Federally funded researchers who want to work with the private sector will need to take extra steps to ensure the data and intellectual property they generate doesn’t fall into the hands of hostile governments, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced Monday. Here’s what you need to know about the new national security guidelines:

The paperwork: Scientists and other academics seeking Ottawa’s backing will need to complete a risk-assessment questionnaire, evaluating whether their work could be of interest to foreign governments and militaries and whether it includes critical minerals, large amounts of data or a focus on key infrastructure. Sensitive fields of study include quantum science, biotechnology, AI, robotics and other technologies with both military and civilian uses. Researchers must disclose whether their prospective partners are linked to anyone motivated to compromise Canada’s national security, might be under the influence of a foreign government, or require the proceeds of the project be transferred to or mirrored in another country. 

Applicants who answer in the affirmative to any of those questions are required to come up with plan to minimize the risks; research agencies may pass the project on to Canada’s national security agencies to review.    

The backstory: Researchers at several Canadian universities work with Huawei, the Chinese technology giant. CSIS has expressed security-related concerns about those links. Domestic startups have complained that multinationals with more resources are crowding them out of partnerships with top professors, while policy experts worry that foreign firms are reaping the benefits of Canadian-made and -funded IP. The new guidelines seek to address the national security concerns, but not the economic ones.

The fine print: The new guidelines will initially apply only to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Alliance Grants program. Ottawa is promising to subsequently roll it out to the other federal granting councils and research agencies. NSERC unveiled the Alliance Grants program in April 2019; it has awarded $162 million to 629 projects, involving 703 private-sector partners including Boeing, Suncor and Thales; Huawei is part of 17. The guidelines won’t immediately apply to other programs like research chairs, several of which the telecom equipment firm has sponsored, nor to projects that don’t receive federal funding. Huawei Canada is not concerned about the new guidelines, said Alykhan Velshi, vice-president of corporate affairs, adding he was “not going to speculate” on whether it would affect the company’s ability to work with researchers at Canadian universities.

The view from universities: “We were pleased that today’s announcement underscored the importance of private sector partnerships, including internationally, and the substantial economic and technological benefits that they bring to Canadians,” said Dylan Hanley, director of public affairs at the U15, adding that the group hopes “the regulations will not deter partnerships, and will identify mitigating measures that will help researchers and institutions.” The U15 also called for the government to provide universities advice and resources to help with implementation.

The view from elsewhere: The Australian federal government has proposed legislation giving it the power to veto or alter agreements between public universities and international partners; higher-education institutions have lobbied to be excluded. Ottawa’s guidelines, by contrast, were developed with a working group of federal agencies and university associations.

This story has been updated with comment from Huawei Canada and the U15.