Technology Access Centres (TACs) are specialized centres of expertise intended to provide timely innovation support to a college’s community organizations from the private, public, health care or not-for-profit sectors. TACs provide capabilities that serve their community organizations’ applied research and innovation needs. These capabilities may include advice on specific organizational challenges, applied research and/or development projects, or specialized services and training. These centres address innovation challenges by enabling the community organizations to take advantage of the college’s expertise, technology and equipment, leading to beneficial business, social and/or health outcomes for Canada.

TAC grants provide funding for the core operations of TACs. TACs can also apply for other sources of funding to address more long-term and risky applied research projects. All TACs must have non-grant sources of revenue, typically client fees for innovation support and research services offered on a fee-for-service or cost-recovery basis.

For colleges and CEGEPs in Quebec, given the substantial network of centres that support local/regional innovation, proposals are limited to a maximum of $100,000 per year. Colleges have the flexibility to allocate these funds in the most effective manner to support an established centre, provided the expenditures are well-justified and comply with the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration.

Colleges that have fewer than three technology access centres and wish to launch a new TAC in a different applied research area, may apply for an additional TAC grant. Colleges must clearly demonstrate in the application that the targeted applied research area is distinct from that supported by a previously awarded TAC grant. They must also demonstrate that the new TAC will add significant value to the region’s innovation capacity. The application must show that the new TAC will draw on different applied research disciplines, will require different expertise and facilities, and will support a different and significant client sector from the existing TAC(s).

Canadian colleges, including CEGEPs and polytechnics, that are declared eligible to administer grants according to the eligibility requirements for colleges of at least one of the three federal granting agencies, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), may apply. All applications must be submitted to NSERC. Grants are funded by NSERC, except proposals exclusively in the social sciences and humanities, which are funded by SSHRC, or exclusively in the health sciences, which are funded by CIHR.

For a list of Canadian colleges currently eligible to apply, see the list of eligible institutions for the agency you are applying to (NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC). To learn more about becoming an eligible institution, see the Institutional eligibility requirements and the frequently asked questions on institutional eligibility.

TAC grant proposals are expected to focus on how the TAC will meet the innovation needs of organizations within the college’s community. For example, the centre might focus on:

• developing a strategic technology for key business sectors in the community
• providing basic capabilities to strengthen a region’s innovation infrastructure
• addressing the applied research and innovation needs of key social, health and public organizations
• augmenting the innovation capabilities of local/regional organizations

TACs help their clients be more innovative, productive, effective and competitive.

TACs must serve the college’s community or local/regional area. These terms are used interchangeably. For most colleges, this is the local geographic area where the client or partner organizations that will use the research and employ the students are found. In some cases, depending on the college’s context, the geographic area can span several provinces and/or territories.

Innovation support services refers to a range of services aimed at supporting client researchers and their research objectives. These innovation support services can include specialized training, technical services and access to equipment, among others.

Research services refers to the set of client-focused activities that lead to the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way. Research services generally include innovation support services required to meet the research objectives. For example, stand-alone services that are independent of larger research goals such as technical services, specialized training and access to equipment, are not considered research services.

Innovation support and research services refers to the full set of TAC service offerings, which includes stand-alone client-focused innovation support services and client-focused research services.

TACs must provide innovation support and research services (i.e., research or research support activities undertaken to meet a client organization’s innovation requirements). The TAC offers these services on a fee-for-service or cost-recovery basis (recovery minimally of all incremental centre expenses resulting from the client service activities). If the TAC has other sources of funding—such as a College and Community Innovation program Applied Research & Development (ARD) grant or a College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) grant—client/partner organizations may provide cash and/or in-kind contributions to meet the grant’s leveraging requirements. Client contributions, along with the grant funds, should cover at least the centre’s cost-recovery expenditures.

For information on how to integrate equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations into the rationale of the research team composition and into training plans, and for links to additional resources, see the Guide to addressing EDI in College and Community Innovation program grant applications.

NSERC is acting on the evidence that achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. This principle informs the commitments described in the Tri-agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and is aligned with the objectives of the Tri-agency EDI Action Plan.

In this funding opportunity, you are encouraged to increase the inclusion and advancement of underrepresented groups as one way to enhance excellence in research and training. EDI considerations must be integrated into:

• the rationale of the composition of research teams; and
• the training, mentorship and professional development opportunities for students and trainees.

The aim of the proposed actions should be to remove systemic barriers to the recruitment and full participation of individuals from underrepresented groups, including women, Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis), persons with disabilities, members of visible minority/racialized groups and members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

The nature and extent of meaningful engagement in research should be determined jointly by the relevant individuals or communities and the research team and appropriate to community characteristics and the nature of the research.

Engagement must start at the very beginning of research planning and continue throughout the remainder of the research process.

