Understanding the Significance of Canada's Promising AAHS Industry Sector Through the Lens of National Standards of Canada

Overview

National Standards of Canada (NSC) are developed by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) Accredited Standards Development Organizations (SDO).

Accredited SDOs are not subject matter experts. Standards within this international network are developed per the Requirements and Guidance Accreditation of Standards Development Organizations Manual. NSCs are requirements applicable to businesses, supply chain systems, etc. However,  ​consumers, end-users and other interested stakeholders can benefit from the development of NSCs. 

Consumers

An individual, group, or organizations that use AAHS goods and services.

Public Policy and End-Users

“Standards can be:

1.   mandatory when they are enforced by laws or regulations, often for health and safety reasons or in an industry setting to establish and uphold best practices to meet customer or industry demands,

2.   distinct from an act, regulation or code as they establish control or directives based on legal authority,

3.   when it comes to government policies Standards Council of Canada (SCC) provides “Guidelines for Incorporating Standards by Reference in Regulations to Support Public Policy Objectives”.[1]

Voluntary Standardization, Innovation (Essential Requirements and Best Practices), and Beneficiaries

National Standards of Canada (NSC) [2]:

1. benefit the general public, consumers, end-users, businesses, the public sector, private sector, funders and related agencies, various disciplines, researchers, etc.,
2. create a common language for new concepts, products, services, and technologies,
3. third-party audits enhance credibility providing a competitive advantage in the marketplace,
4. save time and money,
5. manage business risk, and
6. standards inform public policy and public policy informs standards.

Key requirements include (but are not limited to):

1. development by consensus from a balanced committee of interested parties;
2. public scrutiny;
3. publication in Canada’s two official languages;
4. consistency with (or incorporation of) existing international and foreign government standards not acting as a barrier to trade; and
5. maintenance through periodic review (5-year cycle) or as needed.

A periodic review of standards confirms that the technical content (Section 4) is still valid or requires revision or withdrawal. This ensures that standards continue to be relevant and current.[3]

“SCC-accredited SDOs are responsible for the development, publication and maintenance of consensus SDO standards. Requirements and Guidance Documents provide information to the SDOs on the process of developing these standards which are intended to meet the needs of Canadian stakeholders and the marketplace.”[4]

This mandate is governed under the Standards Council of Canada Act.[5] The legal Mandate Mission is highlighted in Section 4 (1) of the Act. The mandate of the Council is to promote efficient and effective voluntary standardization in Canada, where standardization is not expressly provided for by law.  

Benefits may include:

1. helping governments oversee a regulatory environment that helps Canadian businesses to be competitive and helps keep Canadians safe,
2. ensuring a reliable and credible development process,
3. satisfying and preventing barriers to trade requirements,
4. enhancing the safety and quality of products and services,
5. adapting to a constantly changing world,
6. warranting cost-effectiveness
7. promoting external third-party accreditation to reduce costs, and
8. fostering economic growth and competitiveness.

If an NSC becomes mandatory by the public sector in many cases, some service providers may already meet or exceed the standards before the NSC or international standard is referenced in legislation. One critical consideration is that the longer the AAHS Industry Sector is devoid of a national standards framework, system, and opportunity to consider third-party certification and registration anyone can start up or continue to operate, promote, and solicit funding for their business with little or no accountability.

