Frequently asked questions about animals in research

At the University of Waterloo, a principal investigator (PI) is appointed in accordance with the guideline document defining research conducted “under the auspices” of the University. Typically, this will be a faculty member holding an indefinite-term appointment at Waterloo.

The PI serves as the overall project manager and ensures ethical compliance with relevant guidelines and statutes, primarily those of the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) and the University.

Responsibilities of the PI are to:

• Ensure ethical approval is obtained and address Animal Care Committee (ACC) concerns and feedback in a timely manner.
• Ensure appropriate training has been completed by team members.
• Keep the Office of Research Ethics (ORE) and ACC apprised of the status of the research and any problems which might occur, in a timely fashion.
• Regularly monitor animal welfare at all sites.
• Ensure original data is accessible to facilitate accurate reporting.
• Receive safety reports and work with the Safety Office and ACC to determine if there are new risks for either the animals or the researchers.
• Communicate all protocol requirements to animal health technicians (AHTs) to ensure appropriate arrangements can be made (i.e, housing, food and bedding, animal ordering, treatment and procedures).
• Advise the AHTs of requirements for breeding colonies.
• Ensure all members of the research team abide by the rules and procedures that govern the use of the facilities.
• Order animals only in approved quantities through the Waterloo purchasing department.
• Report annually to ORE about animal usage numbers in a timely and complete manner.
• Ensure that all team members follow the approved SOPs available on MS Teams. Email oreaupp@uwaterloo.ca for access.

Find more information about the ethical responsibilities of PI's and faculty supervisors. 

Researchers need to have an approved Animal Utilization Protocol (AUP) before starting a research project involving wildlife and taking the Basic field and tissue theory course, AR0009. Some projects may require specialized equipment training as well as handling techniques (e.g., backpack electrofishing). Supervisors must work with the Safety Office to determine the risks involved and arrange for additional training as required. 

Researchers are asked to refer to the SOPs posted on the animal users' MS Teams site for commonly used procedures and equipment. Special permits may need to be obtained from sources such as Fisheries and Oceans Canada or Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Email oreaupp@uwaterloo.ca for more information.

A research ethics application is not required when the work involves:

• Use of eggs, embryos, fetuses and larvae (except fish and amphibian larvae that have reached a stage where survival can reasonably be expected through independent feeding).
• Cadavers, fluids or tissue from animals not killed specifically for research or teaching, including tissue or fluids from established industry or commercial practices, and animal tissue or fluids shared from other CCAC-certified institutions with approved research or teaching/training protocols. This would be considered a secondary use of tissue or fluids, as the primary purpose for obtaining the samples was covered in the initial AUP.

If the animals are euthanized specifically for research or teaching purposes, for example, to obtain your data, or the disposition of the animals will change in any way to accommodate your research, you must submit an AUP. This is also applicable to a supplier. For instance, if the supplier purchases and/or euthanizes the fish for the research study, an AUP is required as the animals are being euthanized specifically for research or teaching purposes.

If the animals are euthanized for reasons other than your research study, you do not need an AUP. This includes the use of animals euthanized using standard commercial practices (e.g. necropsy specimens collected from animals euthanized/processed at an abattoir) and animal tissues shared from other approved protocols (including breeding protocols).

If you are unsure if your work fits the criteria, please contact the research ethics manager or email oreaupp@uwaterloo.ca.

A research ethics application is ​​​​​​not required when work involves animals that will only be observed and not be held for these purposes, and where there is no expected impact, as the proposed study design is unlikely to alter normal behaviour and interactions between conspecifics. Examples of these could include using motion-activated cameras and bird counting (without using recorded bird vocalizations, providing feed, or observing an animal at a distance where you are not interfering with their behaviour). If you are unsure whether your work is observation-only, please contact the research ethics manager or email oreaupp@uwaterloo.ca. You can find more information in the CCAC "Requirement for submitting an animal protocol" (PDF) policy.

Waterloo has several training courses offered free of charge to researchers. Some are available in classroom settings, and some are available online. Several courses are prerequisites for others; for example, a theory course is usually a prerequisite to the hands-on clinical skills course.

