Archived - Guidelines on the Reporting of Grants and Contributions Awards

The Guidelines on the Reporting of Grants and Contributions Awards sets out the public requirements for the Proactive Disclosure of Grants and Contributions. It increases transparency of government funding provided through Grants and Contributions.

Date modified: 2018-11-22

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Policy:

Transfer Payments, Policy on

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Transfer Payments, Policy on
- Guidelines on the Reporting of Grants and Contributions Awards

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1. Effective date

1.1These guidelines take effect on April 1, 2018.
1.2These guidelines replace the following:
- 1.2.1 Guidance Document: Proactive Disclosure of Grants and Contributions over $25,000 (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)
- 1.2.2 Q’s & A’s For Internal Use Only: Proactive Disclosure of Grants and Contributions over $25,000 (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)

2. Purpose

2.1To provide guidance to managers and functional specialists on the identification, collection and publication of grants and contributions (Gs&Cs) award information.

3. Application

3.1These guidelines apply to departments and agencies that are subject to the Policy on Transfer Payments and the Directive on Transfer Payments, or that are listed in Schedules I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act.
3.2These guidelines support the commitment made by the President of the Treasury Board that “beginning in the spring of 2006, the government will make information on grants and contributions available through proactive disclosure, initially for those above $25,000.”
3.3Program terms and conditions (Ts&Cs) that exempt the reporting of awards for programs approved before the effective date of these guidelines will remain in effect until their expiry, or until their continuation or amendment is approved.
3.4A three-wave approach to the updated disclosure requirements of Gs&Cs information is being adopted to permit departments and agencies to make the necessary adjustments to business processes. Information on these waves can be found in Appendix G.

4. Context

4.1
On October 21, 2005, the Government of Canada announced its commitment to proactively disclose the awarding of Gs&Cs worth more than $25,000 as part of its management improvement agenda. At the time, this commitment was part of the continued, phased introduction of proactive disclosure requirements that started with travel and hospitality expenses, contracts for goods and services, and position reclassification information.

In June 2016, as part of the Open Government Action Plan, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) committed to increasing the transparency and usefulness of Gs&Cs data. The initiative was spearheaded by a TBS-led committee of 37 participating departments, agencies and Crown corporations, now known as the Committee on the Reporting of Grants and Contributions Awards^{Footnote 1} (accessible only on the Government of Canada network).

5. Guidelines

5.1General guidelines

5.1.1All awarded Gs&Cs are to be reported, except those exempt by provisions in the Privacy Act or those listed in these guidelines under Appendix A.
5.1.2The total signed amount of the grant or contribution awarded is to be reported when the agreement is signed.

5.1.3Reporting frequency is at the discretion of the department; however, as a minimum, departments must report (except in instances highlighted in subsection 5.1.4), within 60 days^{Footnote 2} of the end of the reporting quarter, as indicated in Table 1. When the posting deadline falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, departments must post information by the first business day following the weekend or holiday.

**Table 1: reporting deadlines according to quarter**
Reporting quarter	Final deadline for reporting
Q1: April 1 to June 30	August 30
Q2: July 1 to September 30	November 30
Q3: October 1 to December 31	March 2 (March 1 on a leap year)
Q4: January 1 to March 31	May 30

5.1.4In the event of ministerial announcements, proprietary information, or other valid causes for delay (determined at the discretion of the deputy head or delegated authority), departments may delay reporting on the affected agreements, provided that the agreements are disclosed within the same fiscal year or within one fiscal quarter, if the report falls at the end of a fiscal year.^{Footnote 3}

