The Association
The Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation Inc. (CALA) [formerly CAEAL] was formed in 1989 on the initiative of a number of public and private sector laboratories and is incorporated as a not for profit association. As of January 2011 current membership in the Association stands at approximately 608. This total includes some 437 institutional memberships and 195 individual memberships.
NOTE: Effective January 2011, the "CALA Proficiency Testing Directory of Laboratories" is no longer published. For more information, please email the CALA PT Manager.
Directory of Accredited Laboratories
The laboratories included in the Directory of Accredited Laboratories (or Accreditation Directory) have achieved the recognition conferred by the granting of laboratory Accreditation by CALA. Accreditation is the formal recognition by CALA of the competence of an environmental analytical laboratory to carry out specified tests, conforming with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. This formal recognition is based on an on-going evaluation of laboratory capability and performance*.
Site assessments are utilized in the evaluation of capability and performance is evaluated through participation in proficiency testing programs, including the Proficiency Testing Program operated by CALA.
The Directory provides information on the Accredited Laboratories and the specific tests, registered with CALA, for which they have been found competent. An individual laboratory may also be competent to perform other tests for which accreditation either was not sought, or was not offered by the Accreditation Program.
* The applicable standards and procedures appear in CALA's P02 Program Description Series of Documents
Directory Acronyms
EDQA = Laboratory falls under British Columbia Environmental Data Quality Assurance (EDQA) Regulation
OSDWA = Laboratory falls under Ontario Safe Drinking Water Act (OSDWA), 2002
