Before submitting a data access request, you need a clear research question. Write a brief research proposal, including your research question, objectives, and proposed methods.  

SIDR data holdings: Review our data holdings to determine if we have the data you need to answer your research question.   

External data: Please note that if your project requires linkage to external data that SIDR does not currently hold, additional documentation and agreements may be required. We will discuss any additional requirements with you during the research consultation step. These may include: 

• Previous Research Ethics Board approvals and informed consent information, or a data sharing agreement.  
• An agreement between the Principal Investigator and Health PEI to de-identify the data before it can be transferred to SIDR. 
• A privacy impact assessment (only required in some circumstances). 

Once you are ready to begin the data application process, email us at sidr@upei.ca to book a free initial consultation meeting.

During this meeting, we will help:

• Refine your research question
• Determine data and staff support needed
• Provide guidance about the data access process
• Assess funding needs

The feasibility form is included in Section 1 of our Data Access Application Package. Only complete this “Project Feasibility and Data Access Quote Request” section and email it to sidr@upei.ca. Note that you will also need to attach the Principal Investigator’s CV. 

We will review the information provided and determine if the project is feasible. Once our review is completed, we will provide feedback and a project cost estimate for you to review. This is just a preliminary cost estimate and can be used for funding applications.  

The final quote will be provided once all details are finalized, and we have completed the project charter. Project costs vary considerably depending on the scope of work involved. If you would like more information, please email sidr@upei.ca.

After you have received your project feasibility approval and reviewed the project cost estimate, please let us know if you would like to continue with your project application. 

If you do want to proceed, the next step is to complete the remaining sections of the Data Access Application Package (Sections 2, 3 & 4) before emailing the complete package back to us at sidr@upei.ca.  

Once we have received the completed Data Access Application Package, we will send your documents for reviews and approvals. The review process includes:

• SIDR Data Release Committee review (see terms of reference)
• UPEI Privacy review
• PEI Research Ethics Board (REB) review

Each review generates comments and questions, so you will be asked to provide clarifications and to revise and resubmit documents as needed during the project approval process. 

Please note that the Data Release Committee meets monthly (as required), except for July and August when there is only one meeting.

Please allow about three to six months to complete this project approval stage.

Once reviews are completed and approvals are obtained, we will send you a final project quote in case there were any changes made since the initial consultation.

We will also send you a Data Access Agreement for SIDR. This agreement will be signed by the Principal Investigator and UPEI. 

The mandatory administrative safeguards include:

• Privacy training  
  • Once the Data Access Agreement has been signed, we will send all approved data users instructions on how to complete data privacy training.  
  • Note that this training must be renewed yearly until project completion. 

•  Confidentiality pledge
  • After completing the privacy training, we will send you a confidentiality pledge to be signed by each project member. 

• Security orientation
  • Approved data users will then be invited to attend an on-site security orientation session with our database administrator. At this session, we will provide an overview of security measures and relevant policies. We will also provide detailed instructions on how to access and use the data and facility.   

Once the administrative safeguards are completed, we will help you develop a detailed Data Creation (and Analysis) Plan that will guide the data creation and analysis throughout the duration of the project. A template form will be provided.

We will then organize a project initiation meeting for you to: 

• Meet the SIDR staff who will provide support throughout the project. 
• Discuss roles, expectations, and timelines. 
• Review and approve the Data Creation (and Analysis) Plan.  

Once the research team and SIDR analyst(s) have reviewed and approved the Data Creation (and Analysis) Plan, we will start preparing the project data for access by your project’s approved data users.  If the creation of the Data Creation (and Analysis) Plan results in substantial changes to the scope of work involved to prepare and/or analyze your data, a new quote may be issued.  

The SIDR Manager will notify the Principal Investigator when the project data is ready to be accessed.  

Each team member who is approved to access the project data (approved data users) will be assigned: 

• A project-specific user account 
• A unique password to access the approved project data.