About PACS

Since 2001, the Pacific Agricultural Certification Society, commonly known throughout the industry as PACS, has grown and become a strong leader in organic certification across Canada. A group of health-minded individuals interested in supporting a sustainable food system were the pioneers of organics and the founders of PACS. We honour their dedication and legacy every day by actively focusing on the growth of PACS nationwide.

PACS is constantly evolving as we acknowledge the needs of our clients beyond organic certification.  Our team is continually working on ideas to diversify our certification services for our clients’ product and marketing requirements. We strive to deliver the best service, supporting our clients’ vital work by providing reputable certified organic products and services for consumers all over the world. 

PACS certifies to the Canada Organic Regime (COR) for national and international export of products,  the British Columbia Certified Organic Program (BCCOP) for certification of products marketed within BC only, and the PACS Provincial program for certification within other Canadian provinces when products are marketed provincially.

Mission: PACS is an efficient and financially viable organization dedicated to providing impartial professional certification services with affordable cost and valued transparency. PACS is motivated to be a leader in certification in Canada by finding new and better ways to service its clients whilst ensuring trust in its activities and confidence in its brand.

Vision: PACS strives to;

• Continue the trend of being a world-renowned trusted certification body (organic and more).
• Take pride in the services we provide that are ethical and transparent while adhering to the regulations that guide us.
• Become a certification body that provides multiple certification branding under one trademark, PACS

PACS Core Values: The core values identified during our stragegic planning session, provides our team with direction and goals along with milestones that we use to measure our progress. Here are a few things PACS believes in with the delivery of our brand as we CERTIFY products and services;

• Certify: We believe in providing certification with competence, knowledge and professionalism.
• Ethical: We believe in providing service with a high moral standard and integrity.
• Reputation: We believe in developing and building trust with our clients and consumers while growing our client base.
• Transparency: We believe in maintaining accountability with the standards that guide us.
• Interests: We believe in protecting our current programs while proactively diversifying.
• Future: We are constantly evolving and looking for opportunities to improve our systems to meet our high standard of customer service.
• You: We believe service should be given from our team to your team with care, professionalism, knowledge and pride.

Our clients' hard work and dedication inspire us to continue our services as a certification body, thus promoting a healthy food lifestyle. It all starts at the farmers' field, to the caring hands of our processors, to the end consumers who present these products confidently to their families and friends. Click this link to our client testimonials to see why THEY chose PACS.

Milestones:

2023: Online Portal Phase 4 - Implemented a streamlined process where renewing applicants’ data from the previous year was automatically imported, significantly reducing renewal time.

2022: Online Portal Phase 3 - Launched new organic plans and introduced additional portal features, such as accepting credit card payments and enabling certification document downloads within the portal, enhancing user convenience and functionality.

2021: - Celebrated the 20th Anniversary of PACS, marking two decades of commitment and service.

- Online Portal Phase 2 - Revamped organic plans to align with updated standards and integrated initial and  renewal versions, thereby minimizing paperwork and optimizing the renewal procedure.

- Secured approval from the Accreditation Board to expand PACS certification scope to include Aquaculture, broadening our service offerings and industry reach.

2020: Online Portal Phase 1 - Developed online forms as an extension of the new PACS website facilitating easier data submission and access for stakeholders.

2019: Developed a new website that reflects current standards, and electronic device capabilities, and offers a more robust platform for user experience and feedback.

2018: Successfully completed a new modern look and rebranding of the PACS trademark.

2016: Developed a custom Customer Relationship Management (CRM), to streamline the certification cycle for our Operators, from registration to inspection to receiving certification.

2015: Membership grew to 387 members. PACS improved its standard operating procedures and streamlined systems, including going paperless.

2008: Membership increased size to 305 members.

2001: In August PACS was established, with 28 members.
 

CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS