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Minister's Message
It is my pleasure to present to my parliamentary colleagues, and all Canadians, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Report on Plans and Priorities for the fiscal year 2011-2012.
As a member of the Government of Canada's Health Portfolio, CIHR funds research that will improve the health of Canadians, strengthen Canada's health-care system, and produce commercially viable products and services.
CIHR is at the core of a vibrant, innovative and internationally competitive health research community in Canada. This sector is critical not only to the health and well-being of Canadians, but also to the prosperity of our economy and sustainability of our health care system. CIHR plays a critical role in helping the Government of Canada achieve the objectives of its Science and Technology Strategy released in 2007.
The Government of Canada has invested in the future development of our research community through a variety of programs, including the recently created Canada Excellence Research Chairs program and the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program. These programs are designed to attract and retain top research talent in Canada to keep Canada at the forefront of a wide range of health research fields. Today, CIHR supports close to 14,000 health researchers and trainees in universities, teaching hospitals and other research centres across the country.
Over the past year, CIHR has demonstrated its value to Canadians on issues ranging from pandemic preparedness to alternatives for medical isotopes. In 2011-2012, CIHR will continue to implement its five-year strategic plan, Health Research Roadmap: Creating innovative research for better health and health care, with its four strategic directions: investing in world-class research that supports the best ideas and the brightest minds; addressing health and health-system research priorities and fostering a greater integration of research into health care; accelerating the capture of health and economic benefits of health research in all sectors; and becoming a leading-edge organization in achieving results for Canadians. Specific initiatives planned include launching the implementation of the Strategy on Patient-Oriented Research with a coalition of stakeholders from the health charities, industry, provincial/territorial governments, academic healthcare organizations, faculties of medicine/health sciences and others. CIHR will also strengthen its International Collaborative Research Strategy on Alzheimer's Disease through additional investments and partnerships; and, continue the significant work of the Scientific Expert Group on Multiple Sclerosis research.
I applaud CIHR for the work it is doing on behalf of Canadians.
Minister of Health
The original version was signed by
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq
Minister of Health
Section I – Departmental Overview
Raison d'être
CIHR is the Government of Canada's health research funding agency. It was created in June 2000 by the CIHR Act (Bill C-13) with a mandate "to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened Canadian health care system".
CIHR was designed to respond to the evolving needs for health research, and this is reflected in the difference of its mandate from that of its predecessor, the Medical Research Council of Canada. CIHR's mandate seeks to transform health research in Canada by:
- funding research on targeted priority areas, in addition to investigator-initiated research;
- placing a greater emphasis on the strength of the research community by building research capacity in under-developed areas and training the next generation of health researchers; and
- focusing on knowledge translation that facilitates the application of the results of research and their transformation into new policies, practices, procedures, products and services.
CIHR has thirteen Institutes:
- The Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health
- The Institute of Aging
- The Institute of Cancer Research
- The Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health
- The Institute of Gender and Health
- The Institute of Genetics
- The Institute of Health Services and Policy Research
- The Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
- The Institute of Infection and Immunity
- The Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
- The Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
- The Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
- The Institute of Population and Public Health
These institutes are not "bricks-and-mortar" buildings but communities of experts. Each Institute supports a broad spectrum of research in its topic area: biomedical, clinical, health services and systems, and population and public health. Institutes form national research networks linking researchers, funders and knowledge users across Canada to work on priority areas. CIHR's innovative structure has been recognized around the world as a global best practice for supporting a solutions-focused, multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to health research.
CIHR reports through the Minister of Health and plays a key role in the Health Portfolio, the focal point for the Government of Canada's health-related activities. As Canada's health research funding agency, CIHR makes an essential contribution to the Minister of Health's overall responsibilities by funding the research and knowledge translation needed to inform the evolution of Canadian health policy and regulation; and, by taking an advisory role on research and innovation issues. This is achieved through an extensive and growing set of linkages with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, providing decision-makers with access to high quality and timely health research knowledge.
CIHR works closely with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the two Granting Councils of the Industry portfolio, to share information and co-ordinate efforts, harmonize practices; avoid duplication and foster multi-disciplinary research. The three organizations (referred to as "Tri-Council") also try to make it easier for researchers and others to communicate with them, by providing single-window access whenever possible.
CIHR's governance structure accords closely with its Program Activity Architecture (discussed in the following section). Governing Council (GC) sets the strategic directions and evaluates performance, supported by seven sub-committees. Leadership on research, knowledge translation and funding for research is provided by the Scientific Council (SC) and leadership on corporate policy and management is provided by the Executive Management Committee (EMC).
Strategic Outcomes and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)
CIHR's Program Activity Architecture (PAA), approved by Treasury Board in May 2009, is shown in Figure 1 below. The PAA consists of one Strategic Outcome and five Program Activities that support the Strategic Outcome. The performance information presented in Section II is organized according to this PAA structure.
