Brandon University Research Ethics Committee (BUREC)

• Applications and appendices are to be submitted electronically to burec@brandonu.ca.
• Hard copy applications, or applications submitted using old forms, will not be accepted.
• Only applicable appendices as indicated in the application form will be reviewed by BUREC.  Research proposals will not be considered as part of the ethics review and therefore should not be included as an appendix.
• Please ensure that all files are appropriately labelled both in the document (e.g. as a header) and as the saved file name (e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.)
• Undergraduate students are limited to conducting research that is categorized as minimal risk.
• Effective January 1, 2023, a Principal Investigator must demonstrate completion of the most current TCPS CORE Tutorial by providing a Certificate of Completion as an appendix with each new application.  The TCPS2: CORE-2022 consists of 9 self-paced modules and is estimated to take approximately 4 hours to complete.  Successful completion of a knowledge consolidation exercise is required (a minimum of 20 of the 25 questions to be answered correctly) to be issued a Certificate of Completion.

Minimal risk applications can be submitted at any time for Delegated Review which takes normally 15 business days to complete.  Moderate/high risk applications must be reviewed by the full Committee.  It is important to apply for ethics approval well in advance of the project commencement. This ensures that BUREC has ample opportunity to review and provide feedback and allows the researcher time to respond and make any necessary revisions.  No recruitment or data collection may commence until an Ethics Certificate is received.  For meeting dates and application deadlines, please see below.

If you are unsure as to whether or not your research project requires ethics approval, please complete the BUREC Exemption Inquiry Form and send to burec@brandonu.ca.

Ethics Certification is valid for a period of five (5) years.  Continuing research ethics review is a requirement of the Tri-Council Policy Statement:  Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS2-2018) and an approved ethics submission is subject to ongoing monitoring throughout the life of the project.  At minimum, continuing ethics review shall consist of an Annual Progress Report for multi-year projects and a Final Report at the end of all projects.  At the time of review, BUREC will determine if more frequent continual research ethics review is required in accordance with a proportionate approach to review and level of risk.  Failure to fulfill the continuing research ethics review requirements is considered an act of non-compliance and may result in the suspension of active ethics certifications, refusal to review and approve any new research ethics submissions, and/or others as outlined in the BUREC Non-Compliance Policies and Procedures.

Projects continuing beyond five years require a renewal application in each year the project is continuing and must be submitted prior to the certificate expiration. Renewal applications are subject to current policy/procedures, and revisions may be required to ensure compliance.