Canadian Representative for manufacturers in the United Kingdom
UK manufacturers need a Canadian Representative under RSP-100 section 4.1 like any other applicant whose company address is outside Canada. The UK is in the comparatively small group of countries whose certification bodies ISED currently recognizes, so a UK file can often be tested and certified without leaving the country. The representative is still required, and it is a third role — distinct from the UK Responsible Person and the EU authorised representative that UK exporters already manage.
How certification usually runs from the UK
The UK's mutual recognition position with Canada carried over after Brexit under the Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement, and it shows in the practical position today: ISED's current list of recognized certification bodies includes three UK-based bodies, alongside bodies in Canada, the United States, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and Singapore. The UK also has laboratories with long FCC and ISED experience.
So a UK applicant typically tests at a UK laboratory and has the certificate issued either by a recognized UK body or by the North American CB it already uses for FCC work. Either route is legitimate; the choice is usually driven by whichever body is handling the US file in parallel. In both cases the CB asks for the ISED Company Number and the Canadian Representative letter before it will issue. Confirm your CB's current recognition status on ISED's list if you have not used it for a Canadian file before.
Three different representatives, none of which substitutes for another
This is the section UK exporters actually need, because the UK is the jurisdiction where the roles are most easily confused.
The UK Responsible Person exists under UK product regulations so that a non-UK manufacturer placing UKCA-marked goods on the GB market has someone in the UK holding the declaration of conformity and technical documentation.
The EU authorised representative under Article 11 of the Radio Equipment Directive does the equivalent job for CE-marked goods placed on the EU market by a non-EU manufacturer — a role many UK manufacturers had to appoint for the first time after Brexit.
The ISED Canadian Representative is neither. It is narrower and ISED-specific: an address in Canada, responsible for responding to ISED enquiries about the certified product and providing audit samples at no charge to ISED, for as long as the product is offered on the Canadian market. It attaches to a certification, not to a market placement, and it does not hold your technical file.
A UK manufacturer selling into Canada does not satisfy section 4.1 by having appointed either of the other two, and none of the three can be collapsed into one appointment. See the requirement explained.
What we see from UK applicants
Scale-ups and specialist manufacturers. UK applicants tend to be IoT, medical, defence-adjacent and industrial specialists rather than volume consumer electronics. Products have long service lives, which makes the durability of the appointment the live question rather than its cost; see how long must a Canadian Representative be appointed.
Comfort with a law firm holding the appointment. UK clients share a common law background and generally ask for our terms before ordering rather than after. They are at terms of service, and the reasoning behind using a law firm rather than a service company is at why a lawyer as your Canadian Representative.
Entity naming. Use the name as registered at Companies House — "Limited" or "Ltd", "PLC", "LLP" — matching exactly what your CB has on the application. Mismatches between the application, the letter and the REL listing are the usual cause of a CB return.
Group structures. UK groups certifying through an Irish or US entity should tell us which entity will appear as applicant. That entity is the one that needs the representative.
Payment and timing
Card via Stripe in USD is immediate; wires from UK banks arrive in one to two banking days. We invoice in USD. The five-hour difference works in your favour: an order placed in the UK morning is normally fulfilled by UK mid-afternoon, because our working day starts as yours reaches lunchtime.
Audit samples
Shipped from the UK to ISED's laboratory in Canada at the applicant's cost, documented as a regulatory sample; we coordinate and can advise on the Canadian entry. See ISED audit samples.
Does our UK Responsible Person satisfy the ISED requirement?
No. The UK Responsible Person is a UK-facing role under UK product law. Section 4.1 requires an address in Canada.
Our certification body is in the UK. Is that a problem for Canada?
No, provided it appears on ISED's current list of recognized certification bodies — three UK bodies do. Recognition of the CB does not remove the representative requirement, which turns on the applicant's address.
Did Brexit change the Canadian Representative requirement for UK companies?
No. The requirement never depended on EU membership; it depends on the applicant being outside Canada. What carried over under the Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement was the recognition position for UK conformity assessment bodies.
Can our Canadian reseller act as the representative?
Only with a genuine Canadian place of business and a written acceptance of the duty to respond to ISED and provide audit samples for the life of the product in Canada. Appointments tied to a reseller agreement tend to end with the agreement.
How long does the appointment last?
For as long as the certified product is offered on the Canadian market. There is no fixed expiry in RSP-100 independent of that.
Does amending the letter cost anything?
No. Amendments under the same IC number — an added model or HVIN, a corrected legal name or registered address, a reissued letter — are free, with no time limit and no cap on how many you request. A new IC certification number is a separate certification at US$499.
Sources. RSP-100, Issue 12, section 4.1. ISED Certification Bodies (check current status). Directive 2014/53/EU (RED), Article 11.