5.2Identification of Gs&Cs to be reported
- 5.2.1Departments should report all Gs&Cs awards (including those below $25,000), except where exceptions have been granted, as highlighted in Appendix A.
- 5.2.2Departments should report all award amendments according to the guidelines in Appendix D.
- 5.2.3When there are a series of amendments to an award, they may be disclosed as one report, provided that they occur in the same reporting period.
- 5.2.4When a grant or contribution is awarded and subsequently terminated, the termination should be treated as an amendment and reported as such.
- 5.2.5When information is classified, the non-sensitive information should be reported under the award reporting exercise; departments may batch the information to protect sensitive information. Additional information on batch reporting can be found in Appendix C.
5.3Collection of Gs&Cs data
- 5.3.1The data fields described in Appendix B were developed by the Committee on the Reporting of Grants and Contributions Awards, in consultation with key external and internal stakeholders, to enable departments to provide consistent, useful and usable information to the public. Departments are encouraged to follow the recommended approach for each data field and move toward the recommended reporting standards over time.
5.4Publication of Gs&Cs awards
- 5.4.1Using templates provided by TBS, departments and agencies are to report their respective Gs&Cs information on the open government website.
  - 5.4.1.1Departments will begin reporting on the effective date of these guidelines.
  - 5.4.1.2Departments will place text, provided by TBS, on their existing proactive disclosure pages to redirect interested parties to the open government website.
- 5.4.2When a department issues a grant or contribution on another department’s behalf, the department issuing the funds to the recipient should report the award and note that another department participated in the “additional information” field.
- 5.4.3When more than one department or agency is funding a recipient for a shared initiative, both departments should report the award and the amount of the grant or contribution awarded by their department. Departments should communicate to ensure consistency of information, and include the name(s) of the other department(s) in the “additional information field”.
- 5.4.4A Gs&Cs award or amendment that is not reported during the reporting period in which it was awarded may be indicated in the subsequent reporting period, or as soon as practical. Any belated reporting must be identified as such in the additional information field.
- 5.4.5Posted information may be modified when a material error (defined in Appendix D) was made in the originally reported data. Any modified information should be clearly indicated within the original report’s additional information field.
5.5Monitoring of award reporting
- 5.5.1In accordance with the Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments, departments and agencies are responsible for ensuring that the Gs&Cs authority (the minister of the relevant department or agency) is acting and seen to be acting within the letter and the spirit of the Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments.
- 5.5.2A department runs the risk of non-compliance if it does not ensure that Gs&Cs award and amendment information is accurate, up to date, and posted in accordance with the Policy on Transfer Payments and the Directive on Transfer Payments. The department’s deputy head is responsible for ensuring that data is appropriately validated, complete, and reported in a timely manner. It is a best practice for departments to clearly indicate any limitations associated with their reported data.
- 5.5.3TBS will regularly monitor departmental data for Gs&Cs award reporting and ensure compliance with standards. When a department does not have awards to disclose, it will populate a different section of the reporting template, and the information will be placed on the open government website.

6. References

6.1 Relevant legislation

7. Enquiries

7.1.For questions about this policy instrument, contact the TBS Transfer Payments team at zzocgpt@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Appendix A: exceptions to award reporting

When a department determines that information about a grant or contribution award should not be reported, the department is encouraged to disclose information that is unclassified or non-sensitive. If all the information about an award is exempt but can be reported at a later date, the department may include the award in a subsequent report. Similarly, if a department has many awards that cannot be reported for similar reasons, they may be reported as a batch report. For further information on batch reporting, see Appendix C.

In order to seek an exemption from award reporting, departments should email the TBS Transfer Payments team at zzocgpt@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

Although TBS maintains an inventory of exempt programs, it is the responsibility of the department to keep track of the fields, areas or programs that they are exempt from.

Appendix B: fields and associated data elements for grants and contributions

This appendix outlines the fields and associated data elements in the new reporting standards. These fields and data elements are part of the centralized portal for input on the open government website. The new reporting standard requires departments to generate and upload an award report that contains the following fields and data elements.

Table 2 describes the data elements associated with each field. Table 3 is a list of all 31 fields. Instructions on how to fill out each field are provided in 31 tables found after Table 3.

Table 2: list of the data elements that are part of the grants and contributions reporting standard with explanations
Guidance
Field title	The name of the field as seen in the award report.
Section	The section under which the field can be found in the award report. There are five sections: project identification recipient information program information project information other information
Populated by	The organization responsible for entering the data into this field, which can be one of the following: the department the system (TBS)
Input type	How the data in this field is generated and entered into the award report, which can be one of the following: manually (by a departmental official) automatically (by a departmental or TBS system)
Requirement	Indicates whether a field in the award report is optional or mandatory.
Controlled?	Indicates whether the field is populated through a controlled list. Controlled lists allow for filtering on the open government website See Appendix E for further information
Amendable?	Identifies whether the field can be amended when an amendment is made on a file. See Appendix D for details
Official languages	Identifies the official languages requirements tied to the field, as well as how translation will be completed. Translation may be completed in one of the following ways: generated by the system entered by departments, but additional translation will not be required as the information should already be available in both languages entered by departments, but the information will require additional translation
Description	A brief description of the field.
Guidance on how to populate the field will be provided here.

Table 3 provides an overview of all the fields for reporting grants and contributions (Gs&Cs). The fields are categorized by section, and the sections are distinguished by different colours for ease of reference.

Table 3: list of fields for reporting grants and contributions and their associated requirement level
Project identification		Requirement
1	Reference number	Mandatory
2	Department name	Mandatory
3	Departmental identifier	Mandatory
4	Fiscal year	Mandatory
5	Amendment number	As applicable
6	Amendment date	As applicable
7	Agreement type	Mandatory
Recipient information		Requirement
8	Recipient type	Mandatory
9	Business number	As applicable
10	Recipient legal name	Mandatory
11	Recipient operating name	As applicable
12	Research organization	Optional
13	Recipient country	Mandatory
14	Recipient province or territory	Mandatory
15	Recipient city	Mandatory
16	Recipient postal code	As applicable
17	Federal riding name	Optional
18	Federal riding number	Optional
Program information		Requirement
19	Program name	Mandatory
20	Program purpose	Mandatory
Project information		Requirement
21	Agreement title	Mandatory
22	Agreement number	Optional
23	Agreement value in CAD	Mandatory
24	Foreign currency type	As applicable
25	Foreign currency value	As applicable
26	Agreement start date	Mandatory
27	Projected agreement end date	Mandatory
28	Coverage	Optional
29	Description	Mandatory
30	NAICS identifier	Optional
31	Expected results or intended outcome	Mandatory
Other information		Requirement
32	Additional information	Optional

