Standards are implemented by organizations for many reasons, such as:

• Meeting or exceeding customer needs
• Addressing marketplace demands
• Ensuring consumer confidence
• Complying with regulations
• Implementing industry best practices

An organization can choose to develop and apply its own standards but a more strategic approach is to instead use a national, international or foreign standard that fits its needs or alternatively to put forward a standard it has developed as the basis for a national or international standard. 

Once an organization has decided to adopt a standard, it must ensure that it conforms to the requirements.  This process, conformity assessment, can be conducted by a:

• supplier (first party)
• purchaser (second party)
• independent organization (third party)

Although all three choices are acceptable forms of conformity assessment, in an increasingly competitive marketplace where customers and clients have a greater range of choice than ever, third party assessment is often seen as the most credible alternative. Also, accredited test laboratories are increasingly being used to provide credible support to first and second party assessments.

The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) does not provide these types of conformity assessment services. Instead,  it offers accreditation to the organizations that do. Accreditation by the SCC is formal recognition that the organizations have proven themselves to be qualified to undertake the conformity assessment role they have chosen.