2011-12 Departmental Performance Report

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Minister's Message

I am honoured to present the 2011-2012 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Departmental Performance Report.

The Government of Canada understands the importance of advancing health science and technology. New scientific knowledge, gained through dedicated research, helps strengthen the health-care system and creates new economic opportunities. CIHR not only facilitates important health research, it also helps translate research findings into better lives for Canadians. 

To build a strong research enterprise, we need to attract and retain the brightest minds. That is why the Government of Canada has launched programs such as the Canada Excellence Research Chairs, the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships and the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship programs to help support researchers at various stages of their careers. CIHR administers the Banting program on behalf of the three federal research granting councils and, in 2011-2012, awarded another 70 Banting fellowships to support top researchers from across the country and around the globe.

Over the past year, CIHR provided invaluable support as the Government of Canada responded to a range of pressing health issues. For example, CIHR responded to a shortage in the supply of medical isotopes by helping to fund research on alternative methods of production. This past February, a team of researchers announced they had developed a method of producing medical isotopes with existing cyclotrons in hospitals and clinics around the country.  Earlier this year, CIHR announced a new research initiative focusing on Community-Based Primary Health Care, with support to researchers investigating issues such as access to care for vulnerable populations, chronic disease prevention, and factors contributing to improved health outcomes. Research being conducted through this initiative will help strengthen primary health services to ensure patient-centred care.

CIHR is also laying a strong foundation for the future of health research in Canada. In 2011-2012, CIHR continued to implement its five-year strategic plan, Health Research Roadmap: Creating innovative research for better health and health care. In line with this strategic plan, CIHR and the Government of Canada launched the Strategy on Patient-Oriented Research with a coalition of stakeholders from the health charities, industry, provincial and territorial governments, academic health-care organizations and faculties of medicine/health sciences.

CIHR continues to be a world-leader in promoting excellence in health research, and its cutting-edge initiatives will result in improved health outcomes in Canada, and internationally.

Section I: Organizational Overview

Raison d'être

CIHR is the Government of Canada's health research funding agency. It was created 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".

Responsibilities

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 investigator-initiated research as well as research on targeted priority areas;
• 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 integrates research through a unique interdisciplinary structure made up of 13 "virtual" institutes. 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 systems and services; and the social, cultural and environmental factors that affect the health of populations. Institutes form national research and knowledge translation networks linking researchers, funders and knowledge users across Canada to work on priority areas.

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.

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 interact with them, through the implementation of common policies, practices and approaches whenever possible.

CIHR's Governing Council (GC) sets the strategic directions and evaluates performance, supported by six sub-committees. Leadership on research, knowledge translation and funding for research is provided by the Science Council (SC) and leadership on corporate policy and management is provided by the Executive Management Committee (EMC).

Strategic Outcome 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.

Long description: CIHR's Program Activity Architecture

*RCT: Randomized Controlled Trials
**NCE: Networks of Centres of Excellence

Organizational Priorities

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 was 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, CIHR Three-Year Implementation Plan and Progress Report 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 is scheduled to occur on an annual basis to assess how well CIHR is moving towards its strategic goals and priorities.

Summary of Progress Against Priorities

Risk Analysis

CIHR continued to proactively identify, assess and mitigate risks under the terms of the approved Risk Management Framework. The Risk Management governance structure contained in this Framework clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of Risk Owners, CIHR management, Chief Risk Officer, Governing Council, and Audit Committee. The Framework also includes CIHR's Risk Management Policy, and describes the process and reporting requirements that have been established to develop and refresh the Corporate Risk Profile.

Reform of the Open Suite of Programs is one of the significant risks actively managed by CIHR. To address this particular risk, CIHR:

• Established a governance structure for the implementation of the reforms that includes an executive Task Force, an implementation team and a Network comprised of senior staff members and subject matter experts;
• Completed an external stakeholder analysis and used the results to develop and implement an external stakeholder engagement and communication plan;
• Developed and released a design discussion document for CIHR's Open Programs and Peer Review reforms to support external engagement activities;
• Conducted a number of forums across the country with researchers and research institutions to get input and receive feedback on the proposed design; and
• Conducted a number of working sessions with University Delegates to inform the design of the open suite of programs.

While progress has been made on the approved mitigation strategies, the risk level associated with the successful reform of the Open Suite of Programs remains high. The objective of CIHR management is to reduce the level of risk in the future by continuing to engage key stakeholders in the reform process in order to further refine the design of the new Open Suite of Programs.

Summary of Performance

2011-12 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Total Authorities:

CIHR's total Parliamentary authorities increased to $1,015.2M in 2011-12, an increase of $31.8M compared to its planned spending. The increase in Parliamentary authorities was the result of an increase to CIHR's base budget of $15.0M to support advanced health-related research such as the Strategy on Patient-Oriented Research, as announced in the Budget 2011. CIHR also received $9.3M of additional Parliamentary authorities during the 2011-12 fiscal year (via the Supplementary estimates) to fund the third round grants for the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program, and net additional transfers from other Federal government departments totalling $2.1M to fund strategic investments in areas including HIV/AIDS, Autism, Food and Nutrition and Grand Challenges Canada. CIHR also received an additional $5.4M through technical adjustments to cover employee salaries and related benefits, unforeseen severance as a result of changes made to CIHR terms and conditions of employment and other entitlements.

Actual Spending:

In 2011-12, CIHR's expenditures totalled $1,009.1M, which was $6.1M less than its total available Parliamentary authorities. The difference encompasses the following:

• CIHR lapsed $1.9M of its total 2011-12 Grant Vote. Approximately $1.6M of this lapse occurred with respect to listed grant programs including Canada Graduate Scholarships, Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships and Canada Excellence Research Chairs programs. CIHR is unable to reallocate unused authorities from listed grant programs to other initiatives.
• CIHR carried forward $2.1M unspent authorities of its Operating expenditure Vote to the 2012-13 fiscal year.
• CIHR absorbed $2.1M from its Operating expenditure Vote to support the appropriate level of employee benefit charges.

2011-12 Human Resources (full-time equivalents-FTEs)

Note: CIHR uses a peer review process to identify exemplary projects and individuals that merit funding. In 2011-12, over 2,720 peer reviewers provided their time, without remuneration, and served on 217 peer review committee meetings to review over 18,000 applications. CIHR is grateful to each of these peer reviewers for their volunteered time.

Progress Toward Strategic Outcome

Performance Summary, Excluding Internal Services

Performance Summary for Internal Services

Strategic Environmental Assessment

During 2011-12, CIHR considered the environmental effects of initiatives subject to the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals and did not produce any public statements.ⁱⁱ

Expenditure Profile

This graph represents the trend for planned and actual spending over time against total Parliamentary authorities, including Canada's Economic Action Plan (CAEP) initiatives, as laid out in the Government of Canada's 2011 Budget, that had an impact on the organization's overall spending.

More precisely, the 2011 Budget included investments in innovation, as described below:

• A $15 million permanent budget increase for CIHR to support advanced health-related research such as the Strategy on Patient-Oriented Research; and
• A new investment of $53.5 million over 5 years to support 10 new Canada Excellence Research Chairs.

Offsetting these investments is the third year of the implementation of Budget 2008 Strategic Review. CIHR's budget was reduced by $22.1 million for 2011-12 and ongoing.

Departmental Spending Trend
($ millions)

Long description: Departmental Spending Trend

Estimates by Vote

For information on CIHR's organizational Votes and/or statutory expenditures, please see the Public Accounts of Canada 2012 (Volume II). An electronic version of the Public Accounts 2012 is available on the Public Works and Government Services Canada's website, Public Accounts of Canada 2012.ⁱⁱⁱ

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Date modified:

2012-11-08