Research involving the following requires ethics review and approval by a Research Ethics Board (REB) before the research commences:

  • living human participants;
  • human biological materials, as well as human embryos, fetuses, fetal tissue, reproductive materials and stem cells. This applies to materials derived from living and deceased individuals;
  • secondary use of data, health information, or biological materials.

Behavioural REB

Biomedical REB
Meeting dates and deadlines 2022, 2023 Meeting dates and deadlines (2022, 2023)

Board members

 Board members (REB 1, REB 2)

Average Applications by Month

Average Review Time by Month

Policies

Guidelines

Standard Operating Procedures

100 General Administration (101-108)

200 REB Organization (201-204)

300 Functions and Operations (301-303)

400 Reviews of Research (401-407)

500 Reviews Requiring Special Consideration (501-503)

600 REB Communication and Notification (601-602)

700 Informed Consent (701)

800 Responsibilities of Investigators (801)

900 Quality Management (901-903)

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Research During the COVID19 Pandemic

Human Ethics applications that include in person activities may require extra considerations to safeguard participants from COVID-19 transmission. This also applies to amendments where the protocol is changing from virtual to in-person research activities.

Please include in your application/amendment form a description of protocols that will be in place to manage the risk of viral transmission. If no such protocols are required or necessary, please indicate that in your application/amendment instead, along with a brief explanation of why the project doesn’t require them. Please consider the following:

  • Protocols must meet the minimum requirements for the location of the research activities.
  • Where participants will be particularly vulnerable (e.g., due to advanced age or co-morbidities), it may be prudent to have protocols that exceed the requirements at the location.
  • It may help to consult the guidance document and template below when drafting your plan.
  • Please ensure that your consent material includes a brief description of any protocols you are following, such as masking, screening questions, and a description of how (and for how long) you will store participants’ contact information if you are keeping it for contact tracing.

 How to Submit

  • Download and complete the appropriate form and submit, with all supporting documents, to ethics.office@usask.ca.
  • CC the principal investigator on the submission email.
  • Submit any revised documents (i.e., amendment or response to a notice of ethical review) with tracked changes.
  • Please note:
    • If you have been assigned an Ethics ID# include the # on the submission email and associated forms.
    • Scanned forms cannot be accepted.
    • The University of Saskatchewan REBs require that all students complete the TCPS2 Tutorial (CORE) and that all students involved in chart review or data abstraction complete the McMaster Chart Review Tutorial. Please submit the certificate(s) of completion for all students.

 Questions? Contact us at 306-966-2975 or ethics.office@usask.ca

 Behavioural Application Form:

Behavioural Amendment Form:

Behavioural Consent Form Templates/Guides:

Behavioural Consent Form Templates/Guides for Research Using an Online Videoconferencing Service:

Behavioural Renewal and Closure Forms:

Research During the COVID19 Pandemic

Human Ethics applications that include in person data collection will require extra considerations to safeguard the wellbeing of the participants during the pandemic.

 How to Submit

  • Download and complete the appropriate form and submit, with all supporting documents, to ethics.office@usask.ca.
  • CC the principal investigator on the submission email.
  • Submit any revised documents (i.e., amendment or response to a notice of ethical review) with tracked changes.
  • Please note:
    • If you have been assigned an Ethics ID# include the # on the submission email and associated forms.
    • Scanned forms cannot be accepted.
    • The University of Saskatchewan REBs require that all students complete the TCPS2 Tutorial (CORE) and that all students involved in chart review or data abstraction complete the McMaster Chart Review Tutorial. Please submit the certificate(s) of completion for all students.

 Questions? Contact us at 306-966-2975 or ethics.office@usask.ca

 Biomedical Application Forms/Guides:

Biomedical Consent Form Templates/Guides:

Biomedical Renewal and Closure Forms:

Biomedical Post-Approval Reporting:

 

All research studies requiring access to Saskatchewan Health Authority resources or patients (including Personal Health Information) must obtain two types of approval prior to commencing:

  1. Research Ethics Approval
  2. Operational Approval

Research ethics approval is obtained from one of the Province of Saskatchewan's recognized Research Ethics Board (University of Regina, University of Saskatchewan or the Saskatchewan Health Authority REB). The ethics review ensures that the proposed study is scientifically valid, ethically sound, compliant with legislation, and most importantly, minimizes risk to participants (patients and staff).

