Showcasing your Products and Services in the Canadian Marketplace

You are committed to quality in the way you make your products and in the way you deliver your services.

You are dedicated to meeting and to exceeding the standards and the expectations of your customers.

How do you prove it?

Canadian General Standards Board's (CGSB) Certification and Qualification Programs are your answer.

  • Experience
  • Commitment
  • Leadership
  • Quality

Committed to Quality

To get the best value for their purchasing dollar, public and private sector buyers need to identify suppliers committed to quality. They need to know that the goods and services they purchase will perform as expected every time. Since 1979 the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) has delivered independent Certification and Qualification Programs to ensure just that.

Show your customers that your products and services meet their requirements by having an independent, impartial third party evaluate them. CGSB's certification and qualification programs offer you a cost-effective mechanism for demonstrating compliance with current industry-recognized standards.

CGSB's knowledgeable staff will work with you to certify or qualify your products and services. We will identify the standards you need to meet. We will recommend laboratories to test your products and to verify your services. And we will address any concerns that you may have.

Having your product and services certified or qualified involves:

  • testing your products or verifying your services to ensure they meet recognized standards
  • auditing your quality system to ensure products or services consistently meet these requirements

Our easy-to read-Program Manual provides complete information on the listing process, including applications and costs.

Once the process is completed, your company name and your product or service are displayed on a program list at the CGSB Web site. This site, used extensively by private and public sector buyers, will provide you with a level of visibility unavailable in any other forum.

The Canadian federal government alone buys over $185M in qualified and certified products and services each year. Contact us and let us help you gain access to this lucrative Canadian marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions:

  • What kinds of products and services does CGSB currently certify and qualify?
    • Carpets and Underlay, Office Furniture, Paints and Coatings, Medical Gloves, Protective Clothing, Construction Materials, Remanufactured Toner Cartridges, Security Personnel and specialized programs supporting government activities, such as Dockside Monitoring Program for Fisheries and Packaging for Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Food Aid.
  • What if you don't have the program I need?
    • CGSB develops programs to suit our clients' needs. If you don't see what you need on the list above, call us to discuss developing a new program.
  • Qualification and Certification – What's the difference?
    • Qualification programs primarily support federal government procurement. Certification programs support both private and public sector procurement, focussing on products directly affecting the consumer market, health and safety, or involving regulations.
    • Testing and quality system auditing occur more frequently in certification than in qualification. Because of this extra stringency, certified products and service literature carry the distinctive CGSB certification mark. Once listed, both certified and qualified products and services are displayed on the CGSB Web site.
  • My quality system is already registered to ISO 9000. Does that count?
    • Yes. If your quality system is registered with a recognized registrar, you may have already satisfied the quality system requirements. It will mean less time and cost to certify or qualify your product or service.
  • How much does it cost?
    • The cost varies with the type of product or service, the location of the manufacturing facility, and the state of the quality system. Call us for a no-obligation quote.

CGSB Certification and Qualification programs deliver these benefits:

  • Experience: CGSB has been delivering certification and qualification services for over 15 years.
  • Credibility: CGSB, Canada's only federal government certification organization, ensures adherence to the government's principles of openness, fairness and transparency.
  • Recognition: CGSB is accredited as a Certification Organization by the Standards Council of Canada and is a recognized name in certification and qualification.
  • Proof of Quality: CGSB's certification mark demonstrates to buyers that you provide a reliable, quality product or service.
  • Exposure: CGSB's Web site is available to and used by public and private sector buyers, ensuring exposure of products, services and their suppliers to a wide range of potential customers.
  • Cost: CGSB charges highly competitive fees for its services. If you already have your ISO 9000 quality system registered, acceptance of your registration may satisfy the quality requirements, reducing your costs even more.
  • Language of Service: CGSB can provide services in the language you do business: English or French.

Discover the CGSB difference.

For more information about CGSB services, or to order our catalogue or any other CGSB publication, you can reach us by mail, fax, telephone. The electronic catalogue (ECAT) is available on the Internet.

Canadian General Standards Board
 11 Laurier Street
Place du Portage, Phase III, 6B1
Hull, Quebec K1A 1G6
1-800-665-CGSB (Canada only)

Phone or E-mail us at:

Don Fulton 819-956-3825
Donald.Fulton@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

Carole Beauchamp 819-956-3479
Carole.Beauchamp@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca