Regulation, policy, and public safety

We support Canadian regulators in using standardization and conformity assessment strategies to meet policy and regulatory objectives.  We oversee Canada’s standardization system. It’s made up of people and organizations from across the country who are dedicated to promoting, developing and implementing standards. Standardization includes standards and conformity assessment, which are developed based on needs. It follows these steps: 

1. Need – An individual or organization (such as regulators, industry, or other interested parties) identify a need for a new standard or a revision to an existing standard. This could be to meet changing social, industry or regulatory environments.
    
2. Objective – Standards development organizations (SDOs) work with relevant parties to evaluate and approve the development of standards. We can support by managing SDO procurement.
    
3. Standard development – The SDO forms or directs a technical committee to develop the standard. Members of the committee represent interested/affected groups. They develop the standards using a consensus-based, transparent and accessible process. This includes public review and a cost/benefit analysis.
    
4. Application – Individuals/organizations use standards to promote best practices, harmonization and baseline requirements. They also use standards to assess conformity through certification, inspection and testing.
    
5. Review – Standards are reviewed under the mandatory maintenance cycle within 5 years. The review may identify new needs or objectives. 

Standards and conformity assessment support regulators by:

• safeguarding the health and safety of Canadian citizens in many sectors, such as consumer products, health care and the environment 
• providing important economic benefits and reducing regulatory compliance costs
• easing market access for Canadian products and services by certifying compatibility through conformity assessment
• being incorporated (in part or as a whole) in regulations or legislation
• supporting compliance with the Cabinet Directive on Regulations and Canada’s international trade and regulatory cooperation commitments, such as the World Trade Organization’s Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement

Regulators rely on Canada’s standardization network to fulfill their mandates and policy objectives for public and environmental safety, economic development and competitiveness.

Regulators play an important role in the standardization system. They:

• help to develop and maintain domestic and international standards
• identify needs for standardization
• refer to standards and conformity assessment requirements in regulations
• apply standards for conformity assessment (such as certification) as part of regulatory enforcement and monitoring

Government and regulators use standards and conformity assessment to set and support policy and regulatory requirements. 

At SCC, we work with regulators to develop accreditation schemes around these requirements. They are in keeping with internationally recognized processes. Conformity assessment bodies can use accreditation to verify industry compliance. This allows regulators to use the existing industry-driven standardization system. That makes regulations more effective. At the same time, it reduces costs for government and industry and provides assurance to consumers. 

Public safety is a crucial component of Canada’s standardization network. At SCC, we:

• contribute to both policy-level and technical federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) committees. 
• work with provincial and territorial regulatory authorities to align standards, conformity assessment and other recognized documents that are referenced in provincial and territorial regulations and enhance coordination across Canada
• contribute to the safe and accredited inspection and certification of products and services across the country through these committees.

We work with FPT committees to strengthen the interdependent relationships between technical and policy-level advisory committees. Here’s how they improve the standardization system:

• support the reconciliation of regulatory barriers to trade 
• strengthen the harmonizing and cohesiveness of public safety regulation through standardization policy and governance advice
• facilitate the identification, development and review of critical standards and codes to support the alignment of regulations
• coordinate stakeholders across the network to use common objectives, reduce duplication of efforts and align priorities

We work with the following FPT committees:

• Provincial Territorial Advisory Committee
• Regulatory Authority Advisory Bodies 

We help regulators and governments navigate the standardization system. Here are some of our online resources: 

Standards development

• Published standards and other recognized documents
• Notices of Intent for the development of new standards 
• Mirror committees
• Comment on ISO or IEC draft standards

SCC accreditation and conformity assessment

• SCC-accredited organizations
• Benefits of SCC accreditation
• Important SCC accreditation documents

SCC policy and programs

• Guidelines for Incorporating Standards by Reference in Regulations to Support Public Policy Objectives
• SCC Monitoring Standard in Regulations Initiative