About Us

Our History

For more than 50 years, ICL has been committed to providing our clients with a high-value, low-cost, test and logistical consolidated service. Established in 1967 to coordinate patient testing, ICL operates as a Not-for-Profit, Canadian corporation that is dedicated to ensuring client access to both a national and international laboratory test referral network.

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ICL’s mandate continues to be based on the guiding principles:

  • Every hospital laboratory has cost pressures and therefore, cannot perform every type of test;
  • Hospitals and medical practitioners need responsive referral laboratories, allowing them to quickly diagnose and monitor their patients;
  • All healthcare institutions and practitioners require cost-effective, timely and detailed laboratory report information.

ICL simplifies the practice of ordering tests, routing and tracking samples, and providing results through each of our three distinct services, using our laboratory information and network systems. ICL’s clients benefit from immediate access to a wide spectrum of tests performed by accredited laboratories along with a consolidated billing process.

Our Expertise

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Referral Testing

ICL sources and directs our client test requests through a sophisticated and complex laboratory referral network, that reaches across Canada and internationally. Referral laboratories are selected based on their licence and accreditation status; high-quality clinical and scientific service; technical capacity; service turnaround times; technology; methodology; and cost.

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Logistics Management

ICL manages the logistics involved in laboratory referral testing including packaging, kit and supply ordering, clinical and analytical interpretation and a simplified billing process. Our unified packaging system meets the requirements of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and Regulations and provides our clients a simple, secure, stable method for specimen transport.

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Technology Solutions

ICL through our Information and Technology department supports order entry and results reporting through computer interfaces; auto-fax; direct-print; secure email and a results portal. We work with our clients to design, build, and support the most cost-effective interface between laboratory information systems, while adhering to strict privacy and security guidelines to protect private health information.

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Client Care

ICL provides a dedicated Client Care team, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST, to assist with answering questions regarding test availability; order and result status; handling of STAT or priority requests; booking bloodwork appointments; and arranging consultation and interpretation of results.

Licence and Accreditation

ICL is licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Health to own and operate a medical laboratory. We are also accredited by Accreditation Canada Diagnostics and hold the 15189 PlusTM certificate. Our referral laboratories are also licensed and accredited. Should you require ICL to complete a Referral Laboratory Qualification form for your laboratory accreditation, please submit your request and form to info@iclabs.ca.
Click the logo below for a downloadable copy of the licence and accreditation certificate.

Message from the CEO

Responding to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us how much we value the safety of our community – our clients, our testing laboratories and our staff. We are focussed on our promise to deliver the services you have come to expect of a referral testing service, accepting specimens, delivering results, answering your service queries and maintaining electronic linkages.

In this challenging time, we acknowledge the value of our dedicated staff by supporting a healthy work program, recognizing individual needs and the common good. In addition to ensuring a safe workplace, during this period we are supporting staff to work from home, to work variable schedules, to reduce travelling for meetings and to facilitate avoidance of public transit. Our staff are an asset whose dedication to service is thankfully abundant in health care.

As a hospital laboratory executive said to me today, “We are all in it together”. ICL will continue to serve our clients and suppliers to ensure that patients receive the best quality testing available. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me or to any ICL staff member and we will gladly help.

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Isaac Gould, CEO, In-Common Laboratories

Corporate Contacts

Shams Akhundova

HR Generalist, Board Secretary

David Robertson

Vice President, Corporate Services

Nasir Noormohamed

Board Chair

Laurie Sweeting

Director of Laboratory Operations, Quality Manager

Shashank Tilak

Laboratory & Scientific Director, Privacy Officer