Applicants whose research involves and engages Indigenous Peoples, communities or individuals must consult and consider the concepts, principles and protocols in the CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities.

All committee members reviewing applications that involve Indigenous Peoples or communities are also expected to consult and consider the same concepts, principles and protocols.

Where possible, CCI program staff will ensure that reviewers on these applications have experience or expertise in research involving Indigenous Peoples or communities.

Clients are organizations from the private, public, health care or not-for-profit sectors that

• receive the results of the TAC’s innovation support and research services
• use the results to help achieve their desired goals
• play an active role in mobilizing knowledge to ensure that the results have a beneficial societal, health or business impact

Clients are expected to pay for innovation support and research services offered by the TAC on a fee-for-service or cost-recovery basis. If the TAC receives funding from other sources, such as a CCI Program Applied Research & Development (ARD) or College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) grant, client organizations may provide cash and/or in-kind contributions to meet the grant’s leveraging requirements. Client contributions, along with the grant funds, should cover at least the centre’s cost-recovery expenditures.

Colleges do not need to identify client organizations when they apply for a TAC grant. TAC proposals must include a plan for working with client organizations, including the planned approach for client development, and projections for the number of clients and annual cash revenues from client services. TACs will need to report on funding received from a number of sources (including grant funds), as well as revenue derived exclusively on a fee-for-service or cost-recovery basis for innovation support and research services.

For details on the use of grant funds, see the Tri-agency guide on financial administration.

This program has exceptions to Part 2 of the guide, Use of grant funds. The following are eligible expenditures:

• Salary of replacement faculty hired to backfill a faculty member’s involvement in an applied research project, and spending on recruitment-related activities
• Salaries and non-discretionary benefits for non-faculty researchers and part-time faculty
• Salaries associated with project management activities leading to the optimal use of project resources to meet the objectives of the research in a timely and budget-efficient manner
• Equipment maintenance
• Incremental costs of basic services, such as heat, light, water, compressed air, distilled water, vacuums and janitorial services supplied to all laboratories in a research facility
• Advertising
• Cost of hospitality and promotional material for networking and business development purposes
• Equipment or rental of facility

The following expenditures are not eligible:

• Rental of facilities owned by the college
• Insurance costs for building or equipment

Colleges applying for a new TAC grant must complete a two-stage application process. The first stage is the preparation of a letter of intent (LOI). Based on the evaluation of this letter by the review committee, NSERC will invite selected colleges to submit a full application. The LOI and full application are each peer reviewed using the TAC grants merit evaluation criteria. Existing TACs that are up for renewal for an additional five-year term do not need to submit an LOI. Renewal applications must include a report highlighting their accomplishments of the previous five years, which will be evaluated using the same merit evaluation criteria as LOIs and new TAC full applications. Colleges cannot hold more than three TAC grants at the same time. As a result, colleges with three active TAC grants cannot apply for a new TAC grant.

For colleges and CEGEPs in Quebec, grants are limited to a maximum of $100,000 per year.

Applications must be submitted through the Convergence Portal. For more details, see the TAC LOI and Full application instructions.

When NSERC receives an LOI or a full application for a TAC grant, it first undertakes an administrative assessment to ensure the application is complete and complies with all eligibility requirements. Once the administrative assessment is satisfactorily completed, applications are assigned to a multidisciplinary review committee for the College and Community Innovation program, which will conduct a merit assessment of the application and make a funding recommendation to NSERC. The review committee will use the following merit evaluation criteria for LOIs, full applications and renewal applications. For more information on how to address these criteria, please refer to the LOI and Full application instructions.

The review committee will evaluate the merit of an application using the five criteria detailed below. For colleges applying to renew their TAC for an additional five-year term, the committee will assess the merit of the renewal application for the new term, while taking into strong consideration the TAC’s past accomplishments—including how well they met their objectives—as an indicator of future success.

The proposal must address all the criteria and sub-criteria to be considered for funding.

• The incremental value that the TAC grant will bring to the college’s existing activities in the targeted sector’s/region’s innovation capacity. Colleges with one or more active TAC(s) must demonstrate that the establishment of a new TAC will create significant incremental value to the region’s innovation capacity; that it will draw on different applied research disciplines, require different expertise, and support a significant client sector that is different from that of the existing TAC(s).
• The potential for the centre to play a significant role in innovation for its client organizations in their region, including potential for synergies among the proposed centre, the host college(s) and other innovation support organizations in the region.

• The centre’s plan to incorporate student* training as an integral component of its innovation support and research service activities, including opportunities for enriched student experiences in applied research and problem-solving skills, and in professional skills, such as leadership, communication, collaboration and entrepreneurship.
• The identification of proposed measures in the centre’s training plan to promote the participation of a diverse group of students and other trainees, including those from underrepresented groups, as well as to promote an equitable, inclusive and accessible training environment.

