Measuring Success one Standard at a Time

2005-09-28

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

For the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), this saying could not be more appropriate. As Canada’s national standardization body, the SCC has undertaken many important projects to promote efficient and effective voluntary standardization in Canada. But, like any journey, the SCC’s 35-year history started with one key step.

And, as a result of that step, the thousand mile journey has been measured in kilometres ever since 1973, when only three years after being established by an Act of Parliament, the SCC approved the Metric System as the first National Standard of Canada.

The International System of Units (SI), laid out the official definition of metric units while, the second National Standard of Canada to be approved by the SCC, Canadian Metric Practice Guide, dealt with its application.

While the standards were an important step in Canada’s conversion to metric, the process really got underway in 1970 with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s White Paper on Metric Conversion, which detailed the government’s policy for introducing the more internationally accepted measurement system. This was followed in 1971 by the Parliamentary amendment to the Weights and Measures Act, which made Canada’s conversion to metric mandatory.

That same year, the government established the Metric Commission of Canada to co-ordinate metrication in all sectors of the economy and to educate the public. The SCC sat on this committee to deal with all conversion efforts related to standards until it was disbanded in 1985.

Although the metric system had actually been in voluntary use in Canada for almost one hundred years, until the 1970’s it had been used mainly in scientific applications. The Commission brought metric to the everyday lives of Canadians. Throughout the 1970’s, changes were seen on road signs, at the gas station and supermarket, and during local weather forecasts, where meteorologists began talking about temperatures in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit.

"Up until 1970, measurement in Canada was done on the imperial system even though metric units were legal and people could have used them," says Doug Hutchinson, Senior Program Officer, Commodities and Metric Information at Measurement Canada. "People just simply weren't."

It wasn’t until the metric system was introduced into the education system and as part of daily life that it began to take hold on its own across Canada. As Canadians became more familiar with the system, many saw the benefits of its simplicity.

In metric, all measurements are based on multiples of ten and the name of each measurement reflects the multiple. For example, kilo means 1000. Therefore, one thousand metres makes a kilometre. Compare this to the logic of the imperial system where three feet make a yard, and five-and-a-half yards make a rod.

But metric benefits go beyond simplicity. On the international level, only three countries do not use the metric system: the United States, Liberia and Myanmar (formally known as Burma). The rest of the world, approximately 95 per cent of the population, uses metric. This makes for a more internationally accepted system that has facilitated global trade.

"The metric system helps the movement of goods internationally. This is a big benefit for importers and exporters," says Hutchison.

Despite the fact that Canada’s largest trading partner, the United States, was not ready to convert to metric, the majority of Canadian industry supported the move. This willingness was due in part to the fact that even though the U.S. wasn’t ready to officially move away from the imperial, many industries, such as automotives were already dealing almost exclusively in metric.

Even with this simpler and more cost efficient system, metric and imperial measures are still used interchangeably in the vernacular of most Canadians. However as new generations of Canadians grow up learning only metric and they begin to outnumber those raised on imperial measures, the predominance of the metric system will only increase.

From the very first National Standard of Canada, there have been many steps in our country’s journey towards full metric conversion. Even if it does convert to 1609 kilometres.

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