Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended December 31, 2022

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 2022-23 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 2022-23 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 2022-23, as well as budget adjustments approved by Treasury Board up to December 31, 2022.

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

As of December 31, 2022, total authorities available for use for CIHR have decreased by $38.4 million (2.8%) compared to December 31, 2021 as shown in the table below. This decrease is mainly due to a steady decrease in COVID-19 related funding, offset by new funding and increases to existing funding as follows:

Total authorities used as of December 31, 2022 decreased by $15.6 million (1.7%) compared to the prior fiscal year due mainly to the aforementioned decrease in COVID-19 related funding. CIHR has used 65.1% (64.4% in 2021-22) of its available authorities through the third quarter which is consistent with its annual spending pattern.

Table 2.1.1 – Changes to annual authorities available and cumulative authorities used by vote ($ thousands)

  2022-23 2021-22 Variance
  Annual authorities available Cumulative authorities used % used Annual authorities available Cumulative authorities used % used (1) vs (3) (2) vs (4)
  (1) (2)   (3) (4)      
Vote 1 - Operating Expenditures 74,197 49,550 66.8% 66,071 44,502 67.4% 12.3% 11.3%
Vote 5 - Grants 1,269,202 824,766 65.0% 1,317,221 845,793 64.2% (3.6%) (2.5%)
Statutory Authorities – Employee benefits plan 9,161 5,800 63.3% 7,701 5,405 70.2% 19.0% 7.3%
Total 1,352,560 880,116 65.1% 1,390,993 895,700 64.4% (2.8%) (1.7%)

Table 2.1.2 – Changes to annual authorities available and authorities used during the third quarter by vote ($ thousands)

  2022-23 2021-22 Variance
  Annual authorities available Q3 authorities used % used Annual authorities available Q3 authorities used % used (1) vs (3) (2) vs (4)
  (1) (2)   (3) (4)      
Vote 1 - Operating Expenditures 74,197 16,969 22.9% 66,071 14,749 22.3% 12.3% 15.1%
Vote 5 - Grants 1,269,202 316,110 24.9% 1,317,221 308,110 23.4% (3.6%) 2.6%
Statutory Authorities – Employee benefits plan 9,161 1,933 21.1% 7,701 1,802 23.4% 19.0% 7.3%
Total 1,352,560 335,012 24.8% 1,390,993 324,661 23.3% (2.8%) 3.2%

Vote 1 – Operating Expenditures

Total authorities available for use for Vote 1 - Operating expenditures increased by $8.1 million (12.3%) as at December 31, 2022 compared to the prior fiscal year.

This increase is due to:

Authorities used through the third quarter for Vote 1 – Operating Expenditures authorities have increased by $5.0 million (11.3%) as compared to the prior fiscal year. This variance is primarily due to a $4.2 million increase in personnel costs due to an increased employee count and annual salary increases, a $0.7 million increase in professional and special services, as well as a less significant $0.1 million increase for other operating services. The percentage of operating authorities used has increased from the prior year (66.8% and 67.4% respectively) as a result of the aforementioned reasons.

Overall spending as of December 31, 2022 is consistent with CIHR management expectations.

Vote 5 – Grants

Authorities available for use for Vote 5 – Grants as of December 31, 2022 were $1,269.2 million and included funding for the following transfer payment programs:

Vote 5 authorities available for use decreased by $48.0 million (3.6%) as of December 31, 2022 as compared to the prior fiscal year. This decrease is in large part due to the steady decrease in COVID-19 related funding, offset by new funding and increases to existing funding as follows:

Grant authorities used through the third quarter of 2022-23 decreased by $21.0 million (2.5%) compared to the prior fiscal year quarter due to decreased grant payments resulting from decreased COVID-19 related funding. The percentage of grant authorities used is consistent with the prior year (65.0% and 64.2% respectively) as grants are typically paid out in monthly installments throughout the year.

Overall spending as of December 31, 2022 is consistent with CIHR management expectations.

