Accreditation bodies, like A2LA, accredit PTPs to ISO/IEC 17043, the general requirements for the competence of proficiency testing providers, to provide third-party assurance and give customers confidence in the quality of the program.
PT Canada (PTC), an A2LA accredited proficiency testing organization located in Ontario, is a not-for-profit that serves testing laboratories all around the world. Their first PT round was shipped in 1991 and they currently offer PT for around 60 different schemes, mostly in environmental sectors, including water and soil testing. In addition to environmental samples, PTC also offers schemes for cannabis testing laboratories, including potency, pesticides, residual solvents, metals, and moisture.
Twice a year, PTC provides its customers with four samples per round of testing. Most samples arrive undiluted, which not only makes for a more streamlined process, but also reduces the risk of error and provides more accurate test results.
“Unlike a lot of other PT providers, almost all of our samples get shipped to the customer ready to be analyzed,” said Ken Middlebrook, Executive Director of PT Canada, “so the lab is receiving samples similar to how they receive client samples.”
To read more about PT Canada, click here.