Each of the following 32 tables includes:

a field title and number that matches what is listed in Table 3
information on the data elements linked to each field
instructions on how to correctly fill out each field

Guidance
Field title	1. Reference number
Section	Project identification
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Numbers and letters (no translation required)
Description	The reference number used by departments should help them locate a specific entry so that it can be modified or deleted.
This field has the following format DDD-YYYY-YYYY-QX-XXXXX DDD is the three-digit departmental identifier YYYY-YYYY is the fiscal year QX is the fiscal quarter (for example, Q1) XXXXX is the unique number assigned by the department for each entry For example, the first three entries in the first quarter (Q1) of the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year would have the following reference numbers: 101-2018-2019-Q1-00001 101-2018-2019-Q1-00002 101-2018-2019-Q1-00003

Guidance
Field title	2. Department name
Section	Project identification
Populated by	System
Input type	Automatic
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	Yes; controlled list from Public Services and Procurement Canada
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Translation already available
Description	This field is generated by the reporting system, which determines the department name via the departmental user’s email address. There will be a link created for changes to department names.
This field is populated by the reporting system. This field will be standardized using a federal-entities list that Public Services and Procurement Canada has developed.

Guidance
Field title	3. Departmental identifier
Section	Project identification
Populated by	System
Input type	Automatic
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	Yes; controlled list from Public Services and Procurement Canada
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	This field is generated by the reporting system, which uses the departmental user's email address to determine the departmental identifier.
This field is populated by the reporting system. This field will be standardized using a federal-entities list that Public Services and Procurement Canada has developed.

Guidance
Field title	4. Fiscal year
Section	Project identification
Populated by	Department
Input type	Automatic
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; locked formatting
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	The fiscal year in which the agreement was signed or the project began. The fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31. For example, March 1, 2016, would fall in the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year.
Should there be a desire for a ministerial announcement, reporting may be delayed so that it takes place in the same fiscal year as the announcement.

Guidance
Field title	5. Amendment number
Section	Project identification
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory only when disclosing an amendment
Controlled?	No; locked formatting
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	This field identifies an amendment to the original information.
For the original disclosure of a grant or contribution award, this field will appear blank. When amending a disclosure, this field should be populated with the number of the amendment taking place. For example, for the first amendment to a disclosure this field should be populated with the number “1.” Further information about the amendment process can be found in Appendix D of these guidelines.

Guidance
Field title	6. Amendment date
Section	Project identification
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory only when disclosing an amendment
Controlled?	Yes; controlled list by TBS
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	The date on which an amendment (or amendments) took place.
For the original disclosure of a grant or contribution award, this field will appear blank. When amending a disclosure, this field should be populated with the date that the agreement was amended. When departments are reporting multiple amendments within the same quarter (aggregating amendments), this field should be populated with the date of the last amendment recorded.

Guidance
Field title	7. Agreement type
Section	Project identification
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	Yes; controlled list from TBS
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Translation will be available
Description	This field indicates whether the agreement signed is a grant, contribution or other transfer payment. The controlled list may be viewed in Appendix E, and each of these agreement types are defined in Appendix F.
Since this field hosts very minimal information and departments are required to acknowledge agreement type, there is no further guidance. Departments are encouraged to specify further information on agreement type in the “Additional information” field (such as repay ability, in-kind contribution).

Guidance
Field title	8. Recipient type
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	Yes; controlled list from TBS
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Translation will be available
Description	This field identifies who is receiving the money. There are eight categories of recipient type: for-profit organizations not-for-profit organizations and charities academia and public institutions Aboriginal recipients government international (non-government) individual or sole proprietorships other
For-profit organizations	This category should be selected when funding is going to an organization that exists to make a profit. A for-profit organization should have a business number.
Not-for-profit organizations and charities	This category should be selected when funding is going to an organization that does not exist to make a profit, including charities. In most cases, such an organization should have a business number and/or a GST number.
Academia and public institutions	This category should be selected when funding is going to organizations that are involved in one of the following: providing education or developing educational materials or tools
Aboriginal recipients	This category should be selected when an Aboriginal individual or entity has received or has been authorized to receive a transfer payment under one of the following: a transfer payment program that is specifically targeted to Aboriginal people a program that has a component that is specifically targeted to Aboriginal people
Government	This category should be selected when funding is going to another level of government, whether within Canada (federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, Crown corporations) or outside Canada.
International	This category should be selected when funding is going to an organization that is not from Canada or that is not located in Canada.
Individual or sole proprietorships	This category should be selected when funding is going to a single recipient or a sole proprietor. Further information can be found under "Additional" guidance below.
Other	"Other" should only be populated if the recipient does not fit any of the above categories. If "other" is selected, additional recipient information must be provided in the "Additional information" field.
Additional	The recipient should be the person or organization whose name appears on the grant or contribution agreement. Departments are not required to capture the ultimate recipient. When selecting the recipient type, departments may use their discretion to determine which category best fits their recipient. For quasi-governmental institutions, departments should use their own judgment.

