Research ethics

All proposals to conduct research involving human participants under the auspices of Cambrian College are subject to review and approval by Cambrian’s Research Ethics Committee (REC).

The REC is governed by Cambrian’s policies and the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans – TCPS 2 (2022). All researchers who plan to conduct research involving human participants and wish to access Cambrian College faculty, staff, students, or resources, are expected to review and maintain compliance with Cambrian’s policies for Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans and Responsible Conduct of Research.

Researchers are expected to follow the Research Ethics Operating Procedure and submit the following forms and documentation to: research@cambriancollege.ca.

Reviewed by the area(s) impacted by the research to approve the use of Cambrian resources for the study.

Reviewed by Cambrian’s REC and is accepted for research conducted solely at Cambrian or at multiple Ontario Colleges.

e.g., letter of consent, recruitment scripts, questionnaires or surveys, screening tools, approval letter(s) from other boards, etc.

The REC must be informed if you need to make a change to an approved application. For change requests, complete and submit the Change Request form to research@cambriancollege.ca.

Researchers are responsible for ensuring that their ethics approval time frame does not lapse. To request an extension, complete and submit the Renewal/Completed Status Request form to research@cambriancollege.ca.

The Research Ethics Committee meets monthly, as required, September through June. Applications will still be accepted during the summer months but may be subject to longer than normal review times. Please note the REC meeting schedule is subject to change.

• September 15, 2025
• October 20, 2025
• November 17, 2025
• December 15, 2025
• January 19, 2026
• February 23, 2026
• March 16, 2026
• April 20, 2026
• May 25, 2026
• June 15, 2026

Decisions resulting from the review of research applications will be provided in writing to the principal investigator within two weeks of the next REC meeting. A decision on a submission can fall into one of the following categories:

• Approval without questions or modifications.
• Approval is subject to clarifications and/or modifications.
• Deferred, pending receipt of additional information or major revisions.
• Not approved.

If the application is not approved as presented, written documentation will be provided to the principal investigator with a rationale for the decision and recommendations for changes. Re-submission of the research application for ethics review may be made following recommended amendments at any time.

The membership of the REC is designed to ensure competent independent research ethics review. Members are appointed in accordance with the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans – Establishment of Research Ethics Boards.

• Robert Silvestri – Chair (Lead Researcher, NOARC)
• Stephanie Harris – Vice Chair (Community Member)
• Shannon Dowdall-Smith (Professor, Nursing)
• Jessica O’Reilly (Professor, General Arts & Sciences)
• Raili Lakanen (Community Member)
• James Allman (Professor, Engineering)
• Natasha Conde-Jahnel (Professor, Social Services Work)
• Jenna Guse (Professor, Business)
• Remar Mangaoil (Professor, Nursing)
• Shelley Watson (Professor, Psychology)
• Mark Collins (Research Analyst, Planning, Institutional Research & Quality)