Statutory Authorities

Contribution to employee benefit plans

Budgetary statutory authorities representing CIHR's contribution to employee benefit plans available for use increased year over year by $1.5 million (19.0%). The increase to CIHR's statutory authorities available is due to:

Actual spending for statutory authorities in the third quarter of 2022-23 is 63.3% of the total available authorities for use for the year, which is consistent with CIHR management expectations.

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

As of December 31, 2022, total authorities available for use by CIHR decreased by $38.4 million (2.8%) compared to the prior fiscal year. This decrease is in large part due to the steady decrease in COVID-19 related funding. Total authorities used as of December 31, 2022 decreased by $15.6 million (1.7%) 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 cumulative authorities used by expenditure type ($ thousands)

  2022-23 2021-22 Variance
  Annual authorities available Cumulative authorities used % used Annual authorities available Cumulative authorities used % used (1) vs (3) (2) vs (4)
  (1) (2)   (3) (4)      
PersonnelFootnote * 66,921 50,492 75.5% 58,262 46,297 79.5% 14.9% 9.1%
Other Operating Expenditures 16,437 4,858 29.6% 15,510 3,610 23.3% 6.0% 34.6%
Transfer Payments 1,269,202 824,766 65.0% 1,317,221 845,793 64.2% (3.6%) (2.5%)
Total 1,352,560 880,116 65.1% 1,390,993 895,700 64.4% (2.8%) (1.7%)
Footnote *

Personnel includes statutory authorities provided for the employee benefit plan

* referrer

Table 2.2.2 – Changes to annual authorities available and authorities used during the third quarter by expenditure type ($ thousands)

  2022-23 2021-22 Variance
  Annual authorities available Q3 authorities used % used Annual authorities available Q3 authorities used % used (1) vs (3) (2) vs (4)
  (1) (2)   (3) (4)      
PersonnelFootnote * 66,921 17,091 25.5% 58,262 15,311 26.3% 14.9% 11.6%
Other Operating Expenditures 16,437 1,811 11.0% 15,510 1,240 8.0% 6.0% 46.0%
Transfer Payments 1,269,202 316,110 24.9% 1,317,221 308,110 23.4% (3.6%) 2.6%
Total 1,352,560 335,012 24.8% 1,390,993 324,661 23.3% (2.8%) 3.2%
Footnote *

Personnel includes statutory authorities provided for the employee benefit plan

* referrer

Personnel and Other Operating Expenditures

Authorities available for Personnel Expenditures for the period ended December 31, 2022 increased by $8.7 million (14.9%) as compared to the prior year. Authorities available for Other Operating Expenditures increased by $0.9 million (6.0%). These variances are due to:

Personnel authorities used through the third quarter increased by $4.2 million (9.1%) compared to the prior fiscal year as a result of an increased employee count and annual salary increases. The percentage of authorities used for Personnel Expenditures through the third quarter (75.5%) is reasonable for this type of expenditure and is consistent with the prior year (79.5%).

Other Operating Expenditures used through the third quarter increased by $1.2 million (34.6%) compared to the prior fiscal year due to a $0.7 million increase in professional and special services due to the timing and nature of existing contracts, as well as less significant increases in transportation and communication ($0.3 million) and information services ($0.2 million).

Overall spending as of December 31, 2022 is consistent with CIHR management expectations.

Transfer Payments

Authorities available for the period ended December 31, 2022 decreased by $48.0 million (3.6%) over the prior year due primarily to the decrease in COVID-19 related funding in the first three quarters of 2022-23 compared to the first three quarters of 2021-22. Authorities used through the quarter ended December 31, 2022 decreased by $21.0 million (2.5%) compared to the prior fiscal year due to decreased grant payments resulting from decreased COVID-19 related funding. The percentage of grant authorities used up to the third quarter of 2022-23 (65.0%) is similar to the authorities used in the third quarter of 2021-22 (64.2%).

2.3 Other Non-Financial Highlights

Other non-financial highlights for the third quarter of 2022-23 include:

3. Risk 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. Based on best practices, the Corporate Risk Profile (CRP) provides a proactive response to manage and monitor risks to ensure CIHR's ability to operationalize its activities, achieve outcomes and deliver on its mandate.

