The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) offers accreditation and recognition to testing and calibration facilities through its Program for the Accreditation of Laboratories/Canada, better known by its bilingual acronym PALCAN.  Services include Laboratory Accreditation, Proficiency Testing (PT) provider recognition, and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) recognition.

Facilities that conduct scientific testing in a variety of mainstream areas, as well as those that specialize in a particular field or Program Specialty Area (PSA), may apply for accreditation from the Standards Council of Canada under the PALCAN program. The Program requirements for SCC accreditation are outlined in CAN-P-1570, the PALCAN Handbook (use the "Criteria and Procedures" hyperlink at menu right).

The laboratory accreditation process involves assessing the quality management system (QMS) and technical competence of laboratories in accordance with the requirements of CAN-P-4E (ISO/IEC 17025:2005). Before becoming accredited, laboratories are assessed, test procedures are witnessed and reviewed, and the QMS and technical records are evaluated. A full reassessment of the laboratory is conducted one year after accreditation is granted and every two years thereafter. 

In addition to the generally applicable Policies and Procedures that laboratories must meet to become accredited, where a laboratory has chosen to become accredited to a specific PSA the requirements of that PSA's Policies and Procedures must also be met (use the "Criteria and Procedures" hyperlink at menu right).

SCC also co-ordinates the efforts of affiliated full service partner organizations:

• The National Research Council (NRC) Calibration Laboratory Assessment Service for calibration laboratories.
• The Bureau de normalisation du Québec - Évaluation des laboratoires (BNQ-EL) for Quebec-based testing laboratories.
• The Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL) for laboratories conducting drinking water testing under the Ontario Safe Drinking Water Act.

On behalf of SCC, these full service partners conduct assessments and reassessments to ISO/IEC 17025, of those laboratories within their mandates.  SCC directly conducts the assessmentss and reassessments of laboratories that are not serviced directly by these partners and oversees the partners' activities.  All final decisions about the granting, maintenance, suspension and withdrawal of a laboratory accreditation are made by the SCC.

SCC and its partners have been evaluated and demonstrated their competence to operate the Laboratory Accreditation Program to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011.

As a signatory to several international and regional arrangements, SCC accreditation is recognized around the globe.  Under these arrangements, each organization recognizes the equivalence of accreditations performed by its counterparts, and promotes the acceptance of test results from such accreditations within its own country.  To this end, linkages are maintained with the following laboratory accreditation organizations:

• Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC)
• InterAmerican Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC)
• International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)