academic institution to which you are, or may become, affiliated, of any and all information, including personal information, in any way related to the application and to the grant.

Other Considerations

13. Breach of Agency Policy
    • If a breach of CIHR policy is alleged or confirmed, the Tri-agency framework: Responsible conduct of research applies. CIHR’s recourse for confirmed breaches varies by severity, and may include but is not limited to:
      • Withholding installments of and/or termination of the grant.
      • Requirement to reimburse funds.
      • Ineligibility to participate in peer review committees.
      • Ineligibility to hold/apply for Agency funding, temporarily or permanently.
14. Financial Contributions
    • CIHR’s financial contribution for this initiative is subject to there being an appropriation for the fiscal year in which the payment is to be made. CIHR reserves the right to reduce, defer or suspend financial contributions to any grant if it does not receive the necessary appropriation from Parliament.
    • Financial contributions provided by a CIHR competition partner are subject to availability of funds. Should the partner determine that its funding levels are not available or are decreased, they may reduce, defer or suspend their financial contributions to applicable grants issued under the funding opportunity. CIHR and its partner(s) are each responsible for paying their respective portion of a grant and are not required to pay the portion owed by the other party.

Date modified:

2026-06-16