The Data and Sample Access Committee (DSAC) reviews applications for the use of CLSA data and makes a recommendation to the CLSA Executive Committee. Once the project has been approved by the Executive Committee, the CLSA Access Agreement has been signed, and proof of ethics approval has been received by the CLSA, the Data Curation Centre (DCC) will release the dataset(s) to the primary applicant. The link is valid for seven days and the number of downloads is determined by the number of project team members who have signed the CLSA Access Agreement, indicating that they require direct access to the data. It is the primary applicant’s responsibility to share the download link with the project team members, and to ensure that all of the project team members respect the terms of the signed CLSA Access Agreement. Please refer to the sample CLSA Access Agreement for more information on the responsibilities of users.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to some of the most common queries about the CLSA.

Who can apply to use CLSA data?

The CLSA data are currently available to approved public sector researchers, with no preferential or exclusive access for any individual. The CLSA welcomes applications from graduate students and postdoctoral or clinical fellows who wish to use the CLSA data for their thesis research or for their thesis or fellowship research, respectively. For trainee applications (Masters, PhD, postdoctoral or clinical fellows), the primary applicant must be the supervisor and the student must be clearly identified in the Trainee section of the application. The primary applicant must hold an eligible appointment (continuing or term appointment) at an eligible institution that is able to uphold the conditions of the data access agreement, administer grant funds and provide Research Ethics Board approval.

How do I get access to the data?

Researchers are invited to submit data access requests using Magnolia, the CLSA’s online data access application system. Requests to access the CLSA data are reviewed by the Data and Sample Access Committee (DSAC). Please consult Researcher Resources, which includes the Data and Sample Access Policy and Guiding Principles, the CLSA protocol(s), the CLSA Data Collection tools and resources, and the information on the data access application process before preparing an application.

What are the fees for access to CLSA data?

Currently the charge for partial cost recovery per application is $3,000 CAD for applications within Canada and $5,000 USD for international applications. This includes access to the Baseline, Follow-up 1, Follow-up 2, or all three datasets. Due to the additional work required to make some data research ready, additional fees apply for access to image files, raw data, and datasets that require more complex customization. Please see the table of additional fees under Data Access. The fees are payable for the retrieval and preparation of the dataset per approved project, not for each project team member.

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