FAQs

A certification body, also called a registrar, audits your management system against an ISO standard. If the system meets the requirements, it issues a certificate and then checks the system with regular audits. ISO itself writes the standards but does not certify organizations.

Apex Systems Registrar is an affiliate of American Registration Inc., an ANAB-accredited certification body. Accreditation means the certification body is itself independently assessed against international rules, which is why customers and tenders often ask for accredited certificates. ANAB is a signatory to the international multilateral recognition arrangement, so accredited certificates are recognized internationally.

No, it is voluntary. In practice customers often ask for it, especially in supplier prequalification and in tenders from government and large corporate buyers.

No. A certification body has to stay impartial, so we cannot write, design or implement the system we would later certify, or tell you specifically how to fix a finding. Many organizations build their system themselves, and some use a consultant. Our role is to audit it independently, which is what gives your certificate its credibility.

No. We certify organizations’ management systems, not individual people, and we do not run training courses. If you are looking for a personal qualification, such as lead auditor training, you will need a training provider.

We are based in Mississauga, Ontario, and certify organizations across Canada and in the United States.

After you accept a quote, a Stage 1 audit reviews your documented system, scope and readiness. The Stage 2 audit, normally at least two weeks later, checks how the system works in practice. Once any major nonconformities are closed, a reviewer who was not on the audit team makes the certification decision and your certificate is issued.

Most of the time goes into getting your system running and building up records, not into the audits themselves. As a guide, a small organization starting from scratch usually needs about two to three months from deciding to get certified to holding the certificate. If your system is already running, it is mainly a matter of scheduling the audits. Read more about how long ISO certification takes.

It depends mainly on the number of audit days, which accreditation rules set from the number of people in your management system, your sites and shifts, the complexity of your work and how many standards are audited together. Plan for the full three-year cycle: the initial audits, annual surveillance audits and recertification. Request a free quote for a detailed proposal, or read what drives the cost of ISO 9001 certification in Canada.

Yes. They share the same structure, so they can be audited together as an integrated management system. A combined audit usually takes less time in total than separate audits for each standard.

Audits are normally carried out on site. Some activities can be audited remotely where the risk is low and accreditation rules allow it, and this is agreed when your audit is planned.

A nonconformity is not a failed audit. For a minor nonconformity you have 60 days to submit a corrective action plan. For a major one you have 30 days, and it must also be corrected and verified before certification can be granted.

Three years. Surveillance audits take place at least once a year to keep it valid, and a recertification audit before the expiry date renews it for another three years.

Usually, yes. A valid accredited certificate with no open major nonconformities can normally be transferred after a pre-transfer review, and you keep your current three-year cycle. See how certificate transfers work.

Nothing changes straight away. ISO 9001:2026 was published in September 2026, and certified organizations have until 30 September 2029 to transition. We currently certify to ISO 9001:2015 and expect to offer audits to the new edition from early 2027. Read what certified companies need to know.