QUESTION PERIOD — Health
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
November 29, 2023
Senator Gold, the health research community across Canada is raising serious concerns about the need for appropriate funding for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, or CIHR. It is becoming more and more clear that without adequate funding CIHR will not be able to support the research needed to provide a healthier future for Canadians and keep our best researchers here. For example, CIHR funding is now less than 1.5% of the funding of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S.
How can we expect to grow our national health research here at home without increased funding for CIHR?
Thank you for the question, senator. The Government of Canada not only acknowledges the important work that our scientific and research community does on behalf of Canadians — our health and prosperity — but also understands the importance of federal funding in this area, notwithstanding the responsibilities that other levels of government and sectors of society have. Significant investments have been made, as I have underlined here before — more than $16 billion committed to support research and science across Canada and so on.
It is true that the priorities within these funding envelopes do not always meet the needs and certainly the expectations of certain sectors, whether it is in health or in the humanities. The government will continue to do its best within its financial means to provide funding for the important work that you’ve underlined.
Senator Gold, there are also concerns being raised that the upcoming federal budget will not only not adequately enhance CIHR funding but, actually, cut the funding that CIHR currently receives. If this happens, that will be a travesty of the first order.
Senator Gold, can you provide our health research community assurances that funding for CIHR will not be cut in the upcoming federal budget?
I am not in a position to provide such assurances. The assurance that I will give is that the government takes very seriously the legitimate albeit competing demands on its resources, not only from the research community but from all other constituencies — whether that be defence or others — and it will do its very best to continue to move forward and support the research community in Canada, upon which our future clearly depends.
