Research Ethics Board

An essential element of CRIR’s mission is to encourage collaboration and research activities between rehabilitation institutions, universities and funding organizations.

The CRIR institutions have approved the creation of a common Research Ethics Board (REB) as a preferential means of attaining the following objectives: effective protection of research subjects, the establishment of a highly qualified ethics authority, and the simplification and acceleration of ethics approval procedures in the case of research projects that must take place in more than one CRIR's institution.

The REB is recognized by the three universities affiliated with CRIR: McGill University, Université de Montréal and Université du Québec à Montréal. 

The REB is designated by Quebec's Minister of Health and Social Services under Article 21 of the Civil Code of Quebec. It is constructed in accordance with the "Regulations concerning the Creation and Operation of the Research Ethics Board for the CRIR Institutions" (Règlement portant sur la création et le fonctionnement du CÉR des établissements du CRIR). The "REB Internal Management Rules and Regulations" (Règles de régie interne) define the REB functioning modalities.

A "procedure" (Procédure de demande d'évaluation éthique des protocoles de recherche au comité d'éthique de la recherche des établissements du CRIR (CÉR)) is established to assist researchers in presenting their research project to the REB.

By virtue of its authority, the REB has the right and duty to make decisions on research projects involving human subjects. The REB shall examine all research projects involving humans and having at least one of the following characteristics in connection with a CRIR institution:

• The project is at least partially conducted in the institution
• Subjects are to be recruited from among the community served by the institution or from files retained by the institution
• Project proponents or researchers confirm or imply the participation of the institution
• Proponents or researchers confirm or imply their affiliation to the institution
• The project makes use of human resources, materials or funding from the institution
• The project makes use of personal information contained in the files retained by the institution

This year, the CRIR's Institution REB's activities are scheduled following two different activity calendars. The first one is intended for projects only taking part in at least one CRIR's establishment, calendar intra-CRIR's projects. The other is for multicenter projects, calendar multicentrical projects. The REB's meetings dates on both calendars are the same but the submission dates differ depending on the type of project presented.

In order to facilitate the evaluation process, the following forms have been created by the REB:

• The researcher must fill out "Form A" when submitting a new project for evaluation
• The student must fill out The version of the Form A specially created for student research project that falls under the Professionnal Researcher Master Program  
• The researcher must submit "Form M" prior to making any modification to the research protocole or documents used in the study
• The researcher with a study lasting longer than one year has to renew the project's ethics certificate by completing "Form R"A research project is considered finished when the recruitment is done and data have been collected and analyzed in order to present to the REB preliminary results. Then, the researcher must complete the form "End of Research Project Report"

The document entitled "Guidelines for Investigators: Consent Forms" is a useful guide for Researchers/Investigators as they prepare the consent forms for their project. It outlines the important sections/information that one needs to find in a consent form.

Another important document is the "Research Ethics Guide for CRIR'S Members". This guide is available at the Research Ethics Board's office. It groups together different procedures and forms, that facilitate the ethics submission and evaluation of research projects:

• The Research Project Scientific Evaluation Grid
• The Institutional Suitability Evaluation Form
• All the REB's forms
• All the rules and ethical procedures that are applied within CRIR's institutions
• The guidelines for Investigators (consent forms)

Thus, this guide is an important resource for all researchers who want to submit a research project for evaluation by CRIR's Institutions Research Ethics Board.

In 2005, CRIR's Board of Directors has adopted two new procedures regarding research ethics, which all CRIR's researchers/students must adhere to:

• Policy for the Creation of a Research Databank and the Management of Research Records at the CRIR Institutions

This policy establishes the ethical framework required for the creation of databanks by researchers, within CRIR's institutions. The present policy is also intended to provide guidelines to ensure the proper management of research records by any investigators conducting research within CRIR's institutions.

• Policy for the Retention of a List of Research Subjects by the Researcher

All researchers initiating a research project involving human subjects in connection with a CRIR institution must formally retain in his or her possession a list of all participants in the project. This policy establishes how the researchers must do so.

 Address

REB for members institutions of CRIR
2275, Laurier Avenue East, Room 214
Montréal (Québec) H2H 2N8
T (514) 527-4527 # 2643
F (514) 521-4058