Guidance
Field title	9. Business number
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory for organizations
Controlled?	No; locked formatting
Amendable?	No
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	The business number is a nine-digit number that has been issued by the Canada Revenue Agency since 1994. According to the Directive on the Business Number, the business number is the standard identifier for all transactions between businesses and the Government of Canada, including transactions linked to grant or contribution funding. The business number: provides a consistent and accurate way to identify recipients reduces the number of duplicate entries for the same organization (for example, ACME INC. and ACME Incorporated) simplifies searching for recipients
Organization	The business number should be populated for an organization or charity. A business number is issued when an organization is registered federally, provincially or municipally. It does not change and allows for consistent identification even if the legal name, the operating name or the organization changes over the life cycle of the grant or contribution.
Individual and other	When populating for a foreign recipient, an individual or sole proprietorship, or other entity type that does not have a business number, the department should leave this field blank.
Additional	The recipient should be the person or organization whose name appears on the contribution or grant agreement when it is signed. Departments are not required to capture the ultimate recipient. When selecting the recipient type, departments may use their discretion to determine the category that best fits their recipient. For quasi-governmental institutions, departments should use their own judgment.

Guidance
Field title	10. Recipient legal name
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Translated only if the legal name is provided in both official languages by the recipient
Description	This field is meant to complement the existing “business number” field. The legal name of the recipient should be taken from the agreement.
Organization	Often, the organization’s legal name consists of the name of a province or territory, a business number and "Inc." (incorporated). Regardless of whether the legal name differs from the business number, the recipient legal name field should be populated.
Individual	When populating for an individual, their legal name should be entered as it appears on the individual’s birth certificate, passport or other official identification document. In cases of a name change, the legal name should always be what appears on the legal documentation. Names of individuals should be reported in the following order: last name, first name.
Other recipients	For festivals, committees and other organizations that are not businesses, governments or individuals, the legal name may be populated as “operating name only”.
Additional	The recipient should always be considered the person or organization whose name appears on the contribution or grant agreement when it is signed. If the department is paying an intermediary, which is then paying the recipient (for example, a student is receiving money, but the department sends the money to the university, which then transfers it to the student), the award should be reported as funding to an individual.

Guidance
Field title	11. Recipient operating name
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Optional with exceptions
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Translated only if the name is provided in both official languages by the recipient
Description	This field should be populated when an organization operates under a name that differs from its legal name or business number. This field is not intended to capture the ultimate recipient of a grant or contribution; instead, the name of the person receiving funding from the Government of Canada should be entered.
Organization	This field may be left blank if the organization does not have an operating name. Often, the operating name will appear on the agreement as Legal name, operating as _____. In other cases, the operating name will simply be different from the legal name of the organization.
Individual	This field is optional for individuals and, in most cases, will not need to be populated. In the case of a sole proprietorship, enter the operating name of the sole proprietorship if it differs from the legal name. If an alias is used (for an artist or musician), it may be populated here.
Other recipients	For festivals, committees and other organizations that are not businesses, governments or individuals, this field is mandatory and must be populated with the name of the festival, committee or organization.
Additional	The recipient should always be the person or organization whose name appears on the contribution or grant agreement when it is signed. If the department is paying an intermediary, which is then paying the recipient (for example, a student is receiving money, but the department sends the money to the university, which then transfers it to the student), the award should be reported as funding to an individual. The recipient operating name is used to rapidly identify who is receiving funding. A university could have different legal and operating names. For example, Queen’s University at Kingston (legal name) and Queen’s University (operating name). Faculties or departments of an institution that receive funding may also be placed in this field (for example, the Queen’s University Faculty of Health Sciences).

Guidance
Field title	12. Research organization
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Optional
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Only translated if the organization name is provided in both official languages by the recipient
Description	The organization that the recipient represents. This field is used mainly to highlight academic organizations that researchers have partnered with.
If a researcher receives a grant from a federal entity, but the funding goes to a supporting organization, the name of the supporting organization would be entered here. It is important to note that this field does not track the ultimate recipient but instead displays information related to research grants. For example, if researcher Y signs an agreement with Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, but the money flows through the University of Canada, the “Research organization” field would be populated with “University of Canada”.

