Overview
The Research Support Fund (RSF) is a Government of Canada program that helps eligible postsecondary institutions offset a portion of the indirect costs required to support federally funded research. While research grants generally support the direct costs of individual projects, institutions also incur broader costs to maintain the research environment, administer grants, support researchers, meet regulatory requirements, provide access to research resources, and mobilize research knowledge.
The RSF assists Canadian postsecondary institutions and their affiliated research hospitals and institutes with the indirect costs and expenses associated with managing research funded by the three federal research granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). RSF funding supports five eligible expenditure areas: research facilities, research resources, management and administration of the research enterprise, regulatory requirements and accreditation, and intellectual property management and knowledge mobilization.
At the University College of the North (UCN), the RSF grant helps defray a portion of these institutional costs and supports UCN’s ability to achieve its research goals. Research at UCN contributes to the achievement of its Strategic Plan and to the economic well-being of the peoples of Northern Manitoba and beyond.
The RSF grant can be used to:
- maintain modern labs and equipment;
- provide access to up-to-date knowledge resources;
- provide research management and administrative support, including support for equity, diversity, and inclusion practices;
- meet regulatory and ethical standards and requirements; and
- transfer research results and knowledge from academia to knowledge users in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors.
UCN does not have any affiliated organizations. A full list of RSF eligible expenses is provided at www.rsf-fsr.gc.ca/administer-administrer/expenditures-depenses-eng.aspx. More details about the RSF program are available at www.rsf-fsr.gc.ca.
2026-2027 RSF Grant Year
RSF Allocation in 2026-2027
The RSF grant assists Canadian postsecondary institutions with the costs associated with managing their research enterprise and helps institutions maintain a strong research environment. In 2026-2027, the RSF grant amount allocated to UCN is $60,327. UCN plans to distribute this RSF grant under the five expenditure categories listed below:
| Expenditure Category | Planned Amount | Percentage | Planned Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Facilities | $6,327 | 10.5% | Supports UCN’s indirect costs associated with research-related spaces and infrastructure, research equipment, furniture, maintenance and operating costs. |
| Research Resources | $10,500 | 17.4% | Supports UCN’s shared institutional research resources, including campus-wide SPSS license, NVivo license, library holdings, telecommunications, IT, and databases. |
| Management and Administration | $23,000 | 38.1% | Supports UCN’s institutional capacity to administer research, including grant administration, reporting, finance coordination, researcher support, professional development for research administration and support staff. |
| Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation | $12,500 | 20.7% | Supports UCN’s institutional compliance responsibilities, including REB and ACC administration and operations, review processes, training, documentation, and regulatory oversight; membership and participation in CAREB, CCAC, and other relevant organizations. |
| Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization | $8,000 | 13.3% | Supports UCN’s institutional knowledge mobilization, public-facing research engagement, research communications, outreach, and partnership-development activities. |
| Total | $60,327 | 100.0% |
RSF Communications Strategy for 2026-2027
UCN acknowledges and is grateful for the support of the Government of Canada and the three federal research granting agencies – CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC – through the Research Support Fund.
In an effort to provide information about the role of the RSF grant in supporting and building capacity for research at UCN, the following specific communications strategies will be followed through 2026-2027:
| Strategy | Planned Communication Activity |
|---|---|
| UCN Website | UCN’s website, https://ucn.ca/, contains a webpage specifically highlighting the RSF and its impact on research and research capacity building at UCN. The RSF webpage, located at https://ucn.ca/research/research-support-fund/, highlights RSF allocation, usage, and outcomes. All research-related articles, videos, and audio clips that utilize RSF grant funding will acknowledge the impact of the RSF. UCN’s RSF webpage will be updated regularly. The webpage of UCN’s Office of Research, https://ucn.ca/research/, will include a report listing research-related and scholarly activities. |
| Publications | UCN will use publications created by its faculty, staff, students, and others associated with federally funded research activities to highlight and share research stories with both internal and external audiences. The RSF will be directly referenced in publications, emphasizing the value it has brought to strengthening the research environment at UCN. |
| Media Relations | Existing local and regional media contacts will be contacted, and relationships will be built with new media sources in order to share UCN’s research stories and successes. News releases and related stories will acknowledge the support of the RSF grant where applicable. |
| Social Media | Social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others, will be used to share news and generate conversations about UCN’s research expertise and contributions. |
| Presentations/Lectures | Federally funded research-related presentations will acknowledge contributions from the RSF grant. This may include a verbal acknowledgement and/or acknowledgement through inclusion of the RSF on the “Benefactors/Thank You” page of a slideshow presentation. |
2025-2026 RSF Grant Year
RSF Grant Usage, Performance and Outcomes in 2025-2026
UCN received $51,685 from the Research Support Fund in 2025-2026. The grant was used to offset the indirect costs of research activities, research capacity building, training, regulatory compliance, knowledge mobilization, and institutional supports for researchers.