Figure 1: CIHR's Program Activity Architecture
Planning Summary
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
|---|---|---|
| 983.4 | 963.4 | 962.3 |
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
|---|---|---|
| 428 | 428 | 428 |
| Performance Indicator | Targets |
|---|---|
| Canadian ranking in health research intensity compared to international levels. | Maintain or increase international ranking. |
| Canadian number and share of world health research papers. | Maintain or increase share. |
| Number of citations of Canadian health research papers compared to international levels. | Maintain or increase international ranking. |
| Researchers per thousand workforce compared to international levels. | Maintain or increase international ranking. |
| Changes in health practices, programs or policies informed by CIHR-funded research. | Evidence that the work of CIHR funded researchers resulted in long-term impacts. |
| Diversity of research supported (by theme and Institute). | Maintain diversity of research and increase funding in priority areas. |
| Program Activity | Forecast Spending 2010-11 (in millions) |
Planned Spending (in millions) | Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011‑12 | 2012‑13 | 2013‑14 | |||
| 1.1 Health Knowledge | 451.6 | 444.0 | 449.2 | 456.0 | Healthy Canadians |
| 1.2 Health Researches | 217.0 | 204.7 | 194.3 | 187.7 | Healthy Canadians |
| 1.3 Health Research Commmercialization | 43.5 | 45.9 | 43.1 | 44.8 | Healthy Canadians |
| 1.4 Health and Health Services Advances | 274.3 | 261.6 | 249.7 | 246.7 | Healthy Canadians |
| Total Planned Spending for Strategic Outcome #1 | 986.4 | 956.2 | 936.3 | 935.2 | |
| Internal Service | Forecast Spending 2010-11 |
Planned Spending (in millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | ||
| 1.5 Internal Services | 28.3 | 27.2 | 27.1 | 27.1 |
Total planned spending from 2010-11 to 2013-14 is expected to decrease by $52.4 million. This is partly due to incremental reductions of $22.1 million for 2011-12 onward from the 2008 Strategic Review exercise, which resulted in CIHR winding down two of its programs (the Open Team Grant and the Intellectual Property Management programs). Funding for several of CIHR's programs are also sunsetting by 2013-14, including the Business-Led Centres of Excellence, the Isotope Supply initiative, the expanded Canada Graduate Scholarships Program, and the Pandemic Preparedness Strategic Research Initiative, therefore reducing CIHR's planned spending by $24.0 million. Lastly, there is also a decrease in planned spending of $2.5 million for the Network Centres of Excellence starting in 2012-13. The remaining decrease of $3.8 million is due to various other program funding adjustments.
Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcomes
In 2009, CIHR's Governing Council approved CIHR's second Strategic Plan (2009-2014), The Health Research Roadmap: Creating innovative research for better health and health care. This Strategic Plan is the product of widespread consultations with members of the health research community, careful assessment of Canada's strengths and weaknesses, and ongoing deliberation about what CIHR would like to achieve by 2014. Roadmap sets out a vision comprised of four strategic directions aligned with CIHR's corporate, business and operational priorities.
In 2010, CIHR developed a rolling, three-year implementation plan for Roadmap. This plan highlights the activities CIHR will undertake over the next three years in order to achieve the strategic directions outlined in Roadmap. A refresh of this implementation plan is scheduled to occur on an annual basis to assess how well CIHR is moving towards its strategic goals and priorities. CIHR will also be conducting regular updates to review the progress made on short-term activities and deliverables.
| Operational Priorities | Type | Links to Strategic Outcome(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic Direction #1 Invest in world-class research excellence |
On-going | 1.1 Health Knowledge 1.2 Health Researchers |
Research excellence is one of the benchmarks that will allow Canada to sustain its place in today's knowledge-based economy. Investing in excellence requires supporting the best ideas and brightest minds. Over the next four years, CIHR will undertake two significant reforms: (1) the Peer Review Reform, and (2) the Open Suite of Programs Reform. The Peer Review Reform will support a sustainable peer review system that: can evaluate all applications with the same degree of rigour and fairness irrespective of research area or methodology; can adapt as research evolves; makes optimal use of our Peers; and has a process of selecting the best reviewers. The Open Suite of Programs Reform will better capture excellence; support innovative/breakthrough research; improve the sustainability of the long-term research enterprise; and better integrate new talent. Excellence in health research is also defined by the ability to be creative and develop innovative solutions to current health challenges. Over the next four years, CIHR will foster international and interdisciplinary collaboration to support innovations in health research. |
| Strategic Direction #2 Address health and health system research priorities |
On-going | 1.4 Health and Health Services Advances |
As a relatively small country, Canada must carefully select its investments to both capitalize on its areas of strength, and address gaps in key research areas and communities. Pursuing strategic investments allows CIHR to provide directed support to address the health and health system challenges that matter to Canadians. Over the next four years, CIHR will work to improve the focus, coherence and impact of its strategic investments. |
| Strategic Direction #3 Accelerate the capture of health and economic benefits of health research |
On-going | 1.3 Health Research Commercialization 1.4 Health and Health Services Advances |
CIHR's role in knowledge translation (KT) is to gather evidence-informed information from health research, promote the dissemination and application of new knowledge to improve health and health services; and, facilitate the commercialization of research. Canadians reap the socio-economic benefits of health research when breakthroughs in health knowledge are applied to the development of health products, policies, practices, and programs. Over the next four years, CIHR, through its KT strategy, will continue to facilitate collaboration between knowledge users, industry, health care professionals, policy makers and the research community to translate health research into products and services that will benefit the health of Canadians. |
| Management Priorities | Type | Links to Strategic Outcome(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic Direction #4 Achieve organizational excellence, foster ethics and demonstrate impact |
On-going | 1.5 Internal Services |
Named as one of Canada's Top-100 Employers in 2010, CIHR will continue to strive for organizational excellence. Over the next four years, through innovative program reforms and technology-based solutions, CIHR will improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of its program delivery systems and reduce complexity for stakeholders. CIHR is committed to continuously assessing its performance and demonstrating the benefits of its investments. In 2010-11, CIHR completed its second international review, which was conducted by a blue ribbon panel of experts. In 2011-12, the panel's findings and recommendations will be reviewed to discuss possible implementation strategies for strengthening CIHR's operations and that of its 13 Institutes over the next four years. CIHR is committed to fostering a culture of safe and ethical research, and encourages health researchers to consider the ethical implications inherent in their research. CIHR will continue promoting and assisting in the discussion and application of ethical principles to health research. |
CIHR strives continually to strengthen its operations and programming while fostering a dedicated, well-informed workforce. Moreover, CIHR has consistently ensured that the cost of its operations are at or below 6% of its total appropriations, thus ensuring the vast bulk of its funding goes directly to support world-class health research and researchers.
