FAQs Answered
What services does Northern Certification offer?
Northern Certification provides Canadian Representative Services as required by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), formerly Industry Canada (IC) RSP-100 and DC-01 standards for manufacturers outside of Canada.
Do I need a Canadian Representative?
Manufacturers with a company address outside of Canada will require a Canadian representative in order to obtain and maintain ISED certifications (Telecommunication and radio devices). You must have Canadian Representative for the entire period that the certified product is offered on the Canadian market. See RSP-100, Section 4.1 below:
A Canadian representative is required when the applicant’s company address is not within Canada. The applicant shall provide a signed Application and Agreement for Certification Services in which the details of the company representative in Canada shall be clearly identified.
What is a Canadian Representative?
An ISED recognized Canadian Representative shall be physically residing in Canada and ready to respond to ISED requests all year round. For full details on the role of Canadian Representatives, see RSP-100, Section 4.1 below:
The Canadian representative shall be responsible for responding to all enquiries from ISED regarding the certified product(s), including providing audit samples at no charge to ISED. The applicant shall have a valid Application and Agreement for Certification Services for as long as the certified product is offered on the Canadian market.
What Products need to be Certified?
Generally, products containing radio equipment (i.e. intentional emittance of radio waves) are classified as category I equipment by ISED and must undergo Certification which involves obtaining a Technical Acceptance Certificate (TAC) issued by an ISED recognized Certification Body and listed in ISED’s database, the Radio Equipment List (REL). Otherwise they can not be manufactured, imported, distributed, leased, offered for sale, sold, installed or used in Canada.
Examples of Category I equipment include: broadcast transmitters, taxi and police push-to-talk radios, point-to-point broadband links (used for backhaul), cellular networks and cellphones, and most wireless consumer products such as Wi-Fi devices, baby monitors and Bluetooth devices. These devices must be labelled with the certification number they are given.
Certain equipment falls under category II and might be license-exempt. For detailed information on Canadian Technical Equipment Standards, please visit the ISED webpage.
What’s the difference of IC and ISED?
IC and ISED are pretty much the same thing. IC stands for Industry Canada. It changed its name to Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada in November 2015. However a lot of people are still calling it IC because they got used to it. So the formal name is ISED but you can still call it IC.
What is the ISED Company Number?
This is a 5 digit number “xxxxx” that ISED assigns to your company. It is required for ISED application. If your company does not have it yet, you can go to the following website to apply for it:
https://sms-sgs.ic.gc.ca/registration/applicationWizard?
Apply as “New Applicant” under ” Equipment Certification and Terminal Registration “. Proceed step by step and submit the application. Normally you will get the company number within one week.
What is the ISED Certification Number (IC ID)?
ISED Certification Number is also called IC ID. This number is defined by yourself. The Certification Number is in the format of XXXXX-YYYYYYYYYYY.
The first part XXXXX is your company number which we have explained above. The second part YYYYYYYYYYY is a number defined by you. It can only include the capital letters A-Z and the numbers 0-9. It can be 11 digits maximum. For your information, a lot of people just choose to use the product model number as the second part of the Certification Number.
What is HVIN?
The Hardware Version Identification Number (HVIN) identifies hardware specs of a product version. Basically the HVIN is just your product model number.
What should I do if my company address changed?
If your company moved to a new address, you will need to update your registered company address with ISED. You can check your current registered address here:
https://sms-sgs.ic.gc.ca/equipmentSearch/searchCompanyNames?
Enter your company name, and click “Search”, you will see your registered address in the IC database.
To update your registered address, just need to send an email request to certificationbureau-bureauhomologation@ised-isde.gc.ca. They will update the IC database for you.
What is RSP-100?
Radio Standards Procedure RSP-100 is issued by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED); it outlines the certification procedure for radio apparatus and broadcasting equipment. Applicants must follow RSP-100 in order to be certified by ISED. This includes providing a Canadian Representative if the applicant’s company address is not within Canada. See the ISED website for the complete requirements.
What is DC-01?
Procedure for Declaration of Conformity and Registration of Terminal Equipment DC-01 is issued by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED); it outlines the certification procedure for suppliers of telecommunications terminal equipment. Applicants must follow DC-01 in order to be certified by ISED. This includes providing a Canadian Representative if the applicant’s company address is not within Canada. See the ISED website for the complete requirements.