If you have 40 products or fewer, GS1 Canada will issue you licences for individual GTINs; if you need more, we will issue you a licence for a GS1 Company Prefix, which can be used to generate even more. Whichever you need, the GTINs for your products are guaranteed to be unique worldwide.

Each variation of each product you sell requires a unique GTIN. If you need help determining the number of GTINs you’ll need we’ve provided you a tool to help, the GTIN Estimator

A GS1 Canada subscription comes in five different “capacities” based on how many GTINs you'll need, from as few as 1 product to as many as 100,000 unique products and your annual revenue. Selecting the correct capacity makes a difference to your business. Most of our subscribers select Licences that have a larger capacity than they need at the present moment. Why? These companies are planning for their future growth. More products and variations mean more GTINs. If it turns out you do require more, you can always request an upgrade or request another company prefix.

Keep in mind, having all your products associated with one Prefix Licence number might be easier for your company to manage and may be less expensive. If you do have any questions, please contact us. Our pricing schedule is based on the number of unique products that you need to identify and your total annual revenue. Your initial fee provides the Licence to you for one year. After that, you'll pay the annual renewal fee to continue using for your barcodes and product identification.

Once you’ve determined the number of GTINs you’ll need and the subscription level you require you will need to subscribe. Provide your contact information, choose your Licence capacity, and pay online. It's that easy. Once your account is set-up you'll get a welcome email from GS1 Canada within 24 to 48 hours confirming your subscription. We will contact you if additional information is needed. This email includes all the important information you need to get started, including how to access your Licence certificate, your GTINs and access to myGS1— your personalized online hub for your account.

A Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is the number you see underneath the barcode symbol—and it's the same number that's encoded in the lines and spaces that the scanner reads. GTINs uniquely identify products at all item and package levels.

GTINs are used in barcodes scanned at retail point-of-sale and on inner packs, cases, and pallets of products scanned in a distribution or warehouse environment. They are also used to identify products sold online.

Do I need one if I only sell in stores or online?

Your GTINs are included in your GS1 Company Licence and are commonly used on purchase orders and in delivery and payment documents. They can be encoded into various types of GS1 barcodes and Electronic Product Codes (EPCs), which are programmed into Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Also, they can be used in the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) through data pools and catalogues.

You'll assign each unique product a separate, unique GTIN. The rules for assigning GTINs help ensure that every variation of an item is assigned a number that is globally unique. You create a GTIN by combining your GS1 Company Prefix number* with a unique product number that you assign, plus a check digit that helps to ensure the GTIN is created correctly. A GTIN, along with a barcode, can be used anywhere in the world.

*Tip: Use your Company Prefix to create GTINs for barcodes. Use the GS1 Company Prefix to create all other identifiers and barcodes. You can find both numbers on your GS1 Company Prefix Certificate. Note: Individual and Basic subscriptions do not have prefixes. GTINs for these subscription types are printed on your Licence.

For Healthcare providers, please reach out to support for assistance in creating GTINs.

Creating a GTIN-12

Steps to generate a GTIN-12, (Formerly known as Unique Product Code-U.P.C.)

1 Once you have logged into myGS1 and accessed your company licence, you will need to use the Check Digit Calculator by clicking the link under the ‘Useful Links' tab on your myGS1 home page.

2 Using the Check Digit Calculator, under the Item Reference column, input your 6 to 9-digit company prefix, followed by the Item Reference Number which is the unique product number determined by your company to identify your products.

Please Note: The Item Reference Number length varies depending on the length of your Company Prefix. If your company prefix number is

• 7 digits then your Item Reference Number will need to be 4 digits,
• 8 digits then your Item Reference Number will need to be 3 digits,
• 9 digits then your Item Reference Number will need to be 2 digits,

3 After you have entered your company prefix and the Item Reference Number determined by your company, click on ‘Calculate'. (You should have 11 digits in total)

4 You should then see the full GTIN, under the GTIN format column, including the last digit (Check digit), which is the numeric GS1 Identification Key that ensures the integrity of your GTIN and is now the last digit of your GTIN

5 Once you have your GTIN you can then assign it to your product and generate your barcode using the GS1 Canada Barcode Generator tool.

We recommend you record the complete GTIN(s) and keep track of the products they are assigned to, as GS1 Canada does not currently keep record of your GTIN(s).

Creating a GTIN-14

Steps to generate a GTIN-14 (SCC Shipping Container Code) for cases & pallets:

1 Once you have logged into myGS1 and accessed your company licence, you will need to use the Check Digit Calculator by clicking the link under the ‘Useful Links' tab on your myGS1 home page.

2 Using the check digit calculator, under the Item Reference column in GTIN-14, input the first digit which is your packaging indicator (PI) — (number assigned from 1-8), followed by a “0” which is a filler digit.

3 Once you have entered the first two digits (PI and filler), input your 6 to 9-digit company prefix, followed by the Item Reference Number which is the unique product number determined by your company to identify your products.