• The organizational structure of the centre, including evidence of an accountability framework likely to result in effective leadership and sound financial decision-making; the degree of engagement and support from the college; and the centre's integration with the strategic plan of the college.
• Focus, coherence and feasibility of the innovation support and research service delivery plan; this includes the scope of support capabilities and the approach planned for reaching and delivering services to client organizations in the centre’s region.

• The ability of the TAC to attract investment, the potential for client organization revenue for rendered innovation support and research services on a cost-recovery basis, and the ability to meet the performance metrics and investment targets identified.

• The current strength of the expertise and research infrastructure available, and the anticipated quality of expertise and support capabilities to be offered by the centre in support of client organization innovation needs.
• The identification of proposed measures to ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion are being intentionally and proactively considered when recruiting, selecting and/or integrating personnel into the centre’s research team.

NSERC’s funding decision for the LOI, full application, and renewal application stages will take into consideration the merit evaluation criteria ratings assigned to applications by the review committee and the budget available for TAC grants. Applicants will receive a message from the review committee providing an overview of the findings of the review committee.

For more information about review process timelines, consult the Application deadlines and notification of decision page.

If your application is approved for funding, you will receive an award letter, and you must adhere to the terms and conditions set out in it.

Your award letter will indicate the start date of your project. NSERC will normally transfer your grant funds to your college within 30 days of that start date. Note that applications funded through CIHR and SSHRC can experience delays in the transfer of funds due to inter-agency transfer requirements.

Colleges must acknowledge the support of granting agencies (NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC as applicable) in all communications (verbally and in writing) about research and research results. Furthermore, under Canada’s Official Languages Act, agencies are responsible for taking positive measures to promote the use of both English and French in Canadian society.

Hence, we ask that you acknowledge, verbally and in writing, your agency funding in both English and French whenever possible. For sample text and additional information, visit the Acknowledgement and logos (NSERC), Acknowledging CIHR support and promoting your research or Acknowledging SSHRC support web pages. Before making an official public announcement for both annual and open competition College and Community Innovation grants, including TAC grants, consult with NSERC's, CIHR’s or SSHRC’s communications team.

In coordination with CIHR and SSHRC, NSERC will make an official annual announcement of the TAC grant recipients. Colleges are asked to refrain from making any public announcements until after this official announcement. NSERC will notify applicants and college communications offices about this announcement as soon as possible. This does not prevent you from confidentially sharing information about your funding with your colleagues and members of the research team or referring to CCI funding in applications for other funding.

Please refer to the College and Community Innovation program policy on intellectual property, research agreements, patents and copyright webpage.

All College and Community Innovation grant recipients must regularly report on their use of grant funds, research activities and research outcomes. You will be provided with additional information about reporting requirements upon receiving your award letter.

To receive subsequent instalments of your grant, you must (1) demonstrate your need for funds and (2) adhere to all conditions specified in the terms and conditions of an award.

You are not required to strictly adhere to the budget presented in the proposal, as long as the grant funds are used for the research, training and other eligible activities for which they were intended. However, you must ensure that the budget line items (e.g., equipment, salaries, etc.) comply with the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration, Part 2: Use of grant funds (with exceptions noted under Funding).

The administering institution must complete a Grant amendment form and submit it to grantsadministration@nserc-crsng.gc.ca (with CC to colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca) to inform NSERC of administrative changes, such as:

• Deferral of grant instalment
• Extension period for the authority to use grant funds
• Continuing eligibility
• Changes to individuals on the grant team (including the applicant)
• Termination of a grant

For additional information on administrative changes, consult Part 6: Administrative Changes in the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration.

A one-year time extension to use the grant funds beyond the grant end date is automatically provided for all TAC grants. Contact colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca for additional information on grant extensions.

Application instructions and materials

• Instructions for completing a letter of intent to apply for a TAC grant
• Instructions for completing a TAC grant application
• TAC metrics table
• Roles and eligibility requirements to apply for or hold College and Community Innovation program grant funds

Supplementary guides and related documents

• CCI guide for research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities
• Guide to addressing equity, diversity and inclusion in College and Community Innovation program grant applications
• NSERC guide on integrating equity, diversity and inclusion considerations in research
• Tri-agency EDI Action Plan
• Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration
• Tri-agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Terms and conditions of applying

• Terms and conditions of applying for applicants
• Terms and conditions of applying for contributors
• Terms and conditions of applying for participants

• TAC Peer Review Committee (full application)
• TAC Peer Review Committee (letter of intent stage)

• NSERC funding decisions
• Terms and conditions of award

• List of eligible Canadian colleges

Email: colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca
Toll free: 1-855-275-2861

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