Changes to the Forensic Assessment Centre Case Acceptance Procedure

Effective May 23, 2018 the National Forensic Laboratory Services (NFLS) is implementing changes in order to reduce the processing time in the Forensic Assessment Centre (FAC). As a result of these changes, requests for forensic analysis submitted to FAC must now include all the required information upon receipt in order to be accepted for assessment. Requests received without this information will be rejected. These requests can be resubmitted to the FAC once the required information has been included with the request.

In January 2018, NFLS launched an on‐line Information Centre for the purpose of providing dynamic and responsive information to clients about our services, and the submission of requests for forensic analysis. To assist investigators in fulfilling these new requirements, NFLS has added this information to the Information Centre. Refer to this Information Centre to see a list of required information for each program area, check sheets, and instructions on how to complete the Request for Forensic Laboratory Analysis Form (C‐414).

In addition, NFLS released a new and improved version of the C‐414. The new version of this document is currently available on the Information Centre however its use will not be mandatory until July 1, 2018. After this date, requests for forensic analysis on any other version of the form will be rejected.

These changes are critical to ensuring a streamlined and timely approach to the assessment of laboratory requests by the FAC. Thank you for working with us to improve our service delivery.