Quarterly Financial Report for the Quarter Ended June 30, 2024

Table of contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year to date (YTD) results
  3. Risk and uncertainties
  4. Significant changes in relation to operations, personnel and programs
  5. Statement of Authorities (unaudited)
  6. Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)

1. Introduction

This quarterly financial report has been prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act and in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board. It should be read in conjunction with the 2024-25 Main Estimates. It has not been subject to an external audit or review nor has it been subject to the approval of the Audit Committee.

1.1 Authority, mandate and programs

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research funding agency. It was created in June 2000 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Act 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 invests in high quality health research and health research personnel to help create and apply new knowledge that can improve health outcomes for Canadians, lead to innovative products and services that improve Canada's health care system, and create high quality employment and commercial opportunities.

Further details on CIHR’s mandate and programs can be found in Part II of the Main Estimates and the Department Plan.

1.2 Basis of presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by CIHR management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes CIHR’s spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by CIHR, consistent with the Main Estimates supplied thus far for the 2024-25 fiscal year. This quarterly report has been prepared using a special purpose financial reporting framework designed to meet financial information needs with respect to the use of spending authorities.

The authority of Parliament is required before monies can be spent by the Government of Canada (the Government). Approvals are given in the form of annually approved limits through appropriation acts or through legislation in the form of statutory spending authority for specific purposes.

CIHR uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual departmental financial statements that are part of the departmental results reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

2. Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year to date (YTD) results

This quarterly financial report reflects the results of the current fiscal period in comparison to the authorities supplied by the Main Estimates to date for fiscal year 2024-25, as well as budget adjustments approved by Treasury Board up to June 30, 2024.

2.1 Financial Highlights – Statement of Authorities (Refer to Section 5)

As of June 30, 2024, total authorities available for use for CIHR have increased by $12.1 million (0.9%) compared to June 30, 2023 as shown in the table below. The increase to CIHR’s total authorities available is due to:

Total authorities used as of June 30, 2024 increased by $4.4 million (1.5%) compared to the prior fiscal year due mainly to the grant payments related to the increased funding mentioned above. CIHR has used 21.7% (21.6% in 2023-24) of its available authorities through the first quarter which is consistent with its annual spending pattern.

Figure 2.1.1 Total annual authorities available and cumulative authorities used.
($ thousands)

Long Description
2024-25 2023-24
Total authorities available for use the year ended March 31Footnote * $1,369,561 $1,357,435
Cumulative authorities used as at June 30 $297,815 $293,414

Table 2.1.1 – Changes to annual authorities available and authorities used during the first quarter (Q1) by vote. ($ thousands)

  2024-25 2023-24 Variance
  Annual authorities available Q1 authorities used % used Annual authorities available Q1 authorities used % used (1) vs (3) (2) vs (4)
  (1) (2)   (3) (4)      
Vote 1 - Operating Expenditures 76,151 18,664 24.5% 72,522 17,573 24.2% 5.0% 6.2%
Vote 5 - Grants 1,284,600 276,949 21.6% 1,276,047 273,625 21.4% 0.7% 1.2%
Statutory Authorities – Employee benefits plan 8,810 2,202 25.0% 8,866 2,216 25.0% (0.6%) (0.6%)
Total 1,369,561 297,815 21.7% 1,357,435 293,414 21.6% 0.9% 1.5%

Vote 1 – Operating Expenditures

Total authorities available for use for Vote 1 - Operating expenditures increased by $3.6 million (5.0%) as at June 30, 2024 compared to the prior fiscal year.

This increase is due to:

Authorities used during the first quarter for Vote 1 – Operating Expenditures have increased by $1.1 million (6.2%) as compared to the prior fiscal year. This variance is primarily due to an increase in personnel costs ($1.1M) due to yearly salary increases, an increase in information services ($0.3M) for database access and subscription services and an increase in the acquisition of equipment ($0.1M). This increase is mainly offset by a decrease in transportation and communication costs ($0.2M) resulting from a decrease in telecommunication services, a decrease in public servant travel and a decrease in professional services ($0.2M). The percentage of operating authorities used has slightly increased from the prior year (24.5% and 24.2% respectively) as a result of the aforementioned reasons.

Overall spending as of June 30, 2024 is consistent with CIHR management expectations and with the prior fiscal year (through the first quarter).