Guidance
Field title	13. Recipient country
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	Yes; ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Translation available
Description	The country in which the recipient resides.
Organization	For an organization, this field should be populated with the location of the organization’s headquarters. If a multinational has a local headquarters in Canada, then Canada should be entered.
Individual	For individuals, it should be their home country. For sole proprietors, it should be the country in which they operate.
Other recipients	For festivals, committees and other organizations that are not businesses, governments or individuals, this field should be populated with the country in which they operate.

Guidance
Field title	14. Recipient province or territory
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	Yes; two-letter Canadian province and territory codes and other country option
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Translation available
Description	Where, within Canada, the recipient resides. For foreign recipients, other country should be selected.
Organization	For an organization, this field should be populated with the location of the organization’s headquarters. If a multinational has a local headquarters in Canada, the appropriate province or territory should be reported.
Individual	For individuals, it should be their home province or territory. For sole proprietors, it should be the province or territory in which they operate.
Other recipients	For festivals, committees and other organizations that are not businesses, governments or individuals, this field should be populated with the province or territory in which they operate.

Guidance
Field title	15. Recipient city
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; free text, but a controlled list from the CRA can be consulted
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Official city names should be provided (for example, Québec, Ottawa)
Description	The city in which the recipient operates. This field can be populated with Canadian or foreign cities.
Organization	For an organization, this field should be populated with the location of the organization’s headquarters.
Individual	For individuals, it should be their home city. For sole proprietors, it should be the city in which they operate.
Other recipients	For festivals, committees and other organizations that are not businesses, governments or individuals, this field should be populated with the city in which they operate.

Guidance
Field title	16. Recipient postal code
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	As applicable
Controlled?	No; locked formatting
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	No translation required
Description	The specific area in which the recipient operates. In cases where this field cannot be populated, it may be left blank.
Within Canada	If the recipient is in Canada, the postal code should be captured where possible. It should be the postal code for the recipient’s headquarters or home location.
Outside Canada	If the recipient is outside Canada, this field should be left blank.
Individuals and other recipients	For individuals, this field should only be populated when it is not a privacy violation. For festivals, committees and other organizations that are not businesses, governments or individuals, this field should be populated with a postal code from the area in which they operate. If there is a privacy concern, this field may be left blank.

Guidance
Field title	17. Federal riding name
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Optional
Controlled?	No; locked formatting
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Translation available
Description	The name of the riding in which the recipient resides.
Departments can consult the Elections Canada website in order to retrieve the federal riding name.

Guidance
Field title	18. Federal riding number
Section	Recipient information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Optional
Controlled?	No; locked formatting
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	This field indicates a number based on the riding in which the recipient resides.
Departments can consult the Elections Canada website in order to retrieve the federal riding number.

Guidance
Field title	19. Program name
Section	Program information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Available in both official languages
Description	The name of the program, according to the terms and conditions (Ts&Cs), under which a recipient is funded.
This field should always be populated with the legal name according to the transfer payment program Ts&Cs.

Guidance
Field title	20. Program purpose
Section	Program information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Available in both official languages
Description	The program’s purpose according to the Ts&Cs of the agreement.
The field should always be populated with the purpose according to the transfer payment program Ts&Cs.

Guidance
Field title	21. Agreement title
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Translation should be done by the department
Description	The title of the project or agreement that the recipient is undertaking. When there is no agreement title, the agreement number should be duplicated here.
The agreement title should be pulled from the agreement signed with the recipient. If the agreement does not have a title, the department is encouraged to develop a title, created from the description of the project, in order to assist with identification and search functions. If the agreement cannot be titled or named, the department should populate this field with the agreement number. If funding is flowing to individuals, an activity may be placed as the title (for example, the Athlete Assistant Program would use the name of the sport).

Guidance
Field title	22. Agreement number
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Automatic
Requirement	Optional
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	The number on the agreement or in the departmental Gs&Cs system. The agreement number should allow departments to quickly identify reports generated within their own system. Departments should choose a number that makes sense to them.
This field is populated at the sole discretion of the department. Departments should use an agreement number that is useful to them. The agreement number should allow them to identify, refer to, link to and amend reports in the future. TBS cannot provide instructions on how to generate the agreement number, as the generation of numbers is dependent on departmental systems. It is recommended that the number be generated through a department's financial system. When it is not possible to generate a number through the financial system, departments should use their Gs&Cs system. Examples of common agreement numbers are purchase order (PO) numbers, project numbers and, contribution agreement numbers. This field should always be populated by a number that departments can rapidly identify.

Guidance
Field title	23. Agreement value in CAD
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	The dollar amount stated in the grant or contribution agreement. This field should be populated with a monetary value in Canadian dollars.
This field should be populated with the Canadian dollar value stated in the agreement. If the recipient is receiving funding in a foreign currency, the “Foreign currency value” field should be populated. The foreign currency value should also be converted to Canadian dollars, and the converted amount should be populated in this field. Numbers should be inputted without dollar signs and without commas. For example, 2.3 million dollars should be reported as 2300000.

