Q: Is TAGFA applicable for the research allowance portion of a CIHR Award and do retroactive expenses apply to research allowances as well?
The TAGFA is applicable for Tri-Agency Grants and the research allowance portion of an award is treated as a grant. As such, the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration applies.
Retroactive expenses, at the discretion of the administering Institution, apply to research allowances. This means that research allowance recipients are permitted to begin spending as of the date of the formal notification of award from CIHR rather than having to wait until the actual research allowance start date (e.g. if the CIHR Fellowship has a start date of April 1, 2020, but the Fellow/Supervisor receives the Authorization For Funding (AFF) dated March 1, 2020, the Fellow/Supervisor can, on request, begin spending as of March 1).
Approval to spend during the retroactive period must be authorized by both the principaI investigator and the department head/unit director, using the Tri-Agency Retroactive Expenses Approval Form (posted under “Financial Forms” on the Office of Research Services (ORS) web site: https://ors.ubc.ca/resources-links/electronic-forms). The completed form should be submitted to the ORS at ors@ors.ubc.ca