Project Service Fees

Project service charges often fall between $5,000 to $20,000 per project. CPCSSN reserves the right to change its cost recovery structure at any time. The table below outlines the standard cost recovery model with services broken down into data, administrative and SRE (secure research environment) services.

Secure Research Environment Costs

Secure Research Environment charges start at $2,500 per annum for up to three users and vary slightly depending on the resources required by the project. The minimum billing increment is three months. Typically, the first year is charged at the outset of the project, with additional Secure Research Environment needs charged as needed.

CPCSSN Fee Schedule

Secure Research Environment (SRE) Access FeeFee Amount
SRE initial access$2,500 (3 users/1 year)
Additional user   $500 per person
Switch users$500 per switch
Backup files recovery$500 per request
Project Data Fee
Academic$5,000
Non-Academic$20,000
Data set revisions$500 minimum; $150 per hour of work required to complete
Administrative Fee
Application review processing$2,000
Analytical Services
Additional customized data processing$150 per hour depending on the expertise of the analyst
Data Analysis$150 per hour depending on the expertise of the data analyst
Note: Fees are also based on whether the researchers are actively involved in CPCSSN in the following ways: CPCSSN Network Director, Substantial participation in CPCSSN (e.g. submitting electronic medical record data, chief data science lead of Pan-Canadian CPCSSN), student.  Industry-funded project fees are negotiated separately under a “fair market value” model in consultation with the CPCSSN Steering Committee.

  • A cost recovery fee will be charged. Charges are based on a cost recovery for the following activities:

    • Application support including answering questions regarding the approval process, application process, study population definition and suitability
    • Application review and coordination
    • Preparation of the approved data files
    • The complexity of preparing a customized data cut
    • Provision of the appropriate documentation (e.g. information sharing agreement, ethics certificate, etc.) to support the use of the data
    • Support for use of the data, including answering questions about data fields and coding specifics
    • A contribution to the ongoing operation and development of CPCSSN
    Project service charges often fall between $5,000 to $20,000 per project. CPCSSN reserves the right to change its cost recovery structure at any time. Table 1 below outlines the standard cost recovery model with services broken down into data, administrative and SRE (secure research environment) services.

  • Secure Research Environment charges start at $2,500 per annum for up to three users and vary slightly depending on the resources required by the project. The minimum billing increment is three months. Typically, the first year is charged at the outset of the project, with additional Secure Research Environment fees (Table 2) being charged as needed.

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    CPCSSN Fee Schedule

    Secure Research Environment (SRE) Access FeeFee Amount
    SRE initial access$2,500 (3 users/1 year)
    Additional user   $500 per person
    Switch users$500 per switch
    Backup files recovery$500 per request
    Project Data Fee 
    Academic$5,000
    Non-Academic$20,000
    Data set revisions$500 minimum; $150 per hour of work required to complete
    Administrative Fee 
    Application review processing$2,000
    Analytical Services 
    Additional customized data processing$150 per hour depending on the expertise of the analyst
    Data Analysis$150 per hour depending on the expertise of the data analyst

    Note: Fees are also based on whether the researchers are actively involved in CPCSSN in the following ways: CPCSSN Network Director, Substantial participation in CPCSSN (e.g. submitting electronic medical record data, chief data science lead of Pan-Canadian CPCSSN), student.  Industry-funded project fees are negotiated separately under a “fair market value” model in consultation with the CPCSSN Steering Committee.

  • Access to the Canadian CPCSSN data repository is available to researchers located at any of the following eligible institutions:

    • Canadian post-secondary institutions and their affiliated institutions including hospitals and research institutes; or
    • Canadian non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations (including community or charitable organizations) with an explicit health research or knowledge translation mandate; or
    • Canadian federal and provincial/territorial government departments or agencies, including regional health authorities, when specific programs of those departments or agencies do not fund the activity that forms the subject matter of the grant; or
    • Other organizations, as determined by CPCSSN, on the condition that the research or research-related activity falls within the principles espoused by publicly funded organizations such as CIHR
  • Concrete cost quotations are only available after a Data Access Request (DAR) has been approved. The reason for this delay is because projects may change significantly from time of grant application to time of approval. CPCSSN will prepare a Price Quote. The Researcher must sign the Price Quote in acceptance of the cost. The Researcher must also sign a CPCSSN – Researcher Services Agreement which formalizes the requested services. There may be multiple Price Quotes for a single project, depending on the anticipated number of amendments, data deliveries or extensions desired.
  • Researchers may make a request to change key aspects about their projects, such as: Data updates or more years of data, data files and/or fields requested, research questions posed, change in study population. These require a formal application to CPCSSN in the form of an amendment. New service charges apply for amendment applications, and confirmation of funds will be requested by CPCSSN.
  • Changing the DAR once submitted requires additional work by CPCSSN. Requesting modifications to a DAR after its submission to the CPCSSN, but before its approval, may incur a fee up to $2,500.00 depending on the complexity of the project and the requested modification(s).