Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank you for inviting me to appear before your committee today. It's a privilege to take part in this meeting in support of your important work on the distribution of federal funds among post-secondary educational institutions.
As you know, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, or CIHR, is the largest funder of health research in Canada. It serves a vibrant health research community of up to 16,000 world-class researchers annually that is more diverse than ever before and excels across all pillars of health research, from biomedical and clinical research to research on health services and population and public health.
It is important for you to know that peer review underpins the fair and transparent process that we use to choose which applications to fund, protected from biases or conflicts of interest. This means that eligible applications submitted to competitions for funding are each reviewed by an independent panel of experts in that field. These experts volunteer their time to assess and score each application, guiding decisions on how to allocate the competition’s funding envelope.
Through its college of reviewers, CIHR is systematizing reviewer recruitment to identify and mobilize the appropriate expertise for the review of all funding applications, and provides reviewers with the knowledge and resources necessary to conduct consistent, fair and high-quality peer review.
As we know from the “Report from the Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System”, otherwise known as the Bouchard report, for Canada to truly maintain research excellence, we must support world-class research across all regions of the country in institutions of all sizes. That is why the membership of CIHR’s college of reviewers and its peer review committees are assessed for demographic gaps, including regional representation, to balance the perspectives provided in the peer review process. Additionally, all peer reviewers are offered training to make them aware of and enable them to take actions to mitigate against several potential biases, including those related to institution size.
With regard to supporting health research in Canada, CIHR recognizes that research takes place in a wide array of institutions—and for us, this includes research hospitals. To facilitate that relationship, eligible research hospitals can apply directly to us, as opposed to relying on an affiliation to another institution such as a university. This enables research hospitals to lead world-class health research that stretches beyond the priorities of the universities with which they are affiliated, contributing to the diversification of research that we fund.
It is true that post-secondary institutions account for the largest share of CIHR funding, including important research being conducted in smaller institutions across our country. However, in an effort to remove systemic barriers to accessing research funding, we have recently encouraged non-traditional institutions that have mandates to use research knowledge to improve the lives of Canadians, such as community and not-for-profit organizations, to become eligible to receive CIHR funding. We have done this by simplifying the process to become eligible to administer funding, reducing the administrative burden and harmonizing the process across the three granting agencies.
These non-traditional institutions may be eligible to hold CIHR funding, depending on the criteria of the particular funding competition. For example, following consultations with representatives of indigenous communities, CIHR updated the eligibility criteria for its flagship program, the project grant competition. Since the fall of 2020, individuals affiliated with indigenous, non-governmental organizations in Canada with a research or knowledge translation mandate have been eligible to apply directly to the competition. As of right now, there are currently 11 such organizations eligible to hold funding and to host funded researchers.
We know that a broad and inclusive health research ecosystem is a strength and advantage for Canadian innovation, and we are proud of the steps we have taken to broaden this eligibility. Taken together, these institutions enable the Government of Canada to support a diverse portfolio of health research.
To conclude, the CIHR, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, continue to adapt to changing conditions. We are also committed to capacity building for research excellence in all its diversity, both within and beyond the traditional university community.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you.