The challenge facing the provider of library services in Canadian health-care facilities in the mid 1980s is the development of a structured method of monitoring the quality of service provided. In order to explain the evolution of this process, a brief background history of the accreditation of health-care facilities in Canada is presented, together with the role of the Canadian Council on Hospital Accreditation. An account of the development of Canadian standards for the provision of library services is followed by an introduction to the philosophy of quality assurance as it is applied to the institution as a whole, and to the library in particular. A bibliography is appended.