Question Period Note: Health Research and Scientific Publication in French

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KEY MESSAGES
• Our government recognizes that there are ongoing global challenges concerning scientific research in French and has taken some actions to improve the landscape.

• This includes measures put in place by Canada’s health research funding agency, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, to equalize the success rate of applications submitted in French to its flagship program.

• That said, we need to continue efforts to address this important issue and take action to address barriers within the health research ecosystem.
IF PRESSED
Q1: If pressed on additional measures taken to ensure equitable access to its programs and services
A1:
• These additional measures include expanding translation services for peer reviewers and researchers, and increasing the page limit by 20% for French applications to account for language-specific needs.
• CIHR also implemented a targeted recruitment strategy to grow the pool of experts able to review French-language applications, with about 25% of reviewers now able to assess submissions in French.
• These efforts support fairness and inclusivity throughout the research funding process regardless of the preferred official language of researchers.
Q2: If pressed on how we are working with federal partners
A2 :

• Our Government through CIHR is working across the federal research ecosystem to promote equitable support for research conducted in French.
• This includes informing Heritage Canada’s external advisory panel on the creation and dissemination of scientific information in French, to discuss how to strengthen and sustain the vitality of French-language research in Canada.Alongside its sister agencies CIHR will always remain committed to working with its federal partners to promote inclusivity and excellence across Canada’s health research community.

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KEY STATS

• Across all CIHR’s competitions from 2005-2025, the average application success rates for applications submitted in French is 20%, while the average success rate for English applications is 20.2%.

• In the last year the success rates of French applications was 24.7% while the success rate for English applications was 18.8%.