On this page: Procedures for Travel and Other Expenses
Procedures for Travel and Other Expenses
Publication Date: December 2, 2005
Revision Date: December 19, 2023 - V5.4
Effective Date: December 19, 2023
Related Memorandums, Announcements, and Revision Notes
December 20, 2023 - Version 5.4 updated with the new McGill terminology (Principal to President)
September 25, 2023 - Version 5.4 Clarification of Participant Fee by adding the wording "in a Research/Clinical Study" throughout the policy. Subsections were added to PR7, in order for Airfare to now be under PR7.1, Rail Fare to be under PR7.2, etc... Clarification to the information on boarding passes which now indicates "boarding passes are required unless other evidence..." Addition of the wording "and proof of payment" to the receipt requirement where missing to subsections under PR7.
July 24, 2023 - Version 5.3: Updated per diem allowance as of August 1, 2023, as well as the lodging allowance ($20 to $30 as of Aug. 1). Modifications to the Child Care section, as well as updated links to the Reimbursements Rates for Local Hospitality and Entertainment.
May 23, 2023 - Version 5.2: Updated PR5.5: Added: "For research grants and contracts, expense reports payable to visitors must be countersigned/approved by the Dean or Chair".
March 31, 2023 - Version 5.1: Updated PR8.11 Purchase of Alcohol for Campus Events to refer to McGill Alcohol Permit Procedure; PR8.5 Gifts, point 5 to "Payroll Office requires the following information: name of employee, value of gift and McGill ID. This must be attached to the Expense Report in Excel format. This information may be included by the Payroll Office in the T4 Statement of Remuneration", and PR8.1 to "New Computers (Desktops/Laptops) and Monitors Purchased on Non-Research Grants (non-2F/2M)" - channel news
July 18, 2022 - Version 5: Effective August 1, 2022: (NEW Process) Payment Requests to Individuals must be submitted via an EXR - channel news
April 13, 2022 - Version 4.1: Updated PR7 and PR8 to include what Research Grants means (2F and 2M Fund Types).
March 9, 2022 - Version 4.0: As per memo from the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) inserted new clause PR8. and updated PR9. and PR10. Updated PR14. American Express Corporate Card.
February 8, 2022 - Version 3.6: Removed Cloud Services from PR8. and PR9. as per recent memo from Procurement Services.
January 24, 2022 - Version 3.5: Inserted a new PR5.3 Approval Methods
September 27, 2021 - Version 3.4: Updated PR8. and PR9. University related computer purchases must be made through the Institutional Sales unit of Le James.
September 16, 2021 - Version 3.3: Updated PR8. and PR9. Cloud Services will not be reimbursed unless Procurement Services has provided written approval prior to the purchase.
June 22, 2021 - Version 3.2: Updated PR8. and PR9. to be aligned with 3.8 of the IT Cloud Directive.
April 15, 2021 - Version 3.1: Added to PR5.2 and PR5.3 the unit name Expense Payment Services.
September 17, 2020 - Version 3.0: Added PR5.2; Updated PR6. & PR7.: term "original receipt" replaced with "receipt".
June 29, 2020 - Version 2.2: As per the new implementation of the Tri-Agency Principle Based guide launched on April 1, 2020, an internal review by Research Financial Management Services (Tri-Agency team) in Financial Services and a benchmarking exercise of 12 Canadian Universities, updated PR7 Expense Types: Airfare and added 4 new expense items: Entry Visa Fees, Vaccinations and medications, Health Insurance, Child Care.
May 21, 2020 - Version 2.1: Updated PR.4. To add Interac e-Transfer as a method of refund payable to McGill University.
May 01, 2020 - Version 2.0: PR.7. Expense Types - Meals & Entertainment - Updated Per Diem Allowances for travel start dates effective May 01, 2020; Airfare - added point 2: "Copies of invoices are acceptable for airfare purchased through the University contracted travel management company. Invoices from all other travel management companies must be original." Point 4 updated from "...a fare class greater than economy (or lowest logical airfare)..." to "...a fare class greater than the highest economy...". Point 7 - added the sentence "For trips amounting to significant costs, it is advised to buy flight cancellation insurance; Rail Fare - Point 1 - Dates of train(s) replaced with Dates of travel; Communication expenses - replaced by Cellular Phone Charges, and Internet and Wi-FI Charges. Home internet charges is not a permissible expense.
February 05, 2019 - Version 1.6: PR1.1 Third Party Prepayments - travel agency example removed, so now it reads: "These are payments made directly to third party suppliers in advance of the trip, for example, payments for conference registrations." This change was made following the announcement from Francois Pouliot, Director Procurement Services about the Travel Management program - Changes to Airfare Payment Processes - channel news.
January 30, 2019 - Version 1.5: PR7 Expense Type - Airfare - added point 4 - channel news.
November 27, 2018 - Version 1.4: PR5.1 Added expenses paid with gift cards, reward point cards etc.
