Phase One: Procurement Strategy

1.1 Contractual Methods

• 1.1.1 Acquisition Card - Low dollar value, simple

  The Acquisition Card can be used to purchase goods and services up to the card limit (e.g