CIHR developed its 2021-22 and 2022-23 CRP to focus on the key strategic, operational, and horizontal risks across the organization. Key risks identified in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 CRP are as follows.

Risk 1 - Organizational Capacity

There is a risk that as the organization embraces a broader mandate within the evolving health research ecosystem, it will impact its ability to deliver optimally on its mandate.

CIHR's Planning Evaluation and Results branch, established in 2021, is leading the organization's integrated planning process to enable CIHR to effectively prioritize, plan and implement its core and strategic business. Integrated Planning allows CIHR to strategically prioritize its work, and ensure commitments are aligned with capacity while supporting employee wellbeing.

The organizational structure of CIHR has been updated to reflect changes to CIHR's business model, with core and executive staffing completed for new business units. Corporate Services areas continue to address foundational elements to meet Agency needs, including critical and emerging staffing requirements; employment systems review work, onboarding updates, and review of governance structures.

Risk 2 - Effective Cyber Security Solutions

There is a risk that successful cyber-attacks on CIHR will compromise CIHR's assets and researchers' intellectual property and disrupt CIHR's ability to deliver on programs defined by the CIHR Act.

CIHR continues to deliver its core business by leveraging its existing IT infrastructure and deploying new IT solutions to address potential threats identified. CIHR continues to learn and adapt by exploring technological innovations to address known and potential security threats, while ensuring business continuity and uninterrupted service delivery and researching new approaches to address residual risks. The Digital and Security Services (DSS) branch continues implementation of controls to address key gaps as identified in the recently refreshed CIHR Department Security Plan, while monitoring for new gaps and staying abreast of current government-wide security strategies.

Risk 3 - Delivery of the Strategic Plan Year 1 and 2 Action Plans

There is a risk that the context of the continuing pandemic could lead to an inability to fully implement some activities in year 1 and 2 of the 2021-31 Strategic Plan.

A detailed monitoring and reporting process has been deployed to support progress tracking of the activities that support implementation of the Strategic Plan including designated accountable leads for each priority. This process includes the establishment of a workplan for each Strategic Plan priority, progress reports, and year-end report development summarizing achievements of previous years' actions for internal and external audiences. Mitigation strategies are on track and moving forward. Overall, the Agency has been able to proceed with implementation in an agile manner and adapt the processes and reporting.

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

Approval by Senior Officials

Approved by:

[original signed by]

Michael J. Strong, MD, FRCPC, FAAN, FCAHS
President

[original signed by]

Charles Vigneault, CPA, CA, MBA
Acting Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada
February 28, 2023

5. Statement of Authorities (unaudited)

For the quarter ended December 31, 2022

  Fiscal year 2022-23 Fiscal year 2021-22
(in thousands of dollars) Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2023Footnote * Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2022 Year to date used at quarter-end Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2022Footnote * Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2021 Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 1 – Operating expenditures 74,197 16,969 49,550 66,071 14,749 44,502
Vote 5 - Grants 1,269,202 316,110 824,766 1,317,221 308,110 845,793
Budgetary statutory authorities
Contributions to employee benefit plans 9,161 1,933 5,800 7,701 1,802 5,405
Total budgetary authorities 1,352,560 335,012 880,116 1,390,993 324,661 895,700
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 December 31, 2022

  Fiscal year 2022-23 Fiscal year 2021-22
(in thousands of dollars) Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2023Footnote * Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2022 Year to date used at quarter-end Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2022Footnote * Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2021 Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures:
Personnel 66,921 17,091 50,492 58,262 15,311 46,297
Transportation and communications 3,437 232 370 3,466 28 92
Information 91 143 361 80 57 151
Professional and special services 9,068 1,055 2,495 6,813 761 1,820
Rentals 2,778 177 1,303 2,848 306 1,238
Repair and maintenance 86 73 114 44 67 131
Utilities, materials and supplies 284 1 10 829 2 9
Acquisition of machinery and equipment 693 121 180 1,430 17 153
Transfer payments 1,269,202 316,110 824,766 1,317,221 308,110 845,793
Other subsidies and payments - 9 25 - 2 16
Total budgetary expenditures 1,352,560 335,012 880,116 1,390,993 324,661 895,700
Footnote *

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

* referrer

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