Plan your budget carefully, keeping in mind the financial needs of your proposed research project, and eligibility of research expenses as defined by the sponsor and U of T. Contact your departmental business officer for the University’s current pay rate for personnel, including undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research staff (e.g., coordinators, project managers, lab managers), and/or technical staff (e.g., lab technicians, equipment operators).
Tips for Creating Your Budget
1. Review the grant guidelines: the funding agency will provide information on what kind of expenses are eligible, such as indirect costs (also called overhead), teaching releases, personnel expenses, and other direct costs.
2. Review the U of T Finance Guide to Financial Management: This guide will provide you with all of the relevant policy information that you’ll need to consider when building your budget.
3. *For Tri-agency grants*, Review the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration: This guide will give you an even greater understanding of how to use research funding in accordance with the Tri-Agency regulations. It can help clarify the context around some eligible expenses (program dependent), such as what counts as eligible “goods and services expenditures”.
4. Consult the Buy Ontario Procurement Directive: Newly added in April 2026, this act established a framework to prioritize Ontario and Canadian goods and services expenditures across public sector organizations.
5. Determine in-kind contributions and/or matching funds: Before developing your budget, you should determine whether in-kind contributions and/or matching funds are required (or encouraged) as part of your proposal, then you should determine what, if any, in-kind contributions or matching funds can be procured and added to your proposal.
Resources
General Budget Development Resources
- St. George VPRI’s Develop a Budget for more information on common costs including compensation for different groups such as students and postdoctoral fellows, non-student personnel, specialized expenses and budget justification
- U of T Finance’s information on Direct Costs considerations including salaries & wages, materials & supplies, equipment, travel, services and others
- U of T Finance’s guidelines on Considerations for budget preparation in foreign currency
- U of T Libraries’ Publication Discounts page, including discounts offered by the University of Toronto libraries for article processing charges to make your research openly available
- U of T’s Procurement Services for procurement policies, approved suppliers, contracts, and agreements, as well as other procurement-related information
- U of T’s School of Graduate Studies’ Engaging and Renewing a Postdoc for guidelines on relevant university policies and information on minimum salaries for postdoctoral fellows.
- Centre for Research & Innovation Support (CRIS) Resources: CRIS provides budget-related resources such as guides and recordings of past workshops and events.
- UTM IITS can provide you with quotes for equipment, software, and an estimated cost for data storage/data management expenses.
- St. George VPRI’s Research Administration Policy and Guidelines for institutional policy information that could affect your budget.
Indirect Costs Resources
- St. George VPRI’s Indirect Costs information page for accounting for considerations including infrastructure, insurance environmental & safety monitoring, ongoing regulatory and certification requirements and others
- St. George VPRI’s Research Administration Policy and Guidelines for information on university policy pertaining to indirect costs on all grant applications.
- Tri-agency Guide to Financial Administration’s Direct vs. Indirect costs section for Tri-Agency specific definitions and information on indirect costs
Cash and In-kind Contributions
- NSERC’s Guidelines for Organizations Participating in Research Partnerships for information on eligibility and value of in-kind contributions as defined by NSERC (note that specific funding programs may apply different/more stringent rules/specifications).
- SSHRC’s Guidelines For Cash and In-kind Contributions for information on eligibility and value of in-kind contributions as defined by SSHRC (note that specific funding programs may apply different/more stringent rules/specifications).
- St. George VPRI’s Purchase for Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) & Ontario Research Fund (ORF) Projects for CFI-specific information for determining fair market value of in-kind contributions.