Community Based Research (CBR) is a research opportunity where students work on a research project that is part of a course that has been co-created and developed through collaboration between a community partner and a researcher (e.g. course director).

The CBR activity must satisfy the course's student learning outcomes and the community partner's needs. It must be practically relevant to the community, collaborative and action-oriented, as indicated by the Centre for Community-Based Research. The CBR project may take the form of an applied independent research study or thesis.

CBR activities are normally completed within the duration of a full-year 6.0 credit course (i.e. 24 weeks), though in some cases, these activities are completed in a 3.0 credit course. Community partners often participate in the assessment of the student’s work and benefit from this work, which may take the form of project reports, presentations, or recommendations.