Biosafety Permit Application Requirement
All facilities, teaching and research, that intend to engage in the use of risk group 2 or greater, biohazardous substances must be registered with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) prior to becoming operational.
Regardless of the risk group, a risk assessment and permit application is required for all research or teaching activities involving the use or manipulation of potentially hazardous biological agents (including viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, recombinant DNA, prions and other microorganisms/genetic systems, and human and animal tissues, cells, blood and body fluids) and materials containing such agents and which are:
- supervised or conducted by employees or members of the University, or
- are supported by funds provided by or through the University.
Biosafety Permit Application Protocol
A Biosafety permit application form must be completed and submitted to the Nipissing University Laboratory Safety Coordinator (Biosafety Officer). The application form is reviewed by the Laboratory Safety Coordinator to ensure completeness. Once the form is complete, it is submitted to the Biosafety Committee for review and assessment of the risk level at which the proposed activities should be conducted at, as well as safeguards and protocols that may be required to ensure the safety of the University community. The submission of a Biohazard permit application form implies a willingness to allow the Laboratory Safety Coordinator to visit the laboratory in order to ensure compliance with the Nipissing University Biosafety policies and procedures manual and the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines and any other current Canadian regulatory statute pertaining to the handling of biohazardous material.
For activities involving risk group 2 and 2+ biohazardous substances, the Laboratory Safety Coordinator will inspect and conduct a Biosafety audit of the worksite to ensure it meets the operational and physical requirements as per the current regulations and standards of the Public Health Agency of Canada and/or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Once the permit application is approved , a permit, valid for up to 5 years, subject to annual review, will be issued by the Laboratory Safety Coordinator. During this period, the Laboratory Safety Coordinator will audit the activities to ensure compliance with the permit conditions. If the activities involving biological agents are to be altered or modified in any way from that specified in the previous submission, a permit amendment form must be completed and submitted to the Laboratory Safety Coordinator for review and approval by the Biosafety Committee before those changes can be implemented. All activities involving the biological agent must cease until the Biosafety Committee has approved the permit amendment.
Permit Application/Renewal Overview
A visual overview of the Permit Application/Renewal/Amendment Process can be found here;
The Biohazard Permit Application Form can be found here;
The Biohazard Permit Renewal and Amendment Form can be found here;
Note: If the forms won't open in the browser, please right-click and save to your hard drive.