Safeguarding Research
At the University of Guelph, our researchers are working with international colleagues to help solve world-wide challenges through ingenuity, innovation and partnerships.

Our research reputation is founded on open and collaborative partnerships with national and international partners in academic, government, industry and non-profit sectors. These play a key role in research advances and addressing social, technological and economic issues, and they require the research community to take steps to ensure their research is protected.

To help, we have developed and continue to update a resource page to help safeguard research. This page includes U of G-specific resources and information alongside guides produced by the U15 and the Government and Canada. It covers issues such as mitigating economic and/or geopolitical risks in sensitive research, travel and cybersecurity, export controls and working with controlled goods.

Please visit the Office of Research's safeguarding research website for more information, including the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's  "Protect Your Research" publications and Public Safety’s Research Security training courses.

Tri-Agency Notices of Decision (NODs) Letters and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Please be advised that NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR are now appending a letter on enhancing Canada’s research security to all NODs of research grant awards. The letter is intended to notify researchers and institutions of new research security measures that are being developed following the  Tri-ministerial statement on protecting Canada’s research issued on February 14, 2023.

Note that these new measures have not yet been implemented. Clear guidance will be provided by the Government of Canada in the coming months to ensure that the research community can appropriately comply with these new measures once they are implemented. Additional context on these letters, as well as responses to potential questions, is provided in the Frequently Asked Questions. For any questions, please contact researchsecurity@nserc-crsng.gc.ca

Revised Risk Assessment Form (RAF) for the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships
NSERC is pleased to share that an updated RAF for the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships is now available. The updated RAF has been posted on the Safeguarding Your Research portal. The U of G Guide for Completing the National Security Guideline's for Research Partnership's Risk Assessment Form will be updated shortly to reflect the simplified RAF. This iteration of the RAF was developed with feedback from the research community, including in consultations with members of the Government of Canada–Universities Working Group. It has been streamlined to increase clarity and usability. For any questions, please contact researchsecurity@nserc-crsng.gc.ca