October 25, 2018 - Version 1.3: Added a reference to the Travel services website - Booking and Payment Procedures
October 22, 2018 - Version 1.2: PR3.1, PR5.1 and PR7: Replaced the term "subject fees" with "participant fees"
April 26, 2017 - Version 1.1: Added the word "exceptionally" to the last sentence in PR5.3 so it now reads: Exceptionally, a Visitor’s signature is not required for claims with a zero net payment (i.e. only clearing advances), hence the Visitor Claimant Signature form is not required in these cases.
April 18, 2017: Changed the formatting of the webpage only - removed accordions and tabs for ease of searching using Ctrl+F. No changes made to the content.
February 21, 2017 - Version 1.0: These Procedures were previously published as part of the Reimbursement of Expense Policy. The Policy has been renamed to Reimbursement of Travel and Other Expenses Policy. Procedures have been removed from the Policy and have been published on this page as Version 1.0.
December 5, 2016: Announcement from Julie Ghayad, Director Finance Infrastructure and Transaction Services, Financial Services, about the Vision Travel - FOAPAL Authorization form updated with "Claimant Affiliation" field - channel news
November 30, 2016: Announcement from Elvie Coletta, Director, Research Financial Management Services, Financial Services, about the NEW "Claimant Affiliation" field added to Minerva Advances & Expense Reports forms (effective December 1, 2016) - channel news | Reimbursement of Expenses Requirements Checklist Tri-Agency.pdf
November 18, 2016: Announcement from Elvie Coletta, Director, Research Financial Management Services, Financial Services, about 2016 Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide – Summary of Changes – channel news.| 2016 Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide - Summary of Changes
August 1, 2016 - Version 2.8: A detailed restaurant receipt is now mandatory when claiming reimbursement on research grants and contracts. If a detailed receipt is not available, it is no longer acceptable to indicate on the receipt why a detailed receipt was not obtained and to certify that the meal being claimed complies with agency policies. The note in expense type (7) Hotel and the receipt requirements for expense type (8) Meals were updated accordingly (section G4.4.6). Per diem amounts may be claimed when there is no detailed receipt available.
June 14, 2016 – Version 2.7: Clarified that the term students includes postdoctoral fellows (postdocs). The following sections were updated to read students (including postdoctoral fellows): G2.1; G2.2; G3.1.1 a, b, and c; G4.2; G4.3.2.
April 25, 2016 – Version 2.6: Updated the note in Section G4.4.6 Summary by Expense Type - Expense Type (2) Car Rental - added If renting a car in North-America to the second paragraph.
April 04, 2016: Announcement from Julie Ghayad, Director Finance Infrastructure and Transaction Services, Financial Services, about Submitting an Expense Report - "new" Expense Items added – channel news. (Note: This announcement impacts data entry in Minerva. No changes have been made to the policy itself.)
March 16, 2016 – Version 2.5: Replaced the phrase “faculty or staff” and the word “staff” with “academic staff, administrative and support staff”.
February 04, 2016 - Version 2.4: Announcement from Cristiane Tinmouth, Interim Assistant Vice-Principal Financial Services and Controller, about Reimbursement of Expenses Policy Update – P2.1 and G3.1 Eligibility for requesting and receiving Travel Advances – channel news.
June 22, 2015 - Version 2.3: Updated the note in Section G4.4.6 Summary by Expense Type - Expense Type (1) Personal Automobile - added a reference to the Use of Personal Vehicle page on the Travel Services website.
April 27, 2015 announcement from Cristiane Tinmouth, Controller, Financial Services about Reimbursement of Expenses Policy Update - G4.4.6 Expense Type (2) Car Rental - channels news.
March 19, 2015 announcement from Cristiane Tinmouth, Interim Assistant Vice-Principal Financial Services and Controller, about Reimbursement of Expenses - UPDATE - Airfare Receipt Requirements- channels news.
October 30, 2014 announcement from Cristiane Tinmouth, Interim Assistant Vice-Principal Financial Services and Controller, about Reimbursement of Expenses - PROCEDURE UPDATE regarding missing receipts- channels news.
September 3, 2013 Memorandum from Rose Goldstein, Vice-Principal Research and International Relations, and Michael Di Grappa, Vice-Principal, Administration and Finance about Reimbursement of Expenses – PROCEDURE UPDATE regarding missing receipts - channels news | PDF version.
May 9, 2013 announcement from Cristiane Tinmouth, Controller, Financial Services about Delegation of Temporary Signing Authority Procedures For All Fund Financial Managers - channels news.
May 6, 2013 Memorandum from Rose Goldstein and Michael Di Grappa about Research Administration and Accountability – Tri-Agency Recommendations - NEW DELEGATION MENU - channels news | PDF version.
May 31, 2012 Memorandum from Cristiane Tinmouth, Controller, Financial Services about Mileage rate increase - PDF version.