The CHEO REB was designated a Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) Qualified REB in January 2017. The CTO review process is available for use on Full Board and minimal risk studies, where a minimum of two CTO participating sites are taking part in the study.
CHEO & CHEO RI CTO process
- The lead CTO participating site submits a provincial application and provincial consent/assent forms & participant documents to CTO using CTO Stream (a web-based electronic platform). The application and consent/assent form(s) are meant to apply to all participating sites.
- CTO selects the most appropriate CTO Qualified REB to be the REB of Record for the entire life of the study; this means that all research ethics submission (e.g., modifications and annual renewals) will be submitted to the selected REB of Record using CTO Stream.
- Once a decision is made on the provincial application (i.e., approval), each participating centre submits a centre application including centre specific consent forms (a modified version of the provincially approved consent form which includes site-specific information, logos, etc.) and a board of record agreement using CTO Stream. The REB of Record for the study will make a decision upon review of each centre application.
- All studies, for which CHEO is a participating centre with CTO, are required to obtain Start Smart Institutional approval which includes submitting an administrative application through ROMEO (CTO administrative application). This application includes the submission of the centre initial application, approval letter, CHEO centre consent forms and as applicable, the Health Canada No Objection letter.
For ongoing ethics review (i.e., modifications, annual renewals, study closure, AEs), the provincial lead will submit a provincial event to the REB of Record using CTO Stream. Once the decision is received from the REB of Record, each centre will submit a centre event including site-specific versions of the documents. The REB of Record for the study will make a decision upon review of the centre events.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- How do I submit to CTO? Who do I contact at CTO?
Please contact the CTO Program manager(s) to discuss the study submission process and obtain an account for CTO Stream. - Do I still have to submit to CHEO REB if the study has received provincial approval in CTO Stream?
No, A CHEO centre specific application will need to be submitted through CTO Stream for an ethics review and approval. This centre specific application must include any CHEO – specific versions of documents modified from the provincially approved documents. Please see the CHEO Documented Institutional Ethics Requirements (DIER)(File download available at the bottom of this page) for a listing of the pre-approved changes. Each study conducted under the auspices of CHEO/CHEO-RI is required to obtain Start Smart Institutional approval prior to commencing.
CHEO has entered into an agreement with CTO allowing other CTO qualified REBs within the CTO Stream system to be an accepted ethical review, negating the requirement to have ethics review completed by CHEO REB for research involving humans. There are instances were only Pediatric designated REBs of record will be an acceptable approval. This should be discussed with the Institutional Representative at CHEO. - If another REB has approved the study, do I have to submit to my REB?
Yes. Review by another Ontario REB that is not CTO qualified or is submitted outside of the CTO Stream process is not an accepted ethical review at CHEO. - Who do I add as the institutional representatives in the application?
Please refer to the CHEO SRERs document (File download available at the bottom of this page)