How long must a Canadian Representative remain appointed?
Under RSP-100 section 4.1, for as long as the certified product is offered on the Canadian market. That is the regulatory duration and it is open-ended — there is no fixed number of years. Our appointment is written to match it exactly: one payment of US$499 per certified product, no renewal date, and the appointment ends when the product leaves the Canadian market.
What the regulation says
"The applicant shall have a valid Application and Agreement for Certification Services for as long as the certified product is offered on the Canadian market" (RSP-100 section 4.1). That agreement must identify a Canadian representative, and a Canadian representative "is required when the applicant's company address is not within Canada."
So the obligation is tied to a fact about your product — whether it is still being offered for sale in Canada — and not to a calendar. It begins at certification and ends when the product is withdrawn. Nothing in RSP-100 makes any particular number of years significant.
Why the contractual term is the question to ask
The regulatory duration is fixed by ISED. What varies between providers is the contractual term: how long the representative agrees to stay, and what you have to do to keep them there.
Some providers sell one-year terms with annual renewal notices. Some sell three- or five-year terms. Some say "for as long as the product is sold" and bill annually for it. Every one of those structures creates the same risk, which is that a renewal is missed — the invoice goes to someone who has left, the appointment lapses, and the applicant is offside section 4.1 without knowing it.
Our appointment has no renewal date. The US$499 fee is paid once per certified product and the appointment continues for as long as the product is offered on the Canadian market. There is no renewal to miss because there is no renewal.
How the appointment ends
An appointment is not perpetual — it ends when the obligation does. Under our terms of service it ends on the earliest of:
- your written confirmation that the product has been permanently withdrawn from the Canadian market;
- 60 days after we send a status enquiry and receive no confirmation that the product is still offered;
- cancellation, surrender or transfer of the certification; or
- withdrawal under the terms, which is limited to unpaid fees, unreachable clients, unanswered ISED enquiries, and cases where continuing would breach our professional obligations.
Once a year we ask every client to confirm which certified products are still offered in Canada. That keeps the file accurate on both sides and means a discontinued product does not sit on our records indefinitely.
What happens if the product is withdrawn early
The obligation ends when the product is no longer offered in Canada. Tell us and we close the file. The fee is a single fixed payment and is not refundable in part, but there is nothing further to pay either.
What happens if the representative disappears
This is the real risk in the market. If a representative ceases to exist, is acquired, or simply stops answering, the applicant is offside section 4.1 the moment ISED sends an enquiry that goes unanswered. ISED can suspend or revoke a certificate for non-compliance with the procedure. Replacing a representative is a certification-body process (see changing your Canadian Representative), and it is straightforward if you notice in time — but applicants rarely notice until the enquiry arrives.
A law firm's appointment has a structural advantage here. Law societies require lawyers to make arrangements for the continuity of client files, including on retirement, incapacity or death, and a firm's obligations to a client survive the departure of any individual lawyer. See why a lawyer as your Canadian Representative.
Products with long service lives
Utility meters, industrial sensors, medical devices and automotive modules commonly stay on sale, or are re-ordered as spares, for fifteen or twenty years. These are exactly the products that outlive a fixed-term appointment. An appointment with no renewal date covers the whole of that service life on the original payment, which is why we structure it this way rather than selling a term and asking you to remember it. See case examples.
Permissive changes and new certifications
A Class I or Class II permissive change under RSP-100 section 10 that keeps the same IC number stays within the existing appointment; tell us so the letter lists the new models. A new IC certification number is a new certification and needs its own appointment at US$499. See one representative letter per IC ID.
Sources. RSP-100, Issue 12, section 4.1 (Canadian representative requirement and duration of the certification agreement), section 10 (modification of certified products), section 12 (certification retention and audits).
Is there a renewal fee?
No. US$499 is paid once per certified product. The appointment has no renewal date and continues for as long as the product is offered on the Canadian market.
What if my product is still on sale in twenty years?
The appointment continues. There is no expiry date to reach and nothing further to pay for that certification.
Can the appointment be backdated to cover a gap?
No. If an appointment lapsed, appoint a replacement immediately and notify the CB. The gap cannot be papered over, but a prompt replacement is what ISED and the CB will want to see.
Does the appointment transfer if I sell the product line?
No. A transfer of the certificate to a new holder is a CB process, and the new holder needs its own representative appointment. Our appointment is personal to the applicant named in the order and ends on transfer. See changing your Canadian Representative.