Risk Analysis
CIHR understands the importance of risk management and has integrated risk management considerations into its strategic and operational planning, business processes and decision-making. The approved Risk Management Framework establishes how CIHR identifies, assesses and mitigates risk. The Framework also provides a governance model that promotes the accountability for risk management as well as defining the ongoing review and updating process for existing and potential risks to the organization.
On a continuous basis, CIHR monitors and assesses both identified and potential risks. Additionally, through out the year all risk owners are required to provide CIHR's Chief Risk Officer (CRO) with updates to their risk mitigation strategies in order to ensure their overall strategy and implementation target dates are reasonable and meet the needs of the organization.
Finally, in order to satisfy the governance and accountability requirements of the Risk Management Framework, both Governing Council and the Audit Committee receive regular reports on the issues relating to risk management as well as information on any changes to the Corporate Risk Profile from the CRO.
The current Corporate Risk Profile identifies 16 risks in total, with three risks in the profile are classified as High, as described below:
| Risk | Explanation of Risk | Mitigation Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Health Research Roadmap Implementation | There is a risk that CIHR is unable to fully deliver on the strategic directions outlined in the Health Research Roadmap in the defined timeframe. This includes risks that: internal and external stakeholders do not understand or support the proposed changes; and, that operational requirements and competing priorities prevent resources from focusing on the implementation. |
Management has implemented or is in the process of completing the following:
|
| Knowledge Translation | There is a risk that CIHR may not be able to support the synthesis, dissemination, exchange and ethically sound application of knowledge at the levels required to achieve the Knowledge Translation (KT) component of its mandate and to improve the health of Canadians. |
Management has implemented or is in the process of completing the following:
|
| Results Management | There is a risk that CIHR will be unable to evaluate and report on the results of CIHR's funded research inputs, outputs and impacts. |
Management has implemented or is in the process of completing the following:
|
The three High-risk items summarized in the above table are all being actively managed by CIHR. The individual risk owners are in the process of implementing the approved mitigation strategies for each risk, with the overall expectation of reducing the current risk levels. The target dates established by these risk owners for the completion of their mitigation strategies have been reviewed and are considered reasonable by management and CIHR's Governing Council.
Expenditure Profile
Departmental Spending Trend
CIHR expenditures increased every year from its inception in 2000 through 2007-08, however, spending has remained fairly constant in recent years. Spending is expected to decrease slightly each year over the next three fiscal years, based on current spending authorities.
CIHR's total actual and forecasted spending has increased from $974.1 million in 2007-08 to $1,014.7 million in 2010-11. This is mostly due to increases to CIHR's base budget totaling $50 million since 2007-08, which is offset by the impact of the 2008 Strategic Review which resulted in CIHR winding down two of its programs (the Open Team Grant and the Intellectual Property Management programs).
Following 2010-11, CIHR's planned spending is expected to decrease to $962.3 million by 2013-14, a reduction of $52.4 million mainly due to the incremental reductions of $22.1 million in 2011-12 and onward resulting from the 2008 Strategic Review, a decrease in planned spending of $24.0 million due to the sunsetting of several of CIHR's programs such as the Business-Led Centres of Excellence, the Isotope Supply initiative, the expanded Canada Graduate Scholarships program, and the Pandemic Preparedness Strategic Research Initiative and a reduction of $2.5 million for the Network Centres of Excellence starting in 2012-13. The remaining decrease of $3.8 decrease is due to various other program funding adjustments.
Estimates By Vote
For information on our organizational votes and/or statutory expenditures, please see the 2011-2012 Main Estimates publication. An electronic version of the Main Estimates is available at:
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20112012/me-bpd/info/info-eng.asp.
