There are over 5,000 references to standards in federal, provincial and territorial regulations in Canada. While standards support a strong regulatory system, they can also create technical barriers that impede internal trade. In the latest edition of Standards Engineering: The Journal of SES – The Society for Standards Professionals, several Standards Council of Canada (SCC) staff collaborated to publish an article detailing how SCC is working with federal and provincial and territorial governments to reduce trade barriers within Canada.
In the article—which is titled, “The Role of Standardization in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement ”—authors Emily White, Gabrielle White and Stephen Head explain how SCC is actively supporting the implementation of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). Specifically, SCC is helping Canadian governments by ensuring standards referenced in their regulations are up to date and aligned across jurisdictions. In doing so, we are providing value to Canada by facilitating trade and business opportunities for Canadian businesses to operate across Canada.
A key component of SCC’s work is the Monitoring Standards in Regulations (MSR) database. The MSR database identifies and tracks references to standards across Canada. From this, SCC has developed inventories of references to standards for participating jurisdictions, as well as applicable federal government departments, and these inventories can be used to facilitate the alignment of referenced standards.
Governments have a responsibility to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians. By tracking references to standards, SCC is helping to align standards across Canada to help reduce barriers to internal trade. This will make it easier for businesses to do business anywhere in our country.