CALIPER (Canadian Laboratory Initiative on Pediatric Reference Intervals) is a nation-wide initiative to improve the diagnosis and care of children, both at SickKids and at healthcare centres across Canada and globally. Our main objective is to establish a comprehensive database of healthy reference intervals (normal ranges) for blood test results in children and adolescents.

The CALIPER program was initiated by clinical chemists and medical biochemists from the Paediatric Focus Group of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (CSCC). Three workshops were held from 2004 to 2006 among paediatric hospital laboratories on establishing a new laboratory reference interval database for biomarkers of paediatric disease.

The group recommended collaborative studies to determine the effect of age, gender, and ethnic origin on blood test results in children, and establish a comprehensive database of paediatric reference intervals for Canadian children and adolescents. They called the national initiative the CALIPER (Canadian Laboratory Initiative on Pediatric Reference Intervals) program.