At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), they know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada's health research investment agency, they collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve their health and strengthen their health care system.

CIHR was created in 2000 under the authority of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Act. It is an independent agency and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Health.

Their mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system.

Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to health researchers and trainees across Canada.

CIHR is part of the Health Portfolio which supports the Minister of Health in maintaining and improving the health of Canadians. For more information on the Health Portfolio, visit Health Canada.

Mandate:

Created in 2000 under the authority of the CIHR Act, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada’s health research investment agency.

CIHR’s mandate is 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 was designed to respond to the evolving needs for health research and seeks to transform health research in Canada by:

• funding both investigator-initiated research as well as research on targeted priority areas;
• building research capacity in under-developed areas and training the next generation of health researchers; and
• focusing on knowledge translation that facilitates the application of the results of research and their transformation into new policies, practices, procedures, products and services.