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Research Assistants (RA) are an invaluable part of the research process. RAs can help with collecting, entering and organizing ideas, preparing reports and briefs, managing project emails and communicating and more.
Research Assistants must be residents of Alberta during the period of their employment.
Notes to Remember:
- The hiring process must be complete before the Research Assistant begins work.
- They are paid through direct deposit into their chosen bank account.
- Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Canadian Employment Insurance (CEI) are paid by the employee and the employer.
- Appropriate tax is deducted based on the information on their TD1 Federal and Province.
- The current employer's costs (statutory deductions) are approximately 17% (9.2% vacation and holiday, employer's CPP contributions of 5.95% and employer's CEI contributions of 2.282%).
- Overtime is all hours worked over eight hours per day or 44 hours per week, whichever is greater (8/44 rule). An employee's overtime pay is at least 1.5 times the employee's regular wage rate for all overtime hours worked. Check out Alberta regulations for more information.
- Research Assistants are members of the MRU Staff Association.
- Remember to review the MRSA Collective Agreement before hiring.
How to Hire a Research Assistant 
Step One: Develop Position Description and Determine Appointment Type
Three standard Research Assistant position description templates have been developed and are located here.
Each of the three standard position descriptions are associated with a classification level. These levels reflect increasing complexity, education, and training and are the standard for all RA recruitments. The RA position description selected should generally match the work that the RA will be responsible for. Select the position description that most closely aligns with the general responsibilities of the role. When you have downloaded the RA Offer Request Form as outlined in Step Three below (Send Offer), you will have the opportunity to select a Grade Step and associated hourly rate of pay from a drop-down list. Note that the hourly rate does not include employer costs as defined in point 5 above.
You may still customize specific details for your research project and needs in your job posting.
There are two types of appointments available for RAs. For more information, please review the MRSA Collective Agreement Articles 1.8(c), 1.8(d), and 1.8(g).
- Casual: An employee who generally works on an on-call basis and does not have regularly scheduled hours, or is regularly scheduled for a period of twenty (20) workdays for a specific job per calendar year. Beyond 20 shifts, casual RAs must be paid at a premium rate of 1.25 times.
- Flexible: A role with variable shifts that may include an irregular schedule of not less than three (3) hours per shift and up to thirty-five (35) hours per week. Hourly employees with flexible schedules, typically with more shifts or hours per year than Casual staff.
Please contact your Faculty’s Human Resources Business Partner for additional support in determining the appropriate appointment type.
Step Two: Interview and Select Candidate
The Principal Investigator (PI) is accountable for the recruitment of the Research Assistant (RA).
To ensure inclusivity and equitable access to RA opportunities, positions should be posted.
Employment opportunities may be posted on the Human Resources website. For assistance creating the job posting, please contact erecruiter@mtroyal.ca.
Step Three: Send Offer
Once you have received verbal acceptance from your preferred candidate, complete an electronic RA Request for Offer Form located on the Human Resources Information Hub under management, and in the dropdown, please select recruitment and selection (hiring resources) or through the following link: https://intranet.mtroyal.ca/HR-Info-Hub/management/recruitment-selection.php
The Request for Offer form can be found under Hiring resources, then within the dropdown menu for Academic Visitors, Research Assistants and Postdoctoral Assistants, under the bullet for Research Assistants (RAs), RA Request for Offer Form - Administered through ORSCE.
Send the completed form to the ORSCE at ORSCEfinance@mtroyal.ca with "Research Assistant" in the subject line. ORSCE will review and approve the form and forward it to Recruitment at erecruiter@mtroyal.ca.
NOTE: The start date needs to be a minimum of 10 business days after the date the Request for Offer form is submitted.
Once Recruitment (HR) receives the Request for Offer Form, they will create an offer package. The offer package will be sent to the candidate, cc'ing: Principal Investigator & ORSCE for review and completion.
- Offer Package includes:
- Offer Letter
- Code of Conduct
- TD1 Forms
- Employee Commencement Form
Step Four: Offer Accepted
To officially accept the appointment, the candidate will need to sign and return their offer letter package to the Payroll team at payroll@mtroyal.ca. Candidates are expected to submit the requested information within a reasonable time to avoid delaying their start date. Once all the documents have been received, the Payroll team will:
- Set up the Research Assistant in Banner
- Create an employee file
The HR team will communicate with the RA, the PI and the ORSCE that the RA has been set up as an employee.
Step Five: Onboarding and Offboarding
It is the PI’s responsibility to ensure their RA is set up for their first day. In particular, the PI must submit the Account Create Form to ITS to request that the RA be granted access to MyMRU as an employee. This step is essential in order for the RA to access their timesheet. This step must be completed even if the RA is a current or previous student.
For more information about the Account Create Form or process, please contact IT Services.
For instructions on filling out or approving an employee’s Web Entry Timesheet, please review the Timesheets dropdown menu on the Payroll page on the HR Information Hub. If you need further assistance, please contact Payroll at 403.440.6320 or payroll@mtroyal.ca.
It is the PI’s responsibility to offboard the Research Assistant at the end of their appointment; this includes tracking the RA’s end date, ensuring no work is assigned after this date and collecting all MRU property such as keys, computers, etc.
Extending Your Research Assistant's Appointment
If the Research Assistant's term has yet to be completed, they can be extended up to a maximum of 2 years as per the Terms and Conditions.
- The PI will need to contact ORSCE to confirm that the funds are available and verify an extension is possible
- Once confirmed, ORSCE will email erecruiter@mtroyal.ca to initiate the extension
- Human Resources will send an Extension Offer Letter to the Research Assistant, cc'ing both the PI and ORSCE
- The Research Assistant must return the signed Extension Letter to Payroll at: payroll@mtroyal.ca in order for the extension to take place.
NOTE: Once the Research Assistant's term has ended, the PI will need to re-complete the hiring process outlined at the beginning of this document in order to hire the Research Assistant again.
Research Assistants Hired through your Faculty
Visit the Human Resources Information Hub if you are hiring a Research Assistant funded through your faculty at the following link:
https://intranet.mtroyal.ca/HR-Info-Hub/management/recruitment-selection.php
The RA Request for Offer Form can be found under Hiring resources, then within the dropdown menu for Academic Visitors, Research Assistants and Postdoctoral Assistants, under the bullet for Research Assistants (RAs), links for RA Hiring Process and RA Offer Request Form - Administered through Department.
For additional information, please contact your Associate or Vice Dean of Research.