2018–19 Departmental Plan: Operating context and key risks

Health research plays an important role in improving health outcomes for Canadians and people around the world, as well as in contributing to the overall societal and economic prosperity of Canada. As the major federal funder of health research in Canada, CIHR is well positioned to support innovative research that has the potential to advance knowledge and provide solutions to Canada’s most complex health challenges.

In 2017, Canada’s Fundamental Science Review made a number of recommendations that will shape the future direction and action of CIHR. As part of these recommendations, a Canada Research Coordinating Committee was established which includes the presidents of the three federal granting councils. This committee will have an oversight role and will seek to harmonize the work of all federal granting agencies, helping to ensure that our research funding processes are coordinated and that our research investments are aligned with our most urgent health priorities, as stated in the open letter from the Minister of Science, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, and the Minister of Health, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor.

To help deliver on its corporate priorities, government-wide priorities, and overall mandate, CIHR will continue to engage its research communities and external stakeholders through its partnership and stakeholder strategy. In addition, through the Government of Canada's Health Portfolio Sex and Gender-Based Analysis (SGBA) Policy and CIHR’s Equity Framework, CIHR will continue to work to ensure equity, diversity, and inclusion in its business practices. As well, to build a healthier future for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples, CIHR will continue to address the ongoing, long-standing gap in health status between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples in Canada through its health research programs and policies.

It should be noted that CIHR awaits the announcement of a new President and will be recruiting three new Institute Scientific Directors in 2018–19. Minister Petitpas Taylor has also announced the appointment of six leading researchers to the Governing Council of CIHR. This will lead to a new phase in the development of CIHR's strategic directions and priorities.

Key risks: things that could affect our ability to achieve our plans and results
Risks Risk response strategy Link to the department’s Core Responsibilities Link to mandate letter commitments or to government‑wide and departmental priorities

Risk 1 – Effective Governance for Decision-Making:

Changing CIHR leadership and an absence of clarity around governance roles, membership, communications, and processes present a risk that CIHR will be unable to maximize functionality or address barriers to effective decision-making.
  • Identify synergies and duplications within current Tri-Agency activities initiatives and related governance structures;
  • Maintain a robust governance secretariat;
  • Conduct an analysis of the scope and terms of reference for existing governance structures;
  • Effectively implement and facilitate the Management Response to the Audit of Corporate Governance and other reports (e.g., CIHR Peer Review Expert Panel; Government of Canada Fundamental Science Review) in relation to the relevant roles and responsibilities/authorities and how those are operationalized in practice, including an ongoing monitoring approach;
  • Enhance and communicate understanding of official decision-making authorities and/or delegated authorities to maximize efficiencies and improve decision-making processes; and,
  • Enhance capacity for GC to lead strategic planning.

Funding Health Research and Training

Government-wide priority:

Healthy Canadians

CIHR Priority:

  • Supporting leading researchers and important advances in health
  • Achieving Organizational Excellence

Risk 2 – Effective Strategic and Operational Prioritization:

There is a risk that, without meaningful and effective processes to assure effective prioritization, CIHR will be unable to deliver its core business (core responsibility and programs) while also having sufficient reserve capacity to respond to emerging opportunities or threats.
  • As part of the 3-year planning process, develop options for a future baseline approach to:
    • Challenge the priority of core business requirements through enhanced cross-functional review of resource allocations.
    • Differentiate the resources allocated to: (1) prioritized core business requirements, and; (2) potential activities which consider relevant metrics to determine their operational and financial feasibility.
    • Providing options for activities that could be deferred or eliminated to address new or emergent priorities.
    • Ensure that these allocations, and a sufficient capacity to address emerging requirements, are within CIHR’s risk tolerance levels.
  • Begin post-Roadmap strategic planning process;
  • Developing robust and relevant metrics to support understanding of the operational implications of potential activities on feasibility to deliver and incorporating operational feasibility as a core part of prioritization and decision-making processes;
  • Identifying where surge capacity could be used when available; and
  • Providing guidance or options for activities that could be deferred or delayed to address new or emergent priorities.

Funding Health Research and Training

Government-wide priority:

Healthy Canadians

CIHR Priority:

  • Supporting leading researchers and important advances in health
  • Mobilizing Health Research for Transformation and Impact

Risk 3 – Optimizing Existing Human Resource Capacity:

There is a risk that, without proactive strategies to attract and retain key talent, CIHR will not have the Human Resource capacity required to deliver its current core business and respond to future priorities and will lose its competitive edge as an employer of choice.
  • Applying improved HR analytics to CIHR data to identify HR risks and trends and develop and implement HR strategies; and
  • Exploring and working to eliminate barriers to attract, develop and retain key talent between the Core Public Service and CIHR and within the private sector (e.g., common job classifications; deployment mechanisms), including but not limited to:
    • Identifying business areas that are particularly vulnerable to being able to attract and retain key talent through HR analytics.
    • Implement relevant recommendations from the external review of CIHR HR policies, classification and compensation programs to improve CIHR’s organizational effectiveness and competitiveness.
    • Scaling-up CIHR’s Talent Management Strategy pilot.

Funding Health Research and Training

Government-wide priority:

Healthy Canadians

CIHR Priority:

Achieving Organizational Excellence

Risk 4 – Optimizing Technology:

There is a risk that CIHR will be unable to have high data quality and modernized business processes and systems if it is unable to upgrade to new technology, leverage existing technology, and integrate these systems to deliver on its core business.
  • Planning and resourcing technology replacement, including for a renewed grants management system;
  • Implementation a comprehensive System Change Request governance process; and
  • Effectively understanding and responding to Central Agency and/or legislative directions.

Funding Health Research and Training

Government-wide priority:

Healthy Canadians

CIHR Priority:

  • Supporting leading researchers and important advances in health
  • Achieving Organizational Excellence

The key risks above have been included in CIHR’s 2018–19 Corporate Risk Profile and the risk responses strategies will be monitored and mitigated through that process. Given the organizational context outlined above, CIHR management and the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) have identified two main strategic priorities and risks, which underpin the four operational key risks presented in the table above.

The first identified strategic priority is to position CIHR in such a way that it contributes to creating coherence in the current science environment within the Government of Canada, including supporting the Government’s response to the Fundamental Science Review. There is a risk that CIHR will be insufficiently nimble to shape and adapt to the Government of Canada’s new science environment due to the current allocation of resources, as well as issues of timing and flexibility.

The second identified strategic priority is to ensure that CIHR can deliver on the full scope of its mandate in order to shape and be responsive to emerging Government of Canada and partner priorities through effective organizational structures, governance, and processes. Given its current capacity, there is a risk that CIHR will be unable to respond, due to an inability to harmonize and improve the mechanisms that support access, efficiency, and collaboration within the Canadian funding research ecosystem.

CIHR will monitor, assess, and mitigate – on a continual basis – both the identified and potential risks that could affect our ability to deliver on our mandate and strategic plan, as well as deliver on the expectations of the research community and Canadians.

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