Human Ethics at Fort Garry campus

There are three types of reviews at the Fort Garry Human Ethics office.

• Delegated review: This is the most common. Minimal risk ethics applications are processed on an ongoing basis and do not have a deadline.
• Full board review: Studies that are more than minimal risk undergo full review. The deadline to submit a study for full review is two weeks before the REB meeting. Please check the full list of deadline dates below for more information. Protocols must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. Protocols received after that date and time will move to the next month’s meeting. Please note, the REBs do not meet in August.
• Chair review: Protocols that have been approved by another Canadian university may undergo Chair review. This process only applies for studies when the UM researcher is listed as a co-Investigator or if the studies do not include UM researchers. Also, secondary use of data may also undergo Chair review.

The TCPS 2 defines minimal risk research as "research in which the probability and magnitude of possible harms implied by participation in the research is no greater than those encountered by participants in those aspects of their everyday life that relate to the research." Studies that are minimal risk will undergo delegated review. Studies that are more than minimal risk will undergo full board review.

As per the TCPS 2, the default review is full board. If we are unsure, or on the fence, the study will undergo full board review.

When determining risk, the REB takes into account the study population, the extent and likelihood of a participant experiencing harm, and the type of risk.

If you are not sure of the type of review your protocol needs, please submit your protocol before the full board review deadline.

Protocols are approved for one year only. If your study will continue past one year, please submit a Renewal Request before the expiry date.

Ethics clearance is required until all communication with participants is complete (i.e., recruitment, data collection, follow up, summary of findings etc.).

If you will be in contact with participants again, even if it is just to send a summary of findings, you will need active ethics. If communication with participants in regards to this study is complete, you may submit the Study Closure Form and close the study.

Once the study is closed, we cannot reopen it. A new application, which will undergo review, will need to be submitted to continue the study.

Protocols that have been approved by another Canadian university may be reviewed by the Chair of the REB only.

This process may be accepted if University of Manitoba faculty, staff, students or alumni will be recruited, but there is no faculty member from the University of Manitoba on the research team. It may also be accepted if a University of Manitoba researcher team member is listed as a co-Investigator.

Please submit the full application and approval certificate from your institution for our review to humanethics@umanitoba.ca.

The TCPS 2 Chapter 5: Privacy and Confidentiality states "in considering the adequacy of proposed measures for safeguarding information during its full life cycle, REBs should not automatically impose a requirement that researchers destroy the research data. Stored information may be useful for a variety of future purposes. Appropriate data retention periods vary depending on the research discipline, research purpose and the kind of data involved."

The REB does not have restrictions on data retention and destruction. Instead, we ask the researcher to provide justification for how long they will keep the data.

Data can be kept indefinitely. However, data should be anonymized when it is possible to do so. Furthermore, safeguards should be put in place to keep the information confidential.

Whatever you decide to do, this information needs to be expressed to participants in the informed consent form.

TCPS 2 states that "because incentives are used to encourage participation in a research project, they are an important consideration in assessing voluntariness. Where incentives are offered to participants, they should not be so large or attractive as to encourage reckless disregard of risks."

Payment to participants for participation in research studies should not be considered a benefit. It is a method for compensating research volunteers for out-of-pocket expense, such as parking or meals, and/or lost wages as a result of time spent in the study. Payment to participants should not constitute undue inducement by leading to an increase in voluntariness or a decrease in the understanding with which participants agree to participate.

The payment should be provided once the participant consents to participating. The payment amount can accrue as the study progresses but should not be contingent upon the participants completing the entire study. If the study requires multiple visits, researchers may provide compensation in increments for each visit the participant attends, providing that such an incentive is not coercive. The REB will ensure that the amount paid is reasonable and not so large as to unduly coerce participants to stay in the study when they would otherwise have withdrawn.

The amount and schedule of all payments should be presented to the REB with the initial submission. The REB will review both the amount of payment and the proposed method and timing of disbursement to ensure that neither is coercive or presents undue influence.