Pro-Cert resulted from the merger in 1999 of two very similar organic certification agencies:

  • Organic Crop Producers & Processors (OCPP) of Ontario, Canada,
  • Pro-Cert Organic Systems (Pro-Cert) of Saskatchewan, Canada.
Both founding affiliates started certification in 1990, were owned and operated by Professional Agrologists (P.Ag.’s) and worked on a fee for service basis. Neither agency required memberships or demanded royalties.
The obvious commonalities, the strategic east-west office locations, the like-minded founding principals and the need for the intellectual and financial mass to survive in Canada’s unregulated organic environment led to the merger.  In September of 2007, Pro-Cert purchased all the shares to OC/PRO and now owns and operates Pro-Cert from its Head Office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and its Eastern Branch Office in Cambray, Ontario.  Pro-Cert certifies some 1,700 organic producers, processors, handlers and traders in Canada and the US.  Pro-Cert's certification scope grew from certification to it's own standard to certification via appropriate accreditation to: 
  1. the Canadian Organic Standards and Product Regulations;
  2. the EC Regulation 834/07 and 889/08;
  3. the USDA National Organic Program;
  4. The Quebec Organic Reference Standards;
  5. MAFF (JAS) Regulations

Pro-Cert also assists applicants in obtaining Bio-Suisse (Switzerland) certification.