Guidance
Field title	24. Foreign currency type
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory only if funding is awarded in foreign currency
Controlled?	Yes; controlled ISO 4217 list of foreign currencies
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Translation available
Description	This field is mandatory if a recipient is paid in a currency other than Canadian dollars. Select the type of foreign currency in this field (for example, US dollar (USD), Australian dollar (AUD), British pound (GBP)).
This field should be populated only if the agreement is is made out in a currency other than Canadian dollars. It should report the currency type stated in the agreement.

Guidance
Field title	25. Foreign currency value
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory only if funding is awarded in foreign currency
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	This field should be populated if a recipient is paid in a currency other than Canadian dollars. This field is mandatory if the agreement is awarded in a foreign currency.
This field should be populated only if the agreement is made out in a currency other than Canadian dollars. The foreign currency amount in the agreement should be reported in this field. Numbers should be inputted without dollar signs and without commas. For example, 2.3 million dollars should be reported as 2300000. When this field is populated, it is mandatory that the department populate the “Foreign currency type” field.

Guidance
Field title	26. Agreement start date
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; locked format
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	The assumed start of the agreement, or when the project is supposed to begin, as captured in the initial agreement.
This field should be populated by the start date according to the agreement. If that information is not available, it should be populated with the date of the last signature on the funding agreement. If these dates cannot be established as a result of a more complicated agreement, departments may use their discretion in determining the appropriate agreement start date and publication date. The date should be reported in the following format: YYYY-MM-DD.

Guidance
Field title	27. Projected agreement end date
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; locked format
Amendable?	Yes, material
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	The assumed end of the agreement, or when the project is supposed to end, as captured in the initial agreement.
This field should be populated to the best of the department’s knowledge. If the agreement is signed stating that the project will end in one year, then the agreement end date should be projected as ending one year from signing. There may be ambiguity about the end date. Should the projected agreement end date be the end of the funding or the end of the project? In case of ambiguity, it is recommended that the end date provided in the agreement be populated here. If the dates cannot be established as a result of a more complicated agreement, departments may use their discretion in determining the appropriate agreement end date and publication date. The date should be reported in the following format: YYYY-MM-DD. If an agreement end date is not recorded or if there is an ongoing agreement, then “n/a” should be entered and information should be entered in the “Additional information” field.

Guidance
Field title	28. Coverage
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Optional
Controlled?	No
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Departments will be required to translate
Description	This field provides information about what will benefit from the project or agreement. Departments should populate this field with any information they have available.
This field should be populated based on what will benefit from the project or agreement. This field should indicate if the recipient’s work will benefit a specific city, a specific province or territory, the entire country, another country or multiple countries.

Guidance
Field title	29. Description
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No; free text
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Departments will be required to translate
Description	This field explains why the recipient received funding. It should provide a brief yet accurate description of what the recipient is undertaking.
This field should be populated with what the recipient has agreed to do as part of their project. This field should not contain any information that is confidential or commercially or competitively sensitive. Departments are encouraged to discuss this field with recipients. If the department does not provide sufficient detail in other fields, they should use this field to indicate what the funding is being used for. This field is not intended to mirror “Expected results or intended outcome.” This field should describe what the recipient is undertaking. Expected results should explain why the project is being undertaken and what the final results will be.

Guidance
Field title	30. NAICS identifier
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Optional
Controlled?	Yes; free text based on a controlled list from Statistics Canada
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Number (no translation required)
Description	The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The “NAICS identifier” field should be populated with the most appropriate choice in the selection list. Departments will be provided with the NAICS list and should populate the field at their discretion. At least three digits should be entered to allow for broad coding when specificity is not possible. For example, if Employment and Social Development Canada is signing an agreement with an educational support services organization, the NAICS identifier would be 611710. The identifier is broken down as follows: sector: 61 (educational services) subsector: 1 (educational services) industry group: 7 (educational support services) industry: 10 (educational support services) If a project does not fit into a NAICS classification area, this field should be left blank. If a project does not fit into a NAICS classification area, a department may populate 000000 to avoid providing inaccurate information. If multiple sectors are involved, departments may separate identifiers using a semicolon.

Guidance
Field title	31. Expected results or intended outcome
Section	Project information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Mandatory
Controlled?	No
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Departments will be required to translate
Description	The assumed result of project completion: this field should be populated according to the project that the recipient is undertaking or the program under which it is funded. It should explain why the project is being undertaken and what the final results should be.
Expected results should provide a clear indication of the goals that the recipient has agreed to achieve. In most instances, the intended outcomes should be determined beforehand. If the expected results or intended outcome is not captured, the program purpose may be used to populate this field. This field will be capped at 500 characters. This field is not intended to mirror the “Description” field. The description should describe what the recipient is undertaking.

Guidance
Field title	32. Additional information
Section	Other information
Populated by	Department
Input type	Manual
Requirement	Optional
Controlled?	No
Amendable?	Yes
Official languages	Departments will be required to translate
Description	This field is where departments can include information and guidance instructions for exceptions that are not captured in any of the aforementioned fields. This field may contain information on: additional funding departments funding through a third party ministerial announcements research fields joint funding collaborators and partners keywords belated reporting novation agreements terminations repayability
There is no guidance for this field because it can be populated with any information that is not captured in the rest of the report. It is recommended that, if applicable, co-funders be mentioned in this field.

Appendix C: batch reporting

This appendix outlines:

the process for batch reporting
the eligibility requirements for a program to use batch reporting

Batch reporting is a process that may be applied to a program that awards grants or contributions to recipients who may have been exempt from having certain information disclosed under the Privacy Act. Batch reporting is the process of taking many awards and putting them into one common award report. Batch reporting must be performed once each fiscal quarter.

For example, if a program submits 80 payments to a varied number of recipients, all of whom are exempt from having their personal information disclosed, the program could submit a single batch report, which would contain the following substitutions:

recipient operating name: the program name
recipient country: Canada
agreement value in CAD: the cumulative dollar value for all recipients
agreement start date: the date the first recipient was or will be paid
projected agreement end date: the date the last recipient was or will be paid
additional information: the total number of recipients (if the number of recipients is unknown, an anticipated number may be used and later amended)
coverage: national or left blank

A privacy batching would also exempt the following fields:

recipient type
business number
recipient legal name
research organization
recipient province or territory
recipient city
recipient postal code
federal riding name
federal riding number
agreement number
NAICS identifier

All other elements should be completed normally.

Appendix D: amendments and material error

Conditions for amending

An award report should be amended only if there is a material amendment to be made. When a material amendment is made, additional non-material fields may be amended at the same time. Departments may choose to amend their reports at any time and for any reason; however, TBS recommends that departments make material amendments or amendments to correct errors in the initial information.

Material amendments are changes to any of the following fields:

agreement value in CAD: all changes to agreement value or when an agreement is terminated, cancelled or has defaulted
projected agreement end date: changes in the agreement end date when the fiscal year is affected
recipient legal name or recipient operating name: any change in recipient legal or operating name

Process for amending

When amending an award report, these steps should be followed by departments:

Populate the disclosure template as normal, replicating all information from the original disclosure
Populate the “amendment number” field with the number of the amendment (for example, “1” for the first amendment and “2” for the second amendment)
Populate the “amendment date” field with the date of the amendment to the agreement. In the case of an aggregate of amendments, this field should be populated with the date of the most recent amendment to the agreement
Amend any fields as required within the disclosure (for example, if there is a change to the agreement value, modify the field “Agreement value in CAD”)
If desirable, populate information regarding the amendment in the “Additional information” field
Enter these amendments into the system, along with any new disclosures or other amendments

Note: Amendments may be submitted when disclosing other amendments or new agreements within the same template.

Appendix E: controlled lists

Where possible, the Government of Canada tries to ease the burden on federal departments and on users of its data by using controlled lists. This section provides information on each of the controlled lists.

Note that terms used in any controlled lists published by TBS are defined in Appendix F.

Department name

The controlled list of department names comes from a Public Services and Procurement Canada list of federal entities, available as of January 2017 on the open government website.

Fiscal year

Fiscal year is a controlled list of fiscal years since departments started reporting on grants and contributions. This list is composed of standard government fiscal years. For example, January 21, 2017, falls under the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year. The Government of Canada fiscal year resets on April 1.

Agreement type

Agreement type is a controlled list created by TBS. There are three possible agreement types:

grant
contribution
other transfer payment

Recipient type

Recipient type is a controlled list created by TBS. There are eight possible recipient types:

for-profit organizations
not-for-profit organizations and charities
Aboriginal recipients
government (including Crown corporations, federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and foreign)
individual or sole proprietorships
academia and public institutions
international (non-government)
other

Recipient country

Recipient country is populated using the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes. A list of countries and the associated alpha-2 codes can be found on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) website.

Recipient province or territory

Recipient province or territory is populated using the Statistics Canada table of abbreviations and codes for provinces and territories. This table can be found on the Statistics Canada website. If the recipient’s province or territory is not within Canada, enter other country.

Recipient city

Recipient city is a controlled list based on the Canada Revenue Agency’s qualified donee list of municipalities. This list can be found on the Canada Revenue Agency website.

Recipient postal code

Recipient postal codes are populated using a list from Canada Post. The Canada Post tool for looking up a postal code can be found on the Canada Post website.

Foreign currency type

Foreign currency type is populated using the ISO 4217 alphabetic codes for foreign currency. The current list of codes can be downloaded from the Swiss Association for Standardization website as an Excel file.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) identifier

NAICS identifier is a controlled list based on a system developed by Canada, Mexico and the United States. This list is available to users on the Statistics Canada website.

Appendix F: glossary

This appendix defines key terminology used throughout this guideline. The following definition is taken from Appendix A of the Directive on Transfers Payments.

The following definition is taken from Appendix A of the Directive on Transfers Payments.

