Services		CFTM		Approvals		Electricity		Volume
Sector Review		Authorized Service  Providers		Consumer Page		Natural Gas		Mass

About Trade Sector Reviews

Have you ever stopped to think about how many things are bought and sold each day in Canada which require some form of measurement? Buying anything from a kilogram of apples at the grocery store to a litre of gasoline requires a weights and measures system which is at the same time fair and accurate for both buyers and sellers. It is Measurement Canada's mission to ensure equity and accuracy where goods and services are bought or sold on the basis of measurement, in order to contribute to a fair and competitive marketplace for Canadians. In keeping with this mission, Measurement Canada periodically undertakes a Trade Sector Review (TSR) to assess measurement performance in a business sector (e.g., the electricity trade sector). Measurement Canada has identified 39 different business sectors for a potential TSR over the next 10 years. In addition, Measurement Canada intends to monitor each trade sector to identify any measurement equity and accuracy problems that require its intervention. A Trade Sector Review is a long and thorough process which relies on significant consultation between Measurement Canada and marketplace stakeholders (i.e. buyers and sellers of commodities or services in a given business sector). The broad objective is to establish the appropriate role for Measurement Canada in the sector in order to ensure that measurement accuracy and equity is being achieved in a fair, cost-effective and transparent manner. During a TSR, Measurement Canada seeks to obtain the views from marketplace participants on such questions as: Is Measurement Canada involvement needed in this business sector? If so, in which particular areas (e.g., wholesale or retail transactions, new technology evaluations, dispute resolution, rule making, enforcement)? What measurement programs are in use or needed (e.g., traceable calibration of test equipment, testing of new measuring devices, initial verification and reverification of measuring devices)? The result of a TSR is a roadmap outlining how Measurement Canada will work with the sector stakeholders to ensure that equity and accuracy are achieved. It would include, for example, the private and public sector partnerships and monitoring mechanisms that Measurement Canada intends to use to ensure efficient and effective measurement performance in the marketplace of a given business sector.