ABOUT US

WHO WE ARE

The Central Ontario Research Ethics Board (CO-REB) is a collaborative initiative formed by Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, Georgian Bay General Hospital, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, Brightshores Health System, and the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. CO-REB will be the first multi-community hospital Research Ethics Board (REB) in Central Ontario, serving one of the province’s largest geographical regions.

CO-REB is supported by acute care hospitals serving communities across the Simcoe Muskoka and Grey Bruce regions. These institutions have united around a shared vision: to streamline and strengthen ethical oversight for health research throughout the region.

CO-REB is qualified through the Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) REB Qualification program.

OUR PURPOSE

CO-REB’s purpose is to provide consistent, equitable, and affordable ethics oversight across the region. As a shared board, CO-REB strengthens protections for study participants and investigators, supports both academic and industry partnerships, and streamlines cross-institutional collaboration.

CO-REB is constituted pursuant to and operates in accordance with the most current versions of the following principles, policies, guidelines, and/or regulations:

• ​Tri-Council Policy Statement 2 (“TCPS2”);
• International Conference on Harmonization Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice (“ICH GCP”);
• Health Canada Food and Drugs Act;
• US Food and Drug Administration Code of Federal Regulations (“U.S. FDA CFR”);
• Personal Health Information Protection Act (“PHIPA”);
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documentations Act (“PIPEDA”); ​

CO-REB requires that all researchers conducting human participant studies comply with the ethical principles, policies, guidelines, and/or regulations outlined above.

CO-REB has adopted the N2/CAREB REB Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), a nationally standardized set of procedures developed by the Network of Networks (N2) and the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards (CAREB). These SOPs align with current Canadian and U.S. regulatory and ethics guidelines. CO-REB’s SOPs are maintained by the CO-REB Office and can be provided upon request.

BOARD OF RECORD SERVICES

CO-REB provides Board of Record services for various healthcare organizations across the Simcoe Muskoka and Grey Bruce regions, including hospitals and other acute care facilities, long-term care facilities, medical professional corporations, and more.

Organizations interested in having CO-REB review their research studies are invited to contact coreb@rvh.on.ca for more information.

CONTACT

For general inquiries contact: coreb@rvh.on.ca