Aboriginal people

Are the descendants of the original inhabitants of North America. Under the Constitution Act, 1982 the Aboriginal peoples of Canada include the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada. These Aboriginal peoples have unique heritages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. Indians (now generally known as First Nation) are descendants from the various tribes that occupied what is now Canada prior to the arrival of Europeans. As a result of the Indian Act, First Nation people may be referred to as status or non-status Indians. Indians who are beneficiaries under a treaty may be referred to as treaty Indians. Inuit are descendants of the original inhabitants of Northern Canada including what is now known as Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Northern Quebec and Northern Labrador. Métis are Aboriginal people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry who identify themselves uniquely as Métis.

The following definitions are taken from Appendix A of the Policy on Transfer Payments.

contribution

Is a transfer payment subject to performance conditions specified in a funding agreement. A contribution is to be accounted for and is subject to audit.

funding agreement

Is a written agreement or documentation constituting an agreement between the Government of Canada and an applicant or a recipient setting out the obligations or understandings of both with respect to one or more transfer payments.

grant

Is a transfer payment subject to pre-established eligibility and other entitlement criteria. A grant is not subject to being accounted for by a recipient nor normally subject to audit by the department. The recipient may be required to report on results achieved.

other transfer payment

Is a transfer payment, other than a grant or contribution, based on legislation or other arrangement that may be determined by a formula. Examples of other transfer payments are transfers to other orders of government such as Equalization payments as well as Canada Health and Canada Social Transfer payments.

program

Is a group of related activities that are designed and managed to meet a specific public need and are often treated as a budgetary unit.

recipient

Is an individual or entity that either has been authorized to receive a transfer payment or that has received that transfer payment.

terms and conditions

Is a document, approved by Treasury Board or a minister, which sets out the parameters under which transfer payments may be made for a given program.

transfer payment

Is a monetary payment, or a transfer of goods, services or assets made, on the basis of an appropriation, to a third party, including a Crown corporation, that does not result in the acquisition by the Government of Canada of any goods, services or assets. Transfer payments are categorized as grants, contributions and other transfer payments. Transfer payments do not include investments, loans or loan guarantees.

transfer payment program

Is a program or a component of a program supported by transfer payments.

Appendix G: implementing the award reporting standards

As part of implementing the new standards for the reporting of grants and contributions, there will be flexibility for departments and agencies with regard to full implementation. This flexibility will ensure that processes, systems and information captured are up to date. Departments will be split into 3 waves. In exceptional circumstances, departments may require extensions.

The waves listed in this appendix relate solely to the implementation of the new reporting standards. The fields and data elements that make up these new standards are found in Appendix B. The requirements set out in the guidelines, including Appendices A, C and D, are to be adhered to by all departments as of the effective date (April 1, 2018).

Wave 1 departments and agencies: Wave 1 departments and agencies can implement the new reporting standards with little or no changes to their systems or processes. These departments and agencies will implement the standards effective April 1, 2018, with the first report being posted on or before August 30, 2018 (first quarter of the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year).
Wave 2 departments and agencies: Wave 2 departments and agencies can implement the new reporting standards without major or fundamental changes to their systems or processes. These departments and agencies will implement the standards effective October 1, 2018, with the first report being posted on or before March 2, 2019 (third quarter of the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year).
Wave 3 departments and agencies: Wave 3 departments and agencies are all remaining departments and agencies. They will require major or fundamental changes to their systems or processes in order to implement the new reporting standards. These departments and agencies will implement the standards effective April 1, 2019, with the first report being posted on or before August 30, 2019 (first quarter of the 2019 to 2020 fiscal year).

Table 4: list of departments and agencies for each wave of grants and contributions reporting implementation

Table 4: list of departments and agencies for each wave of grants and contributions reporting implementation
Wave 1	Wave 2	Wave 3
*Any departments not listed here will be part of Wave 3.
Canadian Heritage	Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency	Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada	Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions	Canada Revenue Agency
Department of Finance Canada	Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency	Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada	National Defence	Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
Infrastructure Canada	Health Canada	Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
National Energy Board	Natural Resources Canada	Canadian Space Agency
National Research Council Canada	Public Health Agency of Canada	Correctional Service Canada
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada	Public Safety Canada	Department of Justice Canada
Privy Council Office	Status of Women Canada	Employment and Social Development Canada
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada	Western Economic Diversification Canada	Environment and Climate Change Canada
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat	n/a	Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
n/a	n/a	Fisheries and Oceans Canada
n/a	n/a	Global Affairs Canada
n/a	n/a	Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
n/a	n/a	Library and Archives Canada
n/a	n/a	Northern Pipeline Agency Canada
n/a	n/a	Parks Canada
n/a	n/a	Polar Knowledge Canada
n/a	n/a	Statistics Canada
n/a	n/a	Transport Canada
n/a	n/a	Veterans Affairs Canada

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Date modified:: 2017-08-24

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