Forensic
The Standards Council of Canada offers accreditation to laboratories that undertake forensic testing. Forensic labs are involved in the testing of physical evidence from potential crime scenes. In addition to testing the evidence, forensic scientists often issue reports and give expert court testimony on the test results obtained and the conclusions that might be made based on this information.
To ensure that this evidence stands up to scrutiny in court, it is imperative that the testing methods used by the laboratory have proven and documented credibility. Accreditation provides an assurance that a forensic laboratory has adhered to recognized practices and standards.
Accreditation is offered in the following forensic disciplines:
- Counterfeits;
- Firearms and tool marks;
- Explosives;
- Biology/DNA analysis;
- Chemistry/Trace analysis;
- Drug chemistry;
- Equine drug testing;
- Imaging;
- Toxicology; and
- Questioned documents examination
The accreditation process includes site visits to all labs where testing and documentation procedures and policies are assessed against both international and national standards. All labs that receive accreditation are reassessed one year after the initial accreditation and every two years after in order to maintain their status.
SCC accredited forensic laboratories include the six Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) laboratories located across the country.
