Canadian Institutes of Health Research's 2025-26 Departmental plan: at a glance

A departmental plan describes a department’s priorities, plans, and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years.

• Raison d’être, mandate, and role
• Operating context

Key priorities

CIHR’s top priorities for 2025-26 are as follows:

• Support research excellence and strengthen Canada’s health research capacity in emerging and critical gap areas by fostering collaborations and making strategic investments in key initiatives and funding opportunities.
• Expand, diversify, and nurture Canada’s talent pool by developing the current and next generation of health research leaders across all training and career stages and beyond.
• Support health research initiatives developed by and with Indigenous Peoples.
• Advance mental health and substance use initiatives with the goal of enhancing both service delivery and health outcomes.
• Mobilize knowledge, for Canadians and internationally, to help translate discovery into impact.

Highlights

In 2025-26, total planned spending (including internal services) for CIHR is $1,374,978,697 and total planned full-time equivalent staff (including internal services) is 544. For complete information on CIHR’s total planned spending and human resources, read the Planned spending and human resources section of the full plan.

The following provides a summary of the department’s planned achievements for 2025-26 according to its approved Departmental Results Framework. A Departmental Results Framework consists of a department’s core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve, and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.

CIHR is dedicated to supporting innovative health research through its Project Grant program and partnerships with its Tri-Agency partners^{Footnote 1}, fostering internationally competitive research excellence across disciplines. CIHR strengthens Canada’s health research capacity by investing in key research initiatives and supporting trainees and early career researchers through both direct and indirect funding.

CIHR will continue to support new scientific knowledge and enable its mobilization into effective health services and products that will improve health outcomes for Canadians. Examples of major initiatives that support this goal include: Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR), the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters (CRISM), the Integrated Youth Services Network of Networks Initiative (IYS-Net), and funding to enhance preparedness for pandemics and health emergencies through the Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies (CRPPHE).

CIHR continues to support Indigenous-led health research founded in Indigenous ways of knowing that are focused on resilience and wellness. These efforts aim to ensure that CIHR-funded research is culturally safe, relevant, and impactful for the diverse population of Canada.

Finally, CIHR will continue to develop and implement significant frameworks and plans to strengthen health research in Canada, notably the Knowledge Mobilization Framework, the International Research Framework, the Anti-Ableism Action Plan, and the Anti-Racism Action Plan.

More information about Funding Health Research and Training can be found in the full plan.

Date modified:

2025-06-17