External Research Requests

The Toronto Catholic District School Board's (TCDSB) Research Review Committee (RRC) evaluates requests from external institutions, organizations or individuals applying to conduct research activities in the TCDSB.

This includes people or agencies that plan to recruit research participants from schools and conduct their research off TCDSB premises. External groups who provide programs to TCDSB departments or schools are required to submit an application and undergo a full review; approval for programming is separate from any decisions regarding the research component. This review process ensures that proper procedures and guidelines are followed in conducting research.

Once applications have been approved, the final decision to participate rests with individual school principals. Staff, students, and families have the right to decide if they wish to participate.

Please see the following documents for more information:

• External Research Application Checklist

• Application Form and Guidelines for Conducting External Research

• Appendix A - Signed Agreements

• Appendix B - External Research Progress Report

• External Research Conducted in the TCDSB Policy S.19

Please consider the following policies / standards as you prepare your research application:

• Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans – TCPS 2

• The First Nations Principles of OCAP

• Anti-Racism Data Standards

• Information and Privacy Commission

• The Human Rights-Based Approach Framework by the Ontario Human Rights Commission

The deadlines for the 2024-2025 school year are:

• August 19, 2024

• October 21, 2024

• January 20, 2025

• May 26, 2025 (First deadline for the 2025-2026 school year)

To help you prepare, our Guidelines for Conducting External Research document includes the information required for the application. Please also review the External Research Application Checklist to ensure you have all the required items.

Please note the following information:

• Mailed applications are not accepted.

• Applicants do not need to submit Police Reference Check information at this point. Any acceptance decisions will be conditional upon Police Reference Check / Vulnerable Sector Screening documentation.

Once you have your completed application package, please upload all materials to the online portal:

For further information, contact research.review@tcdsb.org.