|
|
|
|
|
Français | |
Contact Us | |
Help | |
Search | |
Canada Site | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Home | |
Site Map | |
What's New | |
About Us | |
Registration |
|
 Measurement Canada
Consumer Page
Who We Are and What We Do
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Who We Are and What We DoWho We Are Measurement Canada was established as a Special Operating Agency (SOA) within Industry Canada in 1999. The Agency was created from two closely related sub-activities, Electricity and Gas (E&G) and Weights and Measures (W&M). Both sub-activities have a long history of service within the federal government. The first Gas Inspection Act was established shortly after Confederation and was followed by the Electric Light Inspection Act and later, in 1982, by the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act. Weights and Measures has been in existence since Confederation, with the first Weights and Measures Act receiving assent in 1871. All industrialized countries have a government organization responsible for legal metrology (legal trade measurement), demonstrating the importance societies place on the accuracy and integrity of measurement to a nation’s economic health and prosperity.
and meets it statutory obligations and delivery of services through the following lines of business: Calibration and Certification of Measurement Standards Standards to measure mass, volume, pressure, temperature, length and various electrical quantities are calibrated and certified in accordance with a legislated schedule to achieve and maintain uniformity of measurement in domestic and international trade. These standards form the basis of all trade measurement in Canada Only the Department of Industry, through Measurement Canada, has the authority in Canada do issue official certificates of calibration and inspection for measuring instruments used in trade. The Approval and Calibration Services Laboratory (ACSL), located in Ottawa, owns and maintains a wide variety of measurement standards traceable to the national standards at the National Research Council and conducts regular calibrations of the local measurement standards used by government inspectors. These local standards are used in turn to calibrate standards owned by private companies who own and operate measuring devices and systems. Trade Measurement Governance This line of business is delivered through four primary activities:
Trade Measurement Standards and Requirements: Legislative standards and requirements for measuring instruments like scales, electricity and gas meters and gasoline pumps where goods and services are traded on the basis of measurement, are continually evaluated and amended to ensure they are relevant, reflect changing technology and new business practices, minimize regulatory burden and the costs of legislative compliance, and provide a positive environment for business growth, consumer and investor confidence, trade and innovation. This activity provides for a regulatory environment which supports fair and accurate measurement of goods and services, enhances Canadian businesses’ global competitiveness and opportunities for growth and export, and provides businesses and consumers with a source of knowledge and expertise regarding domestic and international trade measurement standards, requirements and measuring instrument technology. Trade Measurement Protection and Surveillance: Prototype measuring instruments intended for trade sue are evaluated for compliance with legislated requirements to ensure they are capable of measuring accurately under normal conditions of use throughout their service lifetime and are approved for retail and/or commercial use. All approved measuring instruments must be inspected before their first use in trade and are inspected thereafter to ensure they continue to measure accurately and are not used in a fraudulent manner. Goods and services traded on the basis of measure are also inspected to ensure that they are measured and priced accurately. Dispute and Complaint Investigation: Buyers and sellers of goods and services, including purchasers and vendors of electricity and natural gas, who are dissatisfied with the results of their measurement transaction may request to have the matter investigated. This activity provides consumers and businesses with an avenue of recourse if they feel they have received inaccurate measurement. Alternative Service Delivery: Private sector partnering arrangements are sought in the delivery of legislated services which is currently the exclusive responsibility of Measurement Canada. This activity includes the establishment of standards and criteria for organizations seeking delegated authority to provide services that would otherwise be provided by the agency, accreditation of private sector organizations to provide these services and auditing, by Agency officials, of accredited organizations to ensure they continue to meet established standards of performance. It provides for trade measurement accuracy and equity with less direct government intervention, and gives the Agency the opportunity to focus its resources on the delivery of services it is best suited and positioned to provide. Accreditation Organizations seek accreditation status for verifying electricity meters, gas meters and certain weighing fuel dispensing and linear devices which must be inspected before trade use commences. Typical examples of organizations applying for accreditation are electricity and natural gas distribution utilities, weigh scale and fuel dispensing manufacturers, and those service organizations who re-service devices or meters. The applicant must satisfy Measurement Canada’s requirement that an acceptable quality assurance program has been developed and implemented based on the appropriate standard. A properly designed quality assurance program ensures that all products such as meters and measuring devices, documents and records meet and continue to meet specified minimum requirements. Objective evidence that such a program is in place provides Measurement Canada with the confidence required to ensure that national standards of measurement will be maintained. The criteria organizations must meet before being granted accreditation are found the Measurement Canada’s S-A-01, Criteria for the Accreditation of Organizations to Perform Inspections Pursuant to the Electricity and Gas Act, and the Weights and Measures Act. To ensure compliance, organizations who have received accreditation status are subject to surveillance audits by Measurement Canada. The names and status of various accredited organizations is updated as the program progresses. Commodities The Weights and Measures Act (W&M) establishes accuracy requirements for weighing and measuring devices used in trade. Combined with the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act it also ensures that goods that are bought and sold on the basis of measurement are marked with accurate quantity declarations of their net contents. Generally, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act applies to consumer prepackaged products while the W&M Act deals with products such as bulk clerk served items, institutionally packed items and industrial products. In addition to the accuracy requirements for measuring devices and commodities traded on the basis of measurement, services that can be bought and sold on the basis of measurement (e.g., freight and shipping charge) must be accurate as well. Electricity To create and maintain a faire and efficient marketplace for the buying and selling of electricity, uniform units of measurement have been established and are displayed by all in-service meters. The units for energy measurement are contained in Section 3(1)(a) of the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act and the unites of demand measurement are specified in Sections 5(1) and (2) of the Electricity and Gas Inspection Regulations. Electricity Device Types:
Occasionally, a buyer or seller of electricity may be dissatisfied with the condition or registration of a meter or installation and cannot resolve the difference with the other party of the contract. The dissatisfied party may then request to have the matter investigated and resolved by a government inspector via the dispute resolution process administered under Sections 23 and 24 of the Electricity and Gas Inspection . Gas To create and maintain a fair and efficient marketplace for the buying and selling of natural gas, uniform units of measurement have been established and are displayed by all in-service meters. The units for energy measurement are contained in Section 3(1)(b) of the Electricity and Gas Inspection Actand further specifications for measurement are specified in Sections 6(1) and (2) of the Electricity and Gas Inspection Regulations. Gas Device Types:
Gas metering and electricity metering installations comprise of two or more meters that are assembled into a complex configuration of measuring to loads of commercial and industrial consumers. Due to large energy consumption, the impact of measurement error is high. Government officials inspect these installations on a sampling basis, focussing on those types which are know to be problematic. Before any meter, electric or gaseous can be placed into service for billing purposes, it must be verified to ensure that the meter conforms to pattern approval, functions correctly and has acceptable metrological characteristics. Verification involves inspection by a government inspector or an accredited meter verifier either by inspecting each meter individually or, where possible, forming meters into lots and performing statistical analysis on the inspection results. Each tested meter is subjected to tests at different times throughout its operating range. Verification is normally indicated by a government or accredited meter verifier seal, which also services as a deterrent to tampering, and is accompanied by a certificate attesting to the meter’s status. Periodic re-verification ensures that previously verified meters, after having been in use for some period of time, continue to operate at an acceptable level. Re-verification is performed through either 100% inspection or sampling inspection. Previously verified meters may be removed from service, reworked and re-calibrated and then submitted for re-verification. Re-verification may also take place while the meters are still in service through inspection of a representative sample of meters. After the sample results are statistically analysed, the re-verification interval for the meters in the lot may be extended where performance warrants. Gravimetric Before any weighing device may be verified for accurate measurement, the type or pattern to which it belongs must receive approval from the Approval and Calibration Services Laboratory (ACSL) located in Ottawa. The purpose of this approval is to prevent devices of inferior quality from entering the marketplace. Weighing Device Types:
Volumetric Before any liquid measuring device may be verified for accurate measurement, the type or pattern to which it belongs must receive approval from the Approval and Calibration Services Laboratory (ACSL) located in Ottawa. The purpose of this approval is to prevent devices of inferior quality from entering the marketplace. Volume Device Types:
To create and maintain a fair an efficient marketplace for the buying and selling of items whose weight or volume is measured, uniform units of measurement must be established. The legal units of measurement in Canada are based on the International System of Units (SI) established by the General Conference of Weights and Measures. The basic units of measurement and supplementary and derived units, along with their symbols, are listed and described in Parts I, II, and III of Schedule I of the Weights and Measures Act. In addition to the SI units, other customary units of measurement may also be used in Canada; Canadian units of measurement (Imperial System) and units of measurement to describe certain land in Quebec that was originally granted under Seigneurial Tenure, found in Schedule II and II of the Weights and Measures Act. The prefixes for multiples and submultiples of the units of measurement are set out in Part V of Schedule I of the Act. Unless exempted by the Weights and Measures Regulations, weighing and measuring devices intended to be used in trade must be of an approved type and prior to being sold, must be initially verified by a government inspector or an accredited organization. The device must operate within the appropriate limits of error as prescribed by the Weights and Measures Regulations or Ministerial Specifications. Devices that need to be installed before an inspection can be performed are verified on site. Others may be inspected at the dealers’ or manufacturers’ premises before they are delivered to customers. Inspection results will determine if the device is certified, rejected or seized in the case where an error exceeds three times the applicable limit of error. All devices found to be in non-compliance with the legislation are re-inspected to ensure that adjustments have been properly made. Clients Measurement Canada’s clients include:
The Agency serves all regions of Canada through its Headquarters and laboratory test facilities located in Ottawa and five regional offices in Dartmouth, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Measurement Canada staff provides services to ensure that consumers and businesses alike can make measurement-based transactions with confidence. Measurement Canada plays an important role in Industry Canada’s marketplace services framework, by contributing to consumer, business and investor confidence in the fair and efficient functioning of the marketplace. Our credo is “Fair Measure for All”. For additional information about Measurement Canada see the following documents:
9/23/03 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||
| Created: 2005-08-04 Updated: 2005-12-02 |
 Top of Page |
Important Notices
|
||