Other Key Points and Considerations

1. The scope of a draft National Standard of Canada (NSC) may be slightly altered to establish further clarification and consensus by newly appointed Technical Committee Members (TCM).  
2. Consensus does not suggest unanimity but inquiry-based dialogues that nurture, acknowledge, and consider the voices and views of all Members of the Technical Committee (TC).
3. National Standards of Canada (NSC) do not replace Animal-Assisted Human Service Providers (AAHSP) and Animal-Assisted Services Professionals (AASP) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Conversely, SOPs cannot replace or be used as an NSC for the above-mentioned reasons. Adopting existing well-established standards means standards that have been developed using the ISO framework.
4. The development of CAN/HRSO-500.01-2021 - THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR ANIMAL-ASSISTED HUMAN SERVICES (AAHS) reflects the culmination of harmonized dialogues among the balanced Technical Committee (TC) Members, consideration and consolidation of the referenced informative and normative documents, pertinent feedback received during the 60-day public consultation, and any necessary revisions based on feedback compiled from the public consultation.
5. Due to copyrights, not all businesses submitted examples of their SOPs to inform the TC’s dialogues, hence why some documents were not referenced in the Informative References Annex. 
6. Where copyrights and intellectual property were not an issue publicly available documents such as SOPs could have been submitted by Members of a TC for the TC’s consideration to inform the development of an NSC. Therefore, only documents that were relevant to the scope of the standard were referenced in the Informative References Annex.
7. To avoid potential conflicts of interest TC Applicants were asked to disclose any real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest from the onset or at any time during the process if a particular subject came up that may have posed a potential conflict.
8. Canada’s National Standards of Canada (NSC) for AAHS is the first of its kind at home and globally. The NSC was needed to foster essential requirements and best practice statements for and with service providers, end users, and other interested stakeholders to enhance, promote, and foster public safety, the well-being of end-users, and the welfare of Human Services Assistance Animals (HSAA). For more information please visit https://www.cf4aass.ca/resource-two.
9. How service providers refer to their HSAAs depends on their branding, marketing, and service delivery modalities but all the animals regardless of species have one thing in common they are all involved in the delivery of AAHS. For more information please visit https://www.cf4aass.ca/resource-one/human-services-assistance-animals.
10. Every sector goes through growth spurts, market share and competition issues, and stagnation due to its status quo be it good, bad, or indifferent. These are growing pains that our sector has and continues to encounter on the road to excellence. 
11.  Animal-Assisted Human Service Providers and Animal-Assisted Services Professionals Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), are only applicable to their respective businesses or members where applicable – not the entire AAHS Industry or Sector. 
12. National Standards of Canada and International Standards within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Organization for Standardization Standards Information Gateway[6] showcases 194 organizations from 144 countries/territories that adhere to international protocols for the development of standards.
13. Standards must not be developed to fix prices, exclude competition or otherwise hinder commerce and public safety. Standards should not be prescriptive, but descriptive requirements that can be audited and measured to determine compliance and credibility.
14. SOPs answer the question of how the service providers do their jobs and deliver their services. On the other hand, NSCs and international standards within the ISO and WTO Workplan arena, answer the question of what is required and the requirements must be doable and measurable. This is critical when implementing a third-party accreditation program to determine whether the requirements have been met.
15. According to the bipartisan policy center in the US, “the world has seen a significant leap in the growth in the number of laws dealing with competition over the last few years. Only 12 jurisdictions around the world had a competition law in 1970, there are now more than 125 that maintain a competition law regime, with the vast majority of them conducting active competition enforcement activities (OECD https://www.oecd.org/daf/competition/OECD-Competition-Trends-2020.pdf], 2020).[7]
16. The absence of measurable National, Regional, or International Standards was one of the many compelling precursors for co-designing the first NSC. The NSC will benefit numerous stakeholders including but not limited to the public sector (federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal) to identify the need for and inform the development of Public Policy that would address and meet mutual objectives. Public Sector Subject Matter Experts can also participate in a TC. 
17. According to the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), “Incorporation by reference of standards is a drafting technique frequently used by F/P/T departments and agencies to fulfill their regulatory and public policy objectives.” Referenced Standards must be available to the public.[8]
18. NSCs Benefit Regulators[9]. By using standards as a component of regulations, governments can leverage the existing resources, knowledge and expertise of Canada’s extensive standardization network, thereby reducing administrative burdens, lowering costs, improving government services, enhancing coordination among F/P/T departments, facilitating trade and addressing the needs of Canadian industry”.[10]
19. When regulation is not a government priority an NSC is still a valuable resource to inform the development of Public Policy, Departmental Directives, and Guidelines.  Moreover, F/P/T may better position themselves as partners to enrich knowledge translation and community dialogues by participating on an NSC Technical Committee (TC) or responding to a draft NSC Public Consultation.

[1]https://scc-ccn.ca/resources/publications/guidelines-incorporating-standards-reference-regulations-support-public

[2] https://scc-ccn.ca/standards/benefits-applying-standards

[3] https://scc-ccn.ca/standards/how-standards-are-developed/how-national-standards-are-developed

[4] https://scc.ca/sites/default/files/publications/Canadian_Standards_Development_-_Program_Overview.pdf#:~:text=SCC-accredited%20SDOs%20are%20responsible%20for%20the%20development%2C%20publication,meet%20the%20needs%20of%20Canadian%20stakeholders%20and%20marketplace.

[5] https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/S-16.pdf

[6] https://tbtcode.iso.org/sites/wto-tbt/list-of-standardizing-bodies.html

[7] https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/comparison-of-competition-law-and-policy-in-the-us-eu-uk-china-and-canada/

[8] https://scc-ccn.ca/standards/benefits-applying-standards#:~:text=Benefits%20for%20regulators%20Standards%20help%20governments%20oversee%20a,process%20is%20well%20established%20and%20trusted%20by%20Canadians.

[9] https://scc-ccn.ca/standards/benefits-applying-standards#:~:text=Benefits%20for%20regulators%20Standards%20help%20governments%20oversee%20a,process%20is%20well%20established%20and%20trusted%20by%20Canadians.

[10] https://scc-ccn.ca/resources/publications/guidelines-incorporating-standards-reference-regulations-support-public