Canada’s three federal research funding agencies — the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) ('the Agencies') — are inviting feedback on proposed policy clarifications and an implementation approach for the Data Deposit requirement of the Tri-Agency Research Data Management (RDM) Policy.
Launched in March 2021, the RDM Policy includes a requirement that “Grant recipients […] deposit into a digital repository all digital research data, metadata and code that directly support the research conclusions in journal publications and preprints that arise from agency-supported research.” The Agencies committed to phasing in the deposit requirement based on a review of institutional RDM strategies and the readiness of the Canadian research community.
Extensive engagement with the research community since April 2023 culminated in three virtual engagement sessions in January 2025, convening more than 350 participants from over 200 institutions across the country. The findings from these engagements were compiled in a What We Heard report released in July 2025. A cross-sectional study mapping over 200 institutional RDM strategies also provided insight into the readiness of the research community for data deposit implementation.
Based on these findings, the Agencies have developed an implementation approach for the data deposit requirement, which:
- Clarifies the aims of the requirement and important terminology
- Distinguishes requirements for data retention, data deposit and data availability
- Aligns with the policies of other major funding agencies and the principle that publicly funded research data should be "as open as possible, as closed as necessary"
- Provides clear minimum expectations and guidance on key aspects of the requirement
- Considers the challenges of depositing and making research code available, as well as applying the FAIR principles to the research code in the context of the current Canadian research landscape
- Respects a researcher's priority of access to the data they created by allowing reasonable embargoes on data availability
This implementation approach reinforces the core objective of the Tri-Agency RDM Policy: to support Canadian research excellence by promoting sound RDM and data stewardship practices that balance openness with considerations related to Indigenous data sovereignty, research security and ethical, legal and commercial obligations.
The implementation approach, presented here for community feedback, is expressed in:
- Clarifications in the policy text that distinguishes between data retention, data deposit and data availability and addresses these in the context of Indigenous research.
- Frequently Asked Questions to help interpretation of the requirement.
The Agencies are inviting feedback on the draft implementation approach for the requirement through an online form. The form will be open for a period of eight weeks, until July 17, 2026. The Agencies will review the submitted feedback to inform the final requirement.
For any questions, please contact ResearchData-Donneesderecherche@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.