Frequently Asked Questions

Ultimate recipients and collaborators can be from any of the following:

• Centres of expertise on cyber security affiliated with post-secondary institutions;
• Private sector;
• Canadian post-secondary institutions; and,
• Not-for-profit organizations.

Collaboration from within a post-secondary institution is encouraged, however working with colleagues and organizations from outside one’s own PSE is considered a strength.

Costs incurred outside Canada cannot exceed 10%. There is a strict IP agreement that specifies that all IP generated using the NCC network funding is required to stay in Canada. Collaborators outside of Canada are possible, but there are limits noted in the documentation around work performed inside versus outside Canada.

NCC is not a facilitating partner matching with academic PI, the onus is on the team to compose itself prior to a proposal submission. The NCC will be hosting various outreach events in the future where connections between industry and academia will be facilitated.

Spearhead training projects can be launched within a single university. There is a maximum of one training spearhead project per university at a time.  In other words, the current project must be completed before a second one is commenced.

Only the principal applicant needs to be part of the original call/clusters. The new collaborators do not need to be.

Only the principal applicant needs to be part of the original call/clusters. The new collaborators do not need to be.

The NCC cannot share any list for any group without approval. If you have a question regarding a potential partner you would like to work with, please reach out and seek clarification. We will then work with you to find answers as appropriate.

Under the Spearhead Stream – project leads, or ultimate Recipients are normally Post-Secondary Institutions and, in some cases, may be not-for-profits.

Please see the NCC website under Call for Proposals for more details. It varies from 30% to 47% of the project total eligible cost types of projects.

Spearhead Research projects can be funded up to a maximum of $30k/year/Principal Investigator. For other projects, funding provided by NCC cannot exceed $1 million per project (total eligible costs can be over $1 million).

Cost-matching can be from any non-federal government source:

• centres of expertise on cyber security affiliated with post-secondary institutions;
• private sector;
• Canadian post-secondary institutions;
• not-for-profit organizations; and,
• provincial/territorial/municipal governments.

Existing funds (from non-federal sources) can be used for the projects if they are not committed to another research project. All funds need to be used for eligible project costs, toward activities related to the project. Conceptual and/or financial overlap occurs when the ideas in the proposal are, or appear to be, the same ideas that are supported by other sources (applicant’s other projects/programs). Complementary parts of an applicant’s research program can be supported by different sources. The onus is on the applicant to differentiate between the proposal to be covered by NCC and other research programs/projects supported by other sources. Funds requested from NCC must support the proposal. It is not sufficient to simply state that there is no overlap.

Contributions towards eligible projects from organizations that are primarily funded by the federal government, such as Mitacs, are considered federal sources of funding. This funding would not count towards the 1:1 matching requirement as matching funds must come from non-federal government sources. Although ineligible to meet the 1:1 cost matching requirement, funding from these organizations can still be leveraged to contribute towards eligible projects.

In no instance will the total Government Funding (including CSIN program funding; provincial, territorial or municipal funding; provincial and federal investment tax credits) exceed one hundred percent (100%) of Funded Eligible Costs to any one Eligible Recipient. This limit will be calculated for each individual Eligible Project if more than one Eligible Project is selected for an Ultimate Recipient.

Federal sources of funds are not eligible as matching funds. This option is not available for the current call for proposals. It may come with future calls.

According to NCC schedule 6 Costing Memo – direct labour costs for Network Activities is considered a cash cost and not an in-kind contribution.

Project selection and funding strategy documents need to be approved by the government for each call. Future calls may be different; however the principles of the fund matching will likely remain the same from round to round.

Matching funds are considered for the full project, regardless of which researcher (PI, collaborator, etc.) has secured the funds. All funds need to be used for eligible project costs, toward activities related to the project.

See Schedule 2 from the NCC Call for Proposals website. The cost-matching limits associated with in-kind contributions are up to 50 percent for Government Fiscal Years 1 and 2 and 25 percent for Government Fiscal Years 3 and 4. In-kind does count toward the fund matching calculation, up to the limits indicated above.

If the Consultant has been paid by the Ultimate Recipient then this is a cash expense and it can be submitted for reimbursement through the claims submission process.  If the Consultant “donated” this work to the project, then it would be considered an in-kind contribution.  The details of the work (time/charge-out rate) would have to be documented and validated by the consultant and submitted to the NCC.  Cost-matching limits associated with in-kind contributions are up to 50% in Government Fiscal Years 1&2 and 25% in Government Fiscal Years 3&4.

Yes, companies can submit commercialization projects without partnering with academic institutions.

In order for funding to be considered matching funding for a project, it must be applied to a project that is incremental and not for activities previously approved or in progress. Incremental activities/projects are defined as:

1. Projects and their associated financial commitments are distinct investments that would not have otherwise occurred without the CSIN program;
2. The project is new or would not be undertaken at the same scale or scope without the CSIN program; and
3. The project was not previously approved or currently in progress.

Two types of research projects may be submitted: “Spearhead” and “Standard”. See Schedule 5 (NCC/CSIN Project Selection Strategy 2022-2023) for further information on the differences between these two classes of projects.

Yes, individuals and/or organizations who did not participate in NCC’s call for proposals in 2021 may still submit proposals for Spearhead projects to this call for proposals.

A PI may only be the lead applicant on one Spearhead Research project at any given time. However, the investigator may still be listed as a collaborator on additional Spearhead Research projects as long as they are only the lead applicant on one.

Ultimate Recipient organizations (ex. post-secondary educational institutions) can have at most one Spearhead Training project at any given time. An organization may submit multiple Spearhead Research projects so long as each project is led by a different Principal Investigator.

The Spearhead Training category is intended to fund outside-the-box training projects. Training that is substantially different than the training we know in academia or in industry and will extend or add to the training we have now in a unique/radical/disruptive way.

In the final year of the Spearhead Research project, a private sector partner should be engaged in order to magnify the impact of the project. Their role could be to bring it to a minimal viable project, or adopt ideas and techniques developed through the project.  The goal of engaging this industry partner is to see the outcomes of the project ultimately being implemented or used in a ‘real world’ application.

Researchers/companies/not-for-profits need to have authorized signing authorities sign the application and affix the 15 -digit CRA Business/Institution Number. The Application requires an “authorized” signature for submission.

For commercialization and training projects, current projects should be extensions of earlier submissions/projects. There is some room for deviation from the original 2021 proposal as we understand that the nature of cybersecurity continually evolves. Please feel free to email NCC to check that your proposed project still qualifies (info@ncc-cnc.ca).

Matching funds from non-federal government sources are required. Key involvement of industry partners greatly strengthens the chance of application success.

Yes there is the opportunity to do so.

The budget is $27 million for projects that can span from 0-3 years, with the understanding that year 4 is not yet approved. Projects can be 6 month, 8 months, 16 months, etc. The aim is to split the $27 million approximately equally between the three themes.

Yes – shovel ready project leads or project partners that had submitted expressions of interest or letters of support can all apply. Send an email to verify eligibility if you are unsure (info@ncc-cnc.ca).

Our goal is to have a second call at the end of this year 2023, and two to three in future years. Future calls will all be open to all eligible applicant types as noted on the NCC website.  The funding attached to each call is to be determined.

There is no set limit in terms of the number of proposals to be funded.  There is an approximate amount of dollars that will be allocated to the present call so that will define the number of projects approved.

No. Prior expenses will not be eligible to be claimed prior to approval of the project.

We will use the submission deadline dates (June 1^st and June 15^th respective of project type) as the dates after which project costs may be considered eligible for inclusion in the payments process.