Regulation of Measurement in Canada Today

Today, the federal government of Canada still holds exclusive responsibility for legal metrology under section 91 of the Constitution Act (1982). Our primary standards have been maintained since 1951 by the National Research Council's Institute for National Measurement Standards in Ottawa. The Institute is also responsible for developing the scientific means for establishing national measurement standards. These are recognized internationally, as a result of regular inter-comparisons conducted with the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (Paris), and with the national laboratories of other countries (the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan and Australia).

Legal enforcement is assigned to Measurement Canada under the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act and the Weights and Measures Act. Measurement Canada monitors compliance through a network of laboratories and inspectors. Their standards — secondary standards — are regularly compared to primary standards at the NRC, and the standards and equipment used by a network of regional labs and inspectors are brought to Ottawa for verification on a regular basis. When an inspector has tested and approved a measuring device, it receives a sticker — often seen on gas pumps or grocery store scales — signifying the device’s compliance, and authorizing it for commercial use.