Overview

The Manager of Scientific Programs is available to work with organizers to draw up a budget for an event.

Income

Income may include Fields support, third-party (non-Fields) sponsorship/grants, registration fees, or other sources of support. The Fields Manager of Scientific Programs can assist event organizers by arranging for the transfer of funds from other funding agencies to Fields, this can include items such as invoices to an NSERC grant, NSF grant holder or other supporters of an event.

Expenses

Typically, event expenses consist of participant funding, such as travel and local support for invited speakers, and overhead costs such as catering, receptions, excursions, printing, and mailouts.

Registration fees

To keep its events accessible, the Fields Institute has a policy of setting registration fees as low as possible, typically to cover event costs that cannot be charged to other sources of income. Typically, registration fees are the same for all participants, unless sponsorship funding can be secured to offset charging lower registration rates to select groups (like students). Generally, registration fees should not be used to subsidize the participation of one group of participants by having another group pay higher fees. 

Registration fees should be set only after estimating all costs associated with an event and should be carefully adjusted if event organizers plan to waive or to have reduced registration fees for certain participant categories (organizing committee members, speakers, postdoctoral fellows, students, etc.). 

A minimum amount of catering is expected to be provided for all Fields Institute-managed events. See details below. Other event amenities, such as dinners, luncheons, or excursions may be arranged on a cost-recovery basis. The cost of these amenities may be paid for from organizer-arranged sponsorship or from opt-in fees paid for by participants at time of registration.

Participant Funding 

Organizers can offer financial support towards travel and local expenses of event participants, consistent with the specific conditions of their award. Funded participants typically include invited speakers, students, and postdoctoral fellows. This support is provided through expense reimbursement only, and must be offered in accordance with the Fields Institute reimbursement policies. Fields will send a funding letter indicating the amount of support to the participant and how their expenses will be reimbursed using the Fields reimbursement claim form.

Fields funding letters must be prepared and sent, ideally, a few months before the event. In addition, their combined totals must not exceed the total amount of available funding for the event. Funding letters will only be sent before or during the event. Funding letters will not be sent after the event - once the event has concluded, the budget is fixed and changes will not be made to funding offers.  

Local support

For the period of their stay, funded participants may claim a CAD \$80 per diem for meals and incidental expenses. The per diem amount is adjusted if meals are provided during the event. In addition, they may claim an accommodation reimbursement for receipted amounts, of up to CAD \$250 per day, not to exceed CAD \$3,750 per month (All amounts are in Canadian Dollars). 

Fields maintains a housing resource page to assist visitors with a listing of moderately priced accommodations.

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Economy travel expenses to Toronto

Funded participants can be reimbursed for the cost of economy class travel for flights, trains, and bus up to the total amount offered in their funding letters. Organizers can use the amounts below, which are based on market prices and reassessed on a bi-yearly basis, to determine the total amount of support to be offered to individual participants.  Note: The amounts below are in Canadian Dollars (CAD) and applicable for 2018.

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Overhead costs

Catering

The cost for the minimum amount of catering expected for all Fields Institute-managed events is as follows:

• On-site: \$15 per day, per person or

Minimum catering comprises a morning and an afternoon coffee/tea break. Minimum catering expenses are to be covered by event registration fees or from other (non-Fields) funding sources. The Fields Institute serves a basic Afternoon Tea for staff and long term visitors at 3:00 p.m. daily, so it is preferred for workshop breaks to be held at the same time. 

Suggested lunch costs are as follows:

• On-site: \$25-\$30 per day, per person

Receptions

Reception costs start at \$15 per person and include snacks and non-alcoholic drink options. Fields does not usually host receptions with alcoholic beverages, but this can be arranged offsite if appropriate funding is secured. 

Dinners

Approximate per person dinner costs are as follows:

• At nearby restaurant: \$55-\$75

Bar costs may be extra and gratuities (13-18%) vary by location.

On-campus choices include the Faculty Club for groups up to 100 and Hart House for groups over 100.

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Sample budget

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