Please Note: The Item Reference Number length varies depending on the length of your Company Prefix. If your company prefix number is

• 7 digits then your Item Reference Number will need to be 4 digits,
• 8 digits then your Item Reference Number will need to be 3 digits,
• 9 digits then your Item Reference Number will need to be 2 digits

4 After you have entered the PI number, the filler digit, your company prefix and the Item Reference Number determined by your company, click on ‘Calculate'. (You should have 13 digits in total)

5 You should then see the full GTIN, under the GTIN format column, including the last digit (Check digit), which is the numeric GS1 Identification Key that ensures the integrity of your GTIN and is now the last digit of your GTIN.

6 Once you have your GTIN you can then assign it to your product and generate your barcode using the GS1 Canada Barcode Generator tool.

We recommend you record the complete GTIN(s) and keep track of the products they are assigned to, as GS1 Canada does not currently keep record of your GTIN(s).

If you require more information, please contact Subscriber Support at 1-800-567-7084 or email at info@gs1ca.org.

If you subscribed to GS1 Canada on or after December 5, 2021 you can create your barcodes through Manage My GTINs, an efficient, user-friendly way to easily and accurately assign and manage your GTINs and generate your barcodes in one central, secure location.

All other subscribers can create barcodes through the Barcode Generator, an online tool that allows you to quickly and easily generate high resolution barcodes using your unique GTINs.

The barcode generator ensures your barcodes comply with all regulatory requirements, rules and formats, and scan correctly every time.

What if I'm shipping my product from multiple locations?

To identify a location, you'll need a Global Location Number (GLN).

The GLN is used to identify the locations of parties involved in business transactions. These can be functional groups within a company or real, physical places that might ship, receive, process, or hold inventories, such as:

• Legal Entities: Whole companies, subsidiaries or divisions within a company, health system corporations, etc.
• Functional Entities: Specific departments within a legal entity, such as accounting departments, purchasing departments, hospital pharmacies, etc.
• Physical Locations: Manufacturing facilities, distribution centres, warehouses, dock doors, hospital wings, bin locations, restaurants, retail stores, etc.

GLNs are commonly used in business transactions such as purchase orders, advance ship notices, and invoices. They are also used within barcodes on logistics labels and on electronic commerce systems such as data synchronization and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

The benefit of using GLNs is to enable standardized location identification that is shared across trading partners. They eliminate confusing variations in location names, eliminate the need to develop and translate different proprietary identification systems, and help to ensure that the right product is delivered to the right place.

You create a GLN by combining your issued GS1 Company Prefix number with a unique location number that you assign, plus a check digit that helps to ensure the GLN is created correctly. A GLN is always 13 digits long, so the number of locations you can identify depends on the length of your GS1 Company Prefix. This can be done using our Manage My GLNs.

There are many formats of barcodes. The barcode format you need for products scanned at point-of-sale (or checkout) are different from the ones you need for products scanned in a distribution centre or a warehouse. So, your first step is to consider where your barcode will be scanned:

The quality of your barcode is critical for a successful scan. Your barcode could look great on the package and be formatted perfectly; but if it fails to scan, it may require manual keying of the GTIN and could potentially lead to lost sales and market share from customers at checkout. You may also have additional expenses from retailer charge-backs.

You need to use high-resolution artwork and high-resolution printing. Using both means that the lines and spaces in your barcode are clean and readable. To create high-resolution art for an actual barcode digital file yourself, use Barcode Generator, an online resource for GS1 Canada Company Prefix holders. You can use this art to print your labels yourself or send it to a barcode label printer or your package label vendor. As a subscriber you can also turn to a GS1 Canada Solution Provider for your barcode art and printing needs. These providers are trained by GS1 Canada on GS1 Standards for barcodes.

Selecting Colours

The best colour combination for a barcode is black bars with a white background (spaces and quiet zones). If you want to use other colours, follow these guidelines:

Where should I be placing my barcodes on my products?

Where you put the barcode on your package can impact the ability of scanners to read your barcode. In general, for an item scanned at checkout, you would put the barcode in the lower right-hand section of the back of the package. Avoid the edge of the package and allow enough white space surrounding the barcode to help to ensure a clean scan. It is also critical that the printed surface be smooth, so nothing interferes with the scanner's ability to read the barcode.

There are other guidelines for bagged items, large/bulky items, curved items, tags, and non-packaged items for checkout in addition to guidelines for items scanned in warehouses or distribution centres.

New! Symbol Placement Guidelines - What you need to know? Does the barcode size matter?

The size of the barcode within the package design will depend on where you will use the barcode and how you will print the barcode. Barcodes have a fixed relationship between height and width. When one dimension is modified, the other dimension must be altered by a proportional amount.

It is best to print barcodes at their full height and not remove portions to make it fit on the packaging (this is called truncation) since this could result in incorrect scanning. Also, leave a clear, unprinted area on the left and right sides of the barcode (known as the quiet zone). Create your barcode art in the size you will need for your packaging. If you need to change the size of the barcode art, do not shrink or enlarge it - it may not scan correctly. If you need to resize the barcode art, just re-create the barcode in the desired size.

How do I know if my barcodes work?