The Canada Weights and Measures Act was established in 1970 to govern the units of measurement used in Canada. More specifically, it regulates the measurements used in commerce and its measuring devices, i.e. weigh scales.

The Act is enforced by Measurement Canada, an agency of Industry Canada. Measurement Canada’s mission is “is to ensure equity and accuracy where goods and services are bought and sold on the basis of measurement, in order to contribute to a fair and competitive marketplace for Canadians.”

The Canada Weights and Measures Act creates a standard that can be used to measure and weigh goods that can be used across the world, incorporating both the metric system and the imperial system. It even allows old French units still used in Quebec (ex. The French foot is 12.789 inches instead of the standard 12 inches).

The Act covers all types of measurement units including length, area, volume and mass. It stipulates that only units covered on Schedule II of the Act are to be used in commercial transactions.

It also states that all devices must be approved for use in Canada by The Minister, confirming it is in accordance with regulations and the design is appropriate for its use in trade. These approved devices must be recertified at intervals outlined in the Act.

How often a weighing device needs to be inspected varies from every year to every 5 years, depending on the sector and type of device. If an owner receives an overdue device inspection notice, it must be inspected by an Authorized Service Provider within 14 days or the scale owner will be subject to further enforcement measures, including financial penalties.

Measurement Canada maintains strict standards for businesses wanting to become an Authorized Service Provider. They must undergo successful completion of training and use accepted inspection procedures and certified standards (aka, testing equipment) to perform their inspections. To ensure the accuracy and integrity of Authorized Service Providers after the initial certification process, they must undergo monitoring measures such as follow-inspections, annual audits and more.

The most recent updates to the Act in June 2014 gives authority to the government, non-government inspectors on behalf of the government or The Minister to inspect measuring devices at any time and at regular intervals in the following trade sectors:

  • Retail petroleum
  • Downstream petroleum
  • Dairy
  • Retail food
  • Fishing
  • Logging
  • Mining
  • Grain and field crops

In addition, the quantities of products declared and traded must be within the allowed margin of error. 

The Weights and Measures Act puts the onus on the owner of the weigh scale to ensure that their equipment is operating correctly and not being used in a fraudulent manner. 

In an effort to reduce or discourage purposeful inaccurate measurements, court-imposed fines were also increased in 2014 to $10,000 for minor offences, $25,000 for major offences and $50,000 for repeat offences.

Adhering to the Canada Weights and Measures Act is critical and comes with some hefty fines should your business not comply. Contact Active Scale if you have any questions on how the Canada Weights and Measures Act affects your business or you need a Measurement Canada Authorized Service Provider to inspect and certify your equipment.