Operational Approval provides assurance that the research can be carried out safely by the impacted departments, within their current workload, and when possible, provides a mechanism for the Saskatchewan Health Authority to recapture the direct costs of supporting the research in a manner that is fair and transparent to researchers.

For more information about obtaining Saskatchewan Health Authority Operational Approval for Research, please email ResearchApproval.Regina@saskhealthauthority.ca

For copies of the Operational Approval form, go to http://www.saskhealthauthority.ca/our-organization/our-direction/research/getting-started/operational-approval

As of May 15, 2020, anyone conducting a chart review will be required to book their time at any hospital in Saskatoon or Regina. Please call the following numbers to schedule your time:

Saskatoon - Aimee Goss, HIMA @ 306-655-1725 or Aimee.Goss@saskhealthauthority.ca

Regina - Nina Lindo, Manager @ 306-766-3747 or Nina.Lindo@saskhealthauthority.ca

How do I submit my ethics application to the USask Research Ethics Boards?

All submissions can be submitted via email at ethics.office@usask.ca.

Does your project require human ethics review and approval?

University of Saskatchewan Research Ethics Boards (REBs) operate in accordance with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans Second Edition (December 2018) and the University of Saskatchewan Policies and Procedures for Ethics in Human Research (June 2013).

The following list represents a broad overview of the range of research projects or situations that would require review and approval by the REB:

  • Research that will be published.
  • Projects where participants are from inside or outside the university.
  • Research that is funded or unfunded.  Funding may be internal or external.
  • Research that is conducted by students or faculty.
  • Research projects that are conducted inside or outside the institution.
  • Information that is collected directly from participants or from existing records not in the public domain.
  • Projects that are conducted in person or remotely (e.g., mail, electronic mail, fax, online video conferencing, or telephone).
  • Research designs that are observational, experimental, correctional, or descriptive.
  • Review is still required even if a similar project has been approved elsewhere.
  • Pilot studies or fully developed projects undergo the same review process.
  • The primary goal of the research is for teaching or training purposes, or the acquisition of knowledge
**The Research Ethics Boards (REB) in the province of Saskatchewan have moved to a policy of full reciprocity. Approval by an REB at USask, U of R, or Saskatchewan Health Authority will be accepted by the REBs at the other two institutions without the need for additional REB review, provided the protocol is identical in its content and activities. Please note that there are criteria for determining which REB is the one that you must seek approval from (it is not necessarily your home institution), so before you begin preparing your REB application, please check in with the staff at your local REB office for guidance.

 

 

To which REB do I submit my application?

The University has established two Research Ethics Boards (REBs), which have defined Terms and Conditions of Appointment for Members and Chairs. The appropriate REB must approve any project involving the use of human participants.

The Biomedical Research Ethics Board (Bio-REB) is responsible for the review of all protocols involving human participants which include:

  • medically invasive physical procedures, invasive interventions and invasive measures (includes administration and testing of drugs); physical interventions that have the potential for adverse effects such as drug, exercise and dietary interventions; surgical procedures such as biopsies, the collection of blood or other specimens;
  • use of permanent charts or records in accordance with provincial legislation.

The Behavioural Research Ethics Board (Beh-REB) is responsible for the review of all protocols involving human participants which include:

  • non-invasive interventions and measures including interviews, surveys, questionnaires, psychological, social or behavioural interventions, non-invasive physiological measures (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure);
  • observation or descriptive research, including drug, dietary, and exercise protocols that are observational in nature with no intervention;
  • audio and/or video recording or other monitoring.

The Research Ethics Office may determine that an ethics application is more appropriately reviewed by one REB than the other and reserves the right to move the ethics application to the REB with the most appropriate expertise to conduct the review. In those cases the researcher will be consulted and informed of the transfer. No new submission will be required, but additional information may be requested.

With the increasing numbers of multidisciplinary research projects and the use of mixed methods, research ethics submissions that combine elements of both biomedical and behavioural research are becoming more common. An ethics application using mixed methods will be reviewed by the REB with the best expertise in the methods that may impose the greater risk to a research participant from either a biomedical or behavioral standpoint. Where appropriate, the Biomedical and Behavioural REB may collaborate in the ethics review of the submission.


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