The Office of Research Ethics (ORE) uses GoSignMeUp (GSMU) to register for animal user training. Once you have created an account, you will be able to register to take animal training courses. In the system, click on the Office of Research to view the available animal research training sessions.

In the system, you will then be able to select from four course types: Animal Research Training, Orientations and Tours, Protocol Specific Training, and Theory Courses. The system will send you an enrolment confirmation after you are enrolled. The ORE will also receive a notification indicating you have registered. If you registered for a theory course, you will receive access to complete the course in Desire to Learn within 48 business hours. Once you have finished the theory course, please email oreaupp@uwaterloo.ca so that they can update the system to reflect your completion.

In the training and development registration system, you can print a training summary that shows all the courses you have completed to date. Please allow 48 hours for the system to be updated after you have contacted the ORE indicating you have completed a course. This training summary is to be provided to the principal investigator, or faculty supervisor, as proof you have completed the required training. The training summary must be included with the research ethics application before an application is submitted for Animal Care Committee review.

For research involving fish and amphibians, the University of Waterloo is home to the Waterloo Aquatic Threats in Environmental Research (WATER) Facility, operated by the Department of Biology. This facility includes a Level 3 aquatic pathogen research space, uniquely enabling both experimental and infectious disease studies with a variety of aquatic species. For access or inquiries, please contact Dr. Paul Craig, WATER Facility Director (paul.craig@uwaterloo.ca) or Nick Bendo, WATER Facility Technician (nbendo@uwaterloo.ca). Martin Ryan, Senior Animal Health Technician (mryan@uwaterloo.ca), oversees all animal care within the facility. The facility has a dedicated water treatment system for safe housing of aquatic animals.

Renovations to the facility began in 2020 and were completed by 2022, resulting in a state-of-the-art research and teaching space. The WATER Facility is equipped to house a wide range of aquatic and amphibian species, which have included since opening: rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), zebrafish (Danio rerio), killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus), various Ontario darter (Etheostoma spp.) and minnow species, as well as aquatic (Xenopus) and terrestrial amphibians (Wood frogs).

For laboratory animal species, Waterloo has a state-of-the-art Central Animal Facility (CAF), overseen by the Office of Research, which provides housing (including Immunodeficient and Animal Biosafety Level 2 rooms), procedure rooms, a surgical suite, behavioural testing spaces and quarantine rooms. The CAF is staffed by laboratory animal technicians who are trained through the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Science (CALAS), holding Registered Laboratory Animal Technician (RLAT) and Registered Masters Laboratory Animal Technician (RMLAT) certifications. Our veterinarians provide consultation on all aspects of the animal care and use program and are active members of the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Medicine (CALAM).

A brochure that outlines the facilities, equipment and per diem pricing is available. If you would like a copy of this brochure, email oreaupp@uwaterloo.ca and provide a brief background of the study you wish to work on and the principal investigator/faculty member’s name (if applicable). 

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are on a private Microsoft Teams channel for animal users. Email oreaupp@uwaterloo.ca for access. Provide your name, title or faculty supervisor and purpose for requesting access to the site. 

It is important that the full strain name of the animal and all phenotype characteristics are provided on the "Tracking Form for Importing from non-Commercial Suppliers." Please visit the Microsoft Teams for animal users for the appropriate form. Any new strains that will be used for research and/or placed into a breeding colony should be added to your Animal Utilization Protocol (AUP) application as an amendment before the animals can be imported. If breeding occurs on site, the Central Animal Facility (CAF) also has resources for breeding colonies to assist researchers in planning their colony maintenance. Email oreaupp@uwaterloo.ca for more information.

To use animals for teaching students, a strong justification must be provided for the use of animals in the classroom, which clearly indicates why other alternatives, such as computer simulations, are not sufficient. All teaching applications need to undergo a pedagogical merit review before an ethics review is conducted by the Animal Care Committee. Training is available for research assistants and lab demonstrators on animal handling techniques.