Clarifying questions are requests issued by an evaluation panel when:
- Additional information is needed to complete their review;
- An applicant is at risk of failing; or
- Application comments may affect the evaluation.
These questions help to ensure that the panel has complete and accurate information before making a determination.
There are two types of clarifying questions:
- Administrative clarifying questions, which the applicant must answer within seven days, and
- Substantive clarifying questions, which the applicant must answer within 21 days.
If responses are not submitted within the required timeframe, the applicant could lose the opportunity to address the issues raised by the evaluation panel, thus negatively impacting the outcome of the evaluation.
Applicants can expect to have one round of clarifying questions for a component of the Applicant Evaluation phase if they are issued by an evaluation panel.