Public announcement of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund grant
Public reporting
Publications, presentations, conferences and websites
Visual elements
Media, social media and publicity
Public announcement of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund grant
When can institutions publicly announce their success in receiving a grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF)?
In keeping with standard Government of Canada practice, CFREF grants cannot be announced to the media or formally by institutions, their partner institutions or partners until the Government of Canada has made its official public announcement. Public announcements are held following each CFREF competition and are done in collaboration with institutions to gain maximum media exposure for all involved. Prior to the official public announcement, the CFREF results are confidential and should not be announced in any form.
When can institutions hold public announcements?
Institutions may only schedule a public announcement or event after the Government of Canada's official public announcement.
Institutions should inform communications@chairs-chaires.gc.ca of any plans regarding CFREF-related announcements and events.
Does a Government of Canada representative need to be present at a public announcement held at an institution?
A Government of Canada representative should be invited to public announcements and other major CFREF program-related institution events.
Before inviting Government of Canada representatives to an event, contact communications@chairs-chaires.gc.ca.
The likelihood of securing a local member of Parliament or minister to attend your event is greatly increased if the event is held when the House of Commons is not sitting.
Public reporting
To improve the CFREF program’s visibility and ensure accountability to researchers, industry and other partners, affiliates and taxpayers, institutions are required to report publicly on CFREF initiative activities and successes via their websites. It is expected institutions will publicly acknowledge and actively communicate milestones and impacts related to the funded initiative to faculty and other stakeholders via their websites on an ongoing basis during the grant period. In addition, equity, diversity and inclusion action plans must be published on the institution’s public-facing website.
Publications, presentations, conferences and websites
The guidelines for acknowledging support from CFREF funds in professional communications are similar to those established by Canada’s three federal research funding agencies.
The agencies and institutions are responsible for informing the Canadian public and stakeholders about who receives CFREF funds, the type of research that will be conducted, and how funds are administered.
Institutions holding a CFREF grant are required to acknowledge CFREF’s support in all professional communications, publications arising from the supported research, conference or congress materials, and on equipment and facilities purchased and/or developed with grant funds. In addition, institutions should make every effort to ensure all CFREF-funded research personnel acknowledge CFREF support, as appropriate.
Scholarships or awards created with CFREF funds (e.g., to support research trainees) should not be named or branded as CFREF scholarships or awards. As a suggestion, they could be branded or named after the CFREF initiative or after a particular research project/area they support, at the institution’s discretion.
Institutions should acknowledge the contribution of CFREF funds to their research as follows: “This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.”
Members of research and administration teams of funded initiatives invited to speak publicly should ensure official event documentation (such as program, pamphlets, advertisements, etc.) acknowledges the support of the CFREF program. When giving a speech or presentation, we ask that they mention the CFREF fund’s contribution and its benefits (e.g., positive impact on the institution’s ability to compete with the best in the world for talent and for partnership opportunities, and to make breakthrough discoveries).
Institutions should provide a link to the CFREF website on both their institution’s website and any electronic public relations materials, including new releases, email and newsletters. Doing this reinforces the partnership between the program and institutions.
Visual elements
In your CFREF-related communications products (presentations, hand-outs, etc.), you are required to include the Government of Canada logo and an acknowledgement message. Neither should be used in isolation.
To download the Government of Canada logo, right-click on the logo and select “Copy Image.” Paste the logo where it should appear, and add the following statement:
“This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.”
It should appear as:
This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
For guidelines on using the Government of Canada logo, visit Official Symbols on Canada.ca.
Media, social media and publicity
We appreciate being informed when presentations are being made abroad so we can alert Canadian embassies and consulates. Embassy and consulate staff members are well positioned to capitalize on such events and possibly enable networking activities. Email us with information about international presentations, visits and talks at communications@chairs-chaires.gc.ca. We will ensure the information is circulated to the appropriate people.
We encourage institutions to interact with the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) on social media, when relevant, so we can engage with and share interesting content that helps demonstrate the impact of CFREF:
Although not a requirement, you are welcome to send us materials on any CFREF-related news, events and media coverage. Send them to communications@chairs-chaires.gc.ca.