Tri-Agency Funds and Buying Research Materials in Canada

When research materials are bought with NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC funds, what does the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration require for the expense to be eligible and documented, and where do institutional purchasing policies take over?

Research materials are an eligible expense on a Tri-agency grant when the purchase meets the principles in the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration and the institution holding the funds can show that it does. The guide asks that an expense be a direct cost of the funded research, be effective and economical, and not provide personal gain to the grant team ^[1]. It does not contain a list of permitted reagents.

That structure puts two parties in the chain. The agencies set the principles. The administering institution turns them into purchasing rules, approvals and records. A researcher who wants to know whether an order is acceptable has to read both, and when they differ, the stricter reading is the safe one.

The principles-based approach

Part 2 of the guide sets out the principles governing the use of grant funds. Four conditions matter for a purchase of research materials. The expense must be a direct cost of the funded research, with its outcome attributable to the grant. It must not be something the institution provides to its research personnel as part of its own services. It must be effective and economical, a phrase the guide's definitions explain does not necessarily mean the lowest cost. And it must not give personal gain to members of the grant team ^[1].

University summaries of the guide, such as the Queen's quick reference and FAQs, condense these points for faculty ^[2][3]. They are useful starting points, but they are dated and they are the university's reading, not the agencies'. Read the guide itself for anything you plan to rely on, and note the date you read it.

Research materials and supplies

Reagents and other consumables are goods, and goods are acquired under the institution's procurement policy. The guide requires the grant holder, or a delegate, to authorise each purchase in a manner that can be substantiated, and the institution to confirm that the expense is eligible. Where the grant-related purpose is not obvious from the item, a justification is needed ^[1].

That last sentence is the one to design around. A reagent used in the funded project needs no explanation. A reagent that could belong to several projects, or that looks unrelated to the title of the grant, does. Write the project link on the requisition when you place the order, in a sentence, so the finance office does not have to ask.

Equipment is defined broadly in the guide's appendix as tangible or intangible property, including software and licences, used wholly or partly for research. Items bought with grant funds are owned by the administering institution, which decides with the researcher how they are used ^[1]. University finance pages usually add their own threshold and treatment for supplies versus equipment, as the University of Waterloo's does, so check the figure and the capitalisation rule for your institution ^[4].

Shipping, brokerage and customs

The guide as read on 10 October 2026 does not specifically address shipping or customs costs. That does not make them ineligible. They are costs of acquiring an eligible item, and they fall under the same principles and the institution's policies. In practice most institutions treat freight, customs duties and brokerage on research goods as part of the cost of the goods, when properly invoiced and receipted.

Because the guide is silent, do not assume. Ask your finance office whether it accepts courier brokerage fees, duty and tax as separate lines, and what evidence it wants: the courier invoice, the customs receipt, or both. Then keep both with the purchase file.

Where the agencies are silent, the institution applies

The guide states that goods and services are to be acquired and paid in line with the administering institution's policies and processes, and that where the guide is silent on a subject, the institution's own pronouncements apply. Agency policy takes precedence over institutional policy where they conflict, but recipients must also follow the institution's requirements ^[1].

Card policies are an example of institutional rules the guide does not set. The University of Ottawa's purchasing card standards are one published instance; they define what a card may be used for and how transactions are supported ^[5]. They are specific to that university and are cited here only to show where such rules live.

Grant-specific conditions

The Tri-agency guide is common to the three agencies, but an individual program can add its own terms. Programmes that fund a defined piece of infrastructure or a named project may restrict what can be bought against them more tightly than a flexible operating grant. The award notice and the programme's guidelines say which applies.

The practical rule is the same as for any funder: read the award terms for the specific grant, not the general reputation of its programme. If you have not read the conditions on the grant in question, you do not yet know what it allows.

Documentation: invoices, receipts and authorisation

The guide requires expenditures to be documented as the institution's policies prescribe, requires adjustments to grant accounts to carry supporting documentation such as a journal voucher plus the grant holder's or delegate's authorisation, and requires the institution to keep complete and accurate records, including an audit trail for each transaction. It states that supporting documentation is to be kept for at least seven years ^[1].

1. The requisition or purchase order, authorised by the grant holder or delegate.
2. The supplier's invoice with item descriptions, quantity, unit price and any tax shown separately.
3. The freight, customs and brokerage documents for goods that crossed the border.
4. The receipt record showing the goods arrived, with the date and the lot number.
5. Any justification note where the link to the research is not obvious.
6. Any journal voucher and approval for a later adjustment.

Buying from abroad: currency, duties and line-by-line eligibility

A purchase from a foreign supplier adds lines that a domestic one does not: the price in a foreign currency, the exchange rate applied by the card issuer or bank, import duty, brokerage, and the applicable sales tax. Each line is a cost of acquiring the goods. Each should be separately visible in the file.

Record the exchange rate and its source as the institution's payment system applied it. Do not recalculate from a rate you looked up afterwards, because the amount charged to the grant is the amount actually paid. Show the sales tax and any rebate treatment as the finance office handles it; the separate article on exemption certificates and GST/HST describes the rebate that universities claim.

The guide also encourages grant recipients to prioritise Canadian suppliers and content where possible ^[1]. That is guidance on preference, not a bar on foreign suppliers. If you choose a foreign supplier, record the reason in the selection note, such as a specification or a documentation requirement that the available Canadian sources could not meet.

What to check next

Read the current Tri-agency guide, your award notice and your university's procurement and card policies, and note the date of each. Then ask the finance office whether customs, brokerage and exchange costs are accepted as separate lines and what evidence it wants for them. Put those answers on the requisition template so each order starts with the same questions already answered.