Overview
The Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund was announced on May 15, 2020, as part of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. The temporary program has been established to help sustain the research enterprise at Canadian universities and health research institutions that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program is expected to help reduce negative impacts of the pandemic and ensure that the benefits of significant investments to date in universities and health research institutions are protected.
This will maintain Canada’s international competitiveness in the global, knowledge-based economy, and contribute to Canadians’ health and social and cultural life, as well as the health of Canada’s natural environment.
CRCEF is a Tri-agency program and is administered by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council on behalf of the three federal research funding agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and SSHRC. The Canada Research Coordinating Committee provides strategic oversight for the program and approves awards. The Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat provides administration.
This page is intended to meet accountability and public acknowledgment requirements to maintain RRU's eligibility for the grant.
Royal Roads University objectives
Royal Roads University undertook the following process to determine how the funds would be used:
- The vice president research and international and director of Research Services, both of whom serve on the President’s Steering Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, met initially to discuss the fund and who to involve in the process.
- The VPR&I and director of Research Services determined that the vice president finance & chief financial officer, who is also a member of the PSCEDI, should be involved in the CRCEF group for discussions and establishing a process.
- The CRCEF group contains representation from the federally designated groups, and all members have undergone unconscious bias training.
The director of Research Services gathered the following information:
- number of research projects currently funded by non-governmental sources
- brief details of each project, including active research personnel
- expenditures between April 1 and June 26 on research personnel for each project
- estimate of the projected amount of funding the university might be eligible to receive
The information was presented to the VPR&I and VP & CFO, and a virtual meeting took place on June 29, 2020 for discussion.
The total financial implications, based on each principal investigator's identified needs, were calculated to be approximately just under $38,500.
The allocation of the funding was, therefore, not competitive. A program web page, beyond this public disclosure page, was not created.
Affiliated health research institutions receiving funding and method of distribution to affiliated health research institutions
N/A
Strategy for equity, diversity and inclusion decision-making
As Stage 1 funding protects current employees, and continues to fund a portion of their salary or allows an increase in their hours worked, the following strategy and actions are being undertaken to support equity, diversity and inclusion:
- The director of Research Services, who is a member of the President's Steering Committee for EDI will work with each principal investigator, prior to disbursing the supplement to identify concerns and barriers. The director will work with the institution’s EDI specialist in Human Resources to address those concerns.
- All work pertaining to the Stage 1 CRCEF funding will conform to policy and processes currently in place to ensure that all employment decisions do not negatively affect a researcher’s ability to work during the pandemic due to child or family care or increased risk related to exposure to COVID-19. These apply to the research personnel on all projects. The director of Research Services will discuss each of the research personnel’s individual needs to ensure that no researcher or trainee is negatively affected.
- Each principal investigator who was eligible to access the funding under this program has had the opportunity to present and have their research considered. This includes research that is non-traditional, based in Indigenous ways of knowing, outside the mainstream of the discipline, or focused on issues of marginalized populations.
Impact of COVID-19
Royal Roads University recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has, and continues to, disproportionately impact marginalized groups, as well as parents and caregivers.
While the CRCEF at RRU has not been a competitive program due to the number of eligible researchers, RRU will safeguard against the possibility of a researcher’s inability to work due to negative impacts of COVID19 by taking the following steps:
- including acknowledgment of the impact of COVID19 in CRCEF communications
- offering special consideration to researchers personally impacted by the pandemic (e.g., extensions of internal deadlines)
- offering Research Services’ assistance with the completion of applications, reporting and management of funds as appropriate
CRCEF Stage 3 open call for applications
Royal Roads undertook an open call for applications for Stage 3 funding from CRCEF to support research maintenance and ramp-up costs incurred due to COVID-19. The deadline was December 3, 2020. The call was open to core faculty members, who hold research funds at RRU.
Responsibility
Vice-President Research and International Dr. Pedro Márquez is the senior-level individual responsible for ensuring that the program’s requirements are followed.