About Human Research Ethics

Pursuant to the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2), the Langara Research Ethics Board (LREB) has been established to ensure that all research at Langara College involving human subjects is conducted in accordance with nationally accepted ethical standards. 

The LREB is an independent committee established by the College. Acting on behalf of, but independent of the College, the LREB is charged with reviewing the ethical acceptability of all proposed research at the College that involves human subjects. The review process is guided by the following core principles: respect for persons, concern for welfare, and justice.

As an independent committee, the LREB is required to operate free of influence and to avoid situations of real, potential or perceived conflict of interest. It is authorized to review and to approve, reject, propose modifications to or terminate any proposed or ongoing research involving human subjects based on the ethical acceptability of the research.


Should I Apply for Ethics Review?

The LREB must review all research, and all activities that include in part research, that involves human participants. No research activity that involves human participants, including recruitment, can be initiated until approval has been obtained from the LREB. Approval must be obtained from the LREB for all research protocols, consent documents and recruitment materials before any activity involving human subjects is commenced.

Any research project conducted by any individual connected to the College, which involves human participants must conform to College policy Policy-B5007 Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. This policy applies to all research involving human participants and covers all of the following situations:

  • Research conducted by members of the College acting in their College capacity (this includes faculty, staff, administrators, students, paid or unpaid associates and any other person associated with the College and identifying their association with the College in connection with the research or engaging in the research as part of their non-instructional duty.);
  • Where the research is conducted on any College premise or participants are recruited on College premises or using College facilities (e.g. by sending Emails to College students.);
  • Where the research is administered by the College;
  • Where ethics approval is required pursuant to any agreement the College might have with any other institution or agency.

Research Ethics Board review by another institution does not satisfy the requirements for review by the LREB.

Some activities and studies are exempt from review. Information about exemptions is provided in articles 2.2 to 2.6 of the TCPS2 and in section 5.3 of Policy B5007.


How to Obtain Ethics Approval

Investigators wishing to obtain LREB approval are required to complete a completed Research Ethics Application form or a Course Based Research Application Form.  Completed forms, supporting documents and a CORE-2022 Certificate of Completion should be submitted electronically to the LREB Chair at ethics@langara.ca.  

Please visit the Application Information and Forms page under Additional Resources on this website.

Before You Apply

  • All researchers must complete the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2) Course on Research Ethics (CORE-2022) tutorial.
    • The tutorial can be found here: CORE-2022 Tutorial
    • Download your CORE-2022 Certificate of Completion and submit it with your completed application.
  • Additional resources to support researchers can be found on the LREB website.
  • For assistance including research design, funding, methods and methodology, ethics, analysis, reporting, and knowledge dissemination, please contact the appropriate research coordinator or consultant: