The National Research Council Canada (NRC) Metrology Quality Management System for measurement services and certified reference materials meets the expectations of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) and is based on the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 (General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories) and ISO 17034:2016 (General requirements for the competence of reference material producers).
NRC, as Canada's national metrology institute (NMI), signed the CIPM MRA in 1999. The CIPM MRA was developed in a response to a growing need for an open, transparent and comprehensive scheme to give users reliable quantitative information on the comparability of national metrology services and to provide the technical basis for wider agreements negotiated for international trade, commerce and regulatory affairs.
Under the terms of the CIPM MRA, NRC has specific Calibration and Measurement Capabilities (CMCs) approved and invites international peers to review our quality management system and technical capabilities.
The CIPM MRA requires NMIs to demonstrate equivalence and competence of their stated capabilities and to demonstrate the effectiveness of their quality management system. Whether or not third party accreditation is used, the final approval is granted by the BIPM through its regional metrology organization—in our case the Sistema Interamericano de Metrologia (SIM).
We have received approval from SIM for our NRC Metrology laboratories. The SIM approval for a specific metrology area is available upon request.
The ultimate recognition for our measurement services is the publication of our Calibration and Measurement Capabilities (CMCs) at the Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM) webpage which defines the scope of our approval. Under the CIPM MRA, all participating institutes recognize the validity of each other's calibration and measurement reports for the quantities, ranges and measurement uncertainties specified in Appendix C of the Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM) Key Comparison Database (KCDB).
You can search specific capabilities online (http://kcdb.bipm.org/AppendixC).
The NRC Metrology Quality Management System applies to services with NRC's declared CMCs. It also applies to other services as identified by each metrology area.
Please contact us for more details at NRC.Metrology.Quality-Qualite.Metrologie.CNRC@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca if you require further information.