President's Message
Program Changes for Fall 2003
We are now emerging from our most recent competition for funding and, once again, we have been faced with the dilemmas of our own success - while our overall budget has doubled, the number of applications we receive has continued to rise dramatically.
This increase is cause for celebration - it is an indication of the very success of CIHR and the renewed sense of energy in the health research community that has resulted. It has also led, however, to our Governing Council having to make many difficult decisions - not only about this competition, but also about future competitions. We are facing a situation in 2004-2005 where we will have fewer uncommitted funds available to invest in new research proposals.
The reason for this lies, ironically, in the budget increases we have experienced in recent years, as well as in the way our funding from the federal government is structured. CIHR receives an annual appropriation from Parliament and we cannot carry over the grants and awards portion of this funding into subsequent years. We support research projects, however, on a multi-year basis. Thus, at the beginning of each fiscal year, much of our money is already committed. The only money we have available for new commitments comes from projects that are completed and increases in our funding.
The funds that will be available from lapsed projects in the coming year were first committed four or five years ago, when grants and the total funds invested through the old MRC were both much smaller. As well, although CIHR has been fortunate to receive significant budget increases in the past three years, there is no assurance that we will see another such increase in the upcoming fiscal year.
Current forecasts suggest that we will have roughly two-thirds of the funding we had this year to fund new projects next year. This much is available only because Governing Council has reached agreement on cash management strategies to make more funding available in 2004-2005.
As a result, CIHR will be making changes to our granting programs to reflect this reality. These decisions were reached based on agreement that CIHR's first priority is to sustain our open operating grants competition, that our second priority is the continued growth of strategic research initiatives by our Institutes, and that we will try to avoid duplication with other federal research funding programs, such as the Canada Research Chairs. The program changes are outlined in detail in the accompanying document.
I know that Canada's health research community and all our partners will work tirelessly to make the case for sustained increases for health research through CIHR. At the same time, CIHR will continue to work with the federal government to develop a flexible funding arrangement that is more consistent with our role as a strategic health research agency that undertakes longer-term research initiatives.
I have every confidence CIHR will achieve these goals, based on the excellence and impact of Canada's health research community. On behalf of CIHR's Governing Council, our Institutes, and all our staff, I thank you everyone for your support. Together I believe we are building a truly outstanding and innovative health research enterprise in this country.
