updated December 2, 2020

The Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF) was announced on May 15, 2020, as part of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. The three-stage 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, which has a total budget of $450 million, will support two main research areas:

1. Wage support (up to 75% for 12 weeks; $847/week maximum) for eligible research personnel who were paid from non-government sources (March 15–August 29, 2020) (Stages 1 and 2, $325 million).
2. Incurred costs associated with maintenance and ramping-up of research activities (Stage 3, $125 million).

More details about the program can be found on the CRCEF program webpage.

Committee Adjudication Process

To facilitate Stage 1 allocations, an internal review committee will be formed to oversee CRCEF and ensure alignment to the Tri-agency program policies and requirements.  The committee members will have received unconscious bias and Gender-Based Analysis+ training prior to membership. More then half of the committee members are from equity-seeking groups.

The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is dedicated to excellence in research and research training. UPEI is strongly committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion within our community. UPEI wants to ensure that members of underrepresented or disadvantaged groups benefit from the CRCEF program.  Those include, but are not limited to, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minority/racialized groups and members of 2SLGBTQ+ communities.  To ensure equity in this process, Research Services will direct the review of internal records to locate ALL eligible and affected people.  This will ensure that the process is inclusive to everyone, for example:

• Researcher’s unable to work during the pandemic due to child/family care or increased risk related to exposure to COVID-19.
• Addressing systematic barriers that could negatively impact underrepresenting or disadvantaged groups from applying.

Anyone with questions about eligibility for the CRCEF program can contact Maria Steele at mlsteele@upei.ca.

The internal review committee members include: Dr. Katherine Gottschall-Pass, Vice-President Academic and Research (interim), as chair, Dr. Nola Etkin, Dean of Science, Dr. Rabin Bissessur, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research (interim), Patti Wheatley, Equity, Diversity , and Inclusion Officer, and Maria Steele, Manager of Research Services.

Stage 1 CRCEF Allocation Process at UPEI

Decision process for allocation of Stage 1 funds:

1. Eligible recipients were identified by internal financial records. 
2. An Internal Review Committee was formed to review the list.
3. The approved list will be provided to Research Accounting to allocate CRCEF Stage 1 as per the program guidelines.
4. Researchers are notified of inclusion in the list.  A notification to the broader research community for a final open call to access the funds will be communicated. Notifications will include communications with Deans’, campus newsletters, and email communications to researchers, to reach as broad an audience as possible.  This will act as a mechanism to ensure all eligible applicants have been identified (including underrepresented and disadvantaged groups).
5. If the determined need exceeds the committed funds
   1. The Office of Research Service will send out applications to the eligible researchers to permit:
      1. Self-identification of underrepresented groups including women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minority/racialized groups and members of 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
      2. Identify research that is non-traditional or unconventional, based in Indigenous ways of knowing, outside the mainstream of the discipline, or focused on issues of gender, race or minority status will be met.
   2. Funds will be dispersed with a priority to 5ai and 5aii. The remaining funds will be dispersed evenly amongst the remaining researchers.

Contact Information 

Dr. Katherine Gottschall-Pass
Vice-President Academic and Research (Interim)
vpar@upei.ca