Budget Allocated in 2025-2026 RSF
| Expenditure Category | Budget Amount | Budget Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Research Facilities | $5,000 | 9.7% |
| Research Resources | $13,000 | 25.1% |
| Management and Administration | $11,685 | 22.6% |
| Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation | $21,000 | 40.6% |
| Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization | $1,000 | 2.0% |
| Total | $51,685 | 100.0% |
Statement of Account / Expenditures Incurred in 2025-2026 RSF
| Expenditure Category | Budget Amount | Budget Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Research Facilities | $2,858.70 | 5.53% |
| Research Resources | $17,619.86 | 34.09% |
| Management and Administration | $12,960.64 | 25.08% |
| Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation | $12,210.74 | 23.63% |
| Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization | $2,166.00 | 4.19% |
| Residual/unspent balance | 3,869.06 | 7.49% |
| Total | $51,685 | 100% |
Performance and Outcomes
The performance of UCN and outcomes achieved through the RSF grant in 2025-2026 are summarized below.
| Expenditure Category | How RSF Funds Were Used | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Research Facilities | RSF funds supported research office infrastructure and equipment required for the coordination and administration of research activity at UCN. | These investments contributed to the physical and operational supports needed to maintain records, coordinate research processes, and support institutional research administration. |
| Research Resources | RSF funds supported access to research resources, including research-related software, digital tools, library resources, books, periodicals, and data-related resources. | These resources supported faculty, students, and research personnel in carrying out research activities, accessing scholarly information, analyzing data, and supporting research development. The funding contributed to UCN’s ability to maintain research tools and resources that support scholarly activity across the institution. |
| Management and Administration | RSF funds supported research administration, memberships, professional development, conference participation, communication supports, office supplies, administrative tools, and related operational costs. | These activities strengthened UCN’s capacity to administer research funds, respond to researcher inquiries, support reporting and compliance processes, maintain research-related records, and remain current with research administration practices and requirements. |
| Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation | RSF funds supported ethics and animal care-related compliance capacity, including Animal Care Committee-related requirements, Canadian Council on Animal Care-related program costs, animal user training, research ethics and compliance-related memberships, and professional development connected to regulatory oversight. | These investments supported UCN’s ability to maintain appropriate research oversight structures and assist researchers, students, and research personnel in meeting regulatory expectations. The funding also supported training capacity connected to research activities requiring animal care awareness and compliance. |
| Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization | RSF funds supported knowledge mobilization activities, including workshops, presentations, research communication, and dissemination-related activities. | These activities contributed to UCN’s ability to share research knowledge, promote research awareness, and support engagement with research-related topics relevant to faculty, students, communities, and partners. |
Institutional Investment Story
In 2025-2026, UCN used RSF support to strengthen the regulatory and accreditation capacity required to sustain responsible research activity. As a growing research institution serving Northern Manitoba, UCN requires reliable institutional systems to support ethics, animal care, training, and compliance-related functions. These systems help ensure that research can proceed in accordance with institutional and Tri-Council expectations.
RSF funding supported Animal Care Committee-related requirements, Canadian Council on Animal Care-related program costs, animal user training, and research ethics and compliance-related memberships. These supports helped UCN maintain the infrastructure required for research oversight and regulatory compliance.
The investment also contributed to student and research personnel training, including training connected to natural resources programming and research activities requiring animal care awareness. This helped ensure that researchers and students had access to the institutional supports needed to meet regulatory requirements before and during teaching and research activities.
For UCN, this investment was essential to maintaining responsible research systems while continuing to build institutional capacity for Tri-Council-funded research. RSF funding supported regulatory and accreditation capacity and helped UCN sustain the institutional foundation required for ethical, compliant, and community-responsive research.
Communication Strategies Used in 2025-2026 RSF Grant Year
The following communications strategies were used in 2025-2026 to provide information about UCN’s RSF grant and its support for research at UCN.
| Strategy | Communication Activity Used in 2025-2026 |
|---|---|
| Website | UCN’s RSF webpage, https://ucn.ca/research/research-support-fund/, highlighted the RSF grant and its impact on research activities and research capacity building at UCN. Research-related articles, videos, and audio clips that utilized RSF grant funding acknowledged the support of the RSF grant. The UCN Research Office webpage, located at https://www.ucn.ca/research/, listed research-related and scholarly activities that took place at UCN in 2025-2026. |
| Publications | Publications supported through the RSF grant included a direct reference to the RSF, emphasizing the value it has brought to strengthening the research environment at UCN. |
| Media Relations | Local and regional media contacts and sources were used to share UCN’s research stories and successes. These communications acknowledged the support of the RSF grant where applicable. |
| Social Media | Social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others, were used to share news and generate conversations about UCN’s research expertise and projects. |
| Presentations/Lectures | The RSF grant’s support and contributions were acknowledged in presentations and lectures through verbal acknowledgement and/or the inclusion of a “Thank You” page in slideshow presentations. |
RSF Usage at UCN in Previous Years
| Expenditure Category | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research Facilities | $28,724 | $5,790 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Research Resources | $12,766 | $25,595 | $19,999 | $23,075 | $51,115 |
| Management and Administration | $10,213 | $6,146 | $6 | $10,918 | $2,321 |
| Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation | $3,191 | $10,491 | $12,512 | $7,424 | $6,339 |
| Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization | $13,236 | $4,343 | $13,388 | $1,772 | $2,382 |
| Total RSF Amount | $68,130 | $52,365 | $45,905 | $43,189 | $62,157 |
| Expenditure Category | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 | 2025-2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research Facilities | $0.0 | $0.0 | $0 | $0 | $2,858.70 |
| Research Resources | $67,518.8 | $70,900.8 | $55,011 | $42,902 | $17,619.86 |
| Management and Administration | $1,467.7 | $931.9 | $7,593 | $12,426 | $12,960.64 |
| Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation | $264.9 | $8,563.5 | $6,981 | $7,738 | $12,210.74 |
| Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization | $265.6 | $265.8 | $0 | $0 | $2,166.00 |
| Residual/unspent balance | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,869.06 |
| Total RSF Amount | $69,517.0 | $80,662.0 | $69,585 | $63,066 | $51,685 |
Acknowledgement
UCN gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada and the Tri-Council research granting agencies – CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC – through the Research Support Fund.
Contact
For more information, contact:
Dr. Guru Chinnasamy
Manager of Research
Office of Research
University College of the North
