"...CIHR requested proposals for a CA$90 million funding program.... it came with a twist. After peer review, two additional committees, one of which included senior civil servants who did not necessarily have scientific training, made the... funding decisions, based on whether the proposals aligned with the government’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy. In some cases... proposals with lower scores from peer reviewers jumped ahead of those with better scores." https://www.science.org/content/article/canada-scientists-are-struggling-stagnant-funding

And more "A spokesperson for CIHR says applications were rated on how well they addressed one of several strategic objectives, including better preparing Canada to respond to pandemics. But those objectives were not listed in the original call for proposals."