Vote 5 – Grants

Authorities available for use for Vote 5 – Grants as of June 30, 2024 were $1,284.6 million and included funding for the following transfer payment programs:

Vote 5 authorities available for use increased by $8.6 million (0.7%) as of June 30, 2024 as compared to the prior fiscal year. This increase is due to the following:

Grant authorities used during the first quarter of 2024-25 modestly increased by $3.3 million (1.2%) compared to the prior fiscal year quarter due to grant payments related to the increased funding mentioned above. The percentage of grant authorities used is consistent with the prior year (21.6% and 21.4% respectively) as grants are typically paid out in monthly installments throughout the year.

Overall spending as of June 30, 2024 is consistent with CIHR management expectations and with the prior fiscal year (through the first quarter).

Statutory Authorities

Contribution to employee benefit plans

Budgetary statutory authorities representing CIHR’s contribution to employee benefit plans available for use decreased year over year by $0.1 million (0.6%). The decrease to CIHR’s statutory authorities available is due to:

Actual spending for statutory authorities in the first quarter of 2024-25 is 25.0% of the total available authorities for use for the year, which is consistent with CIHR management expectations given that this expenditure is distributed equally throughout the fiscal year.

2.2 Financial Highlights – Statement of Departmental Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object (Refer to Section 6)

As of June 30, 2024, total authorities available for use by CIHR increased by $12.1 million (0.9%) compared to the prior fiscal year. Total authorities used as of June 30, 2024 increased by $4.4 million (1.5%) compared to the prior fiscal year. These variances are reflected in Table 2.2.1 (where expenditure types are re-grouped into three categories: Personnel, Other Operating Expenditures and Transfer Payments) for further analysis.

Table 2.2.1 – Changes to annual authorities available and authorities used during the first quarter (Q1) by expenditure type ($ thousands)

  2024-25 2023-24 Variance
  Annual authorities available Q1 authorities used % used Annual authorities available Q1 authorities used % used (1) vs (3) (2) vs (4)
  (1) (2)   (3) (4)      
Personnel 72,648 18,767 25.8% 67,193 17,667 26.3% 8.1% 6.2%
Other Operating Expenditures 12,313 2,099 17.0% 14,195 2,122 14.9% (13.3%) (1.1%)
Transfer Payments 1,284,600 276,949 21.6% 1,276,047 273,625 21.4% 0.7% 1.2%
Total 1,369,561 297,815 21.7% 1,357,435 293,414 21.6% 0.9% 1.5%

Personnel and Other Operating Expenditures

Authorities available for Personnel Expenditures for the period ended June 30, 2024 increased by $5.4 million (8.1%) as compared to the prior year. Authorities available for Other Operating Expenditures decreased by $1.9 million (13.3%). These variances are due to:

Personnel authorities used in the first quarter increased by $1.1 million (6.2%) compared to the prior fiscal year, mainly due to yearly salary increases. The percentage of authorities used for Personnel Expenditures in the first quarter (25.8%) is reasonable for this type of expenditure and is consistent with the prior year (26.3%).

Other Operating Expenditures used in the first quarter are comparable to the prior fiscal year as there was an immaterial decrease of 1.1%.

Overall spending as of June 30, 2024 is consistent with CIHR management expectations and with the prior fiscal year (through the first quarter).

Transfer Payments

Authorities available for the period ended June 30, 2024 increased by $8.6 million (0.7%) over the prior year due primarily to additional health research funding discussed in Section 2.1. Authorities used during the quarter ended June 30, 2024 increased by $3.3 million (1.2%) compared to the prior fiscal year. The percentage of grant authorities used in the first quarter of 2024-25 (21.6%) is similar to the authorities used in the first quarter of 2023-24 (21.4%).

2.3 Other Non-Financial Highlights

Other non-financial highlights for the first quarter of 2024-25 include:

3. Risks and uncertainties

CIHR is funded through voted parliamentary spending authorities and statutory authorities for operating expenditures and transfer payments. As a result, its operations are impacted by any changes to funding approved through Parliament. Delivering programs and services may depend on several risk factors such as economic fluctuations, technological and scientific development, evolving government priorities, and central agency or government-wide initiatives.

CIHR is committed to a disciplined, risk management process in its daily operations. In 2023–24, CIHR developed a new Corporate Risk Profile (CRP) through a cross-organizational consultation process led by an external consulting firm to identify current risks for the Agency. The CRP provides a proactive response to manage and monitor risks to ensure CIHR's ability to deliver on its mandate. The key risks identified for implementation in 2023–24 and 2024–25 are as follows.

Risk 1 - Corporate Prioritization

There is a risk that CIHR’s current corporate prioritization process may not allow for sufficient oversight and controls to ensure new Agency priorities are sufficiently resourced (e.g., infrastructure, staff, funding), and that overall existing priorities are resourced properly.

Risk 2 - CIHR/Institutes’ Authorities, Roles, and Responsibilities

There is a risk that the lack of a clear governance framework within CIHR and between CIHR and the Institutes, including the authorities, roles, and responsibilities, may cause an important misalignment in terms of who is accountable for what, and how decisions are made, leading to potential reputational damage to CIHR as well as inefficient decision-making and use of limited resources.

Risk 3 - Tri-Agency Grants Management Solution (TGMS)

There is a risk that CIHR may not be able to respond adequately to the expectations of its stakeholder community with regards to a modern, user-friendly, and flexible granting system, predicated on a harmonized granting business process approach. This risk is coupled with the risk that TGMS uptake on the part of the research community may be slow and protracted due to inadequate change management and legacy system transitioning practices. Should these risks materialize, health research stakeholders would significantly lose confidence in CIHR’s role as an innovative leader in the health research eco-system.

Risk 4 – Cybersecurity

There is a risk that CIHR’s current IM/IT infrastructure (e.g., systems, software) and support framework (e.g., strategies, policies, procedures, expertise) may allow for significant cybersecurity incidents affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of services (core and/or critical).

Risk 5 – Research Funding Partnerships

CIHR and partners can have different and sometimes conflicting mandates and accountabilities (i.e., taxpayers, boards, donors) which can create policy and process misalignment and tension within the partnership. A formally documented policy on consulting and collaborating, subject to periodic review and updates, is needed to allow CIHR and partners to work collaboratively and efficiently together. Without this framework there is a risk associated with partnered competitions and initiatives, specifically: 1) the inconsistent interpretation and application of Central Agency policies by CIHR, and 2) conflicting or misaligned policies and/or delivery requirements between CIHR and its partners. This could affect CIHR's reputation and potentially lead to an uneven application of the research funding delivery process.

4. Significant changes in relation to operations, personnel and programs

On May 8, CIHR announced that Dr. Tammy Clifford was appointed Acting President of CIHR through a Governor in Council appointment.

Approval by Senior Officials

Approved by:

[original signed by]

Tammy Clifford, PhD
Acting President

[original signed by]

Jimmy Fecteau, MBA, CPA, CMA
Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada
August 28, 2024

5. Statement of Authorities (unaudited)

For the quarter ended June 30, 2024

  Fiscal year 2024-25 Fiscal year 2023-24
(in thousands of dollars) Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2025Footnote * Used during the quarter ended June 30, 2024 Year to date used at quarter-end Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2024Footnote * Used during the quarter ended June 30, 2023 Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 1 – Operating expenditures 76,151 18,664 18,664 72,522 17,573 17,573
Vote 5 - Grants 1,284,600 276,949 276,949 1,276,047 273,625 273,625
Budgetary statutory authorities
Contributions to employee benefit plans 8,810 2,202 2,202 8,866 2,216 2,216
Total budgetary authorities 1,369,561 297,815 297,815 1,357,435 293,414 293,414
Footnote *

Includes only Authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end.

* referrer

6. Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)

For the quarter ended June 30, 2024

  Fiscal year 2024-25 Fiscal year 2023-24
(in thousands of dollars) Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2025Footnote * Expended during the quarter ended June 30, 2024 Year to date used at quarter-end Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2024Footnote * Expended during the quarter ended June 30, 2023 Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures:
Personnel 72,648 18,767 18,767 67,193 17,667 17,667
Transportation and communications 753 79 79 1,488 233 233
Information 615 342 342 747 46 46
Professional and special services 6,311 371 371 8,880 524 524
Rentals 4,209 1,152 1,152 2,178 1,167 1,167
Repair and maintenance 162 27 27 27 48 48
Utilities, materials and supplies 28 4 4 220 85 85
Acquisition of machinery and equipment 235 109 109 655 16 16
Transfer payments 1,284,600 276,949 276,949 1,276,047 273,625 273,625
Other subsidies and payments - 15 15 - 3 3
Total budgetary expenditures 1,369,561 297,815 297,815 1,357,435 293,414 293,414
Footnote *

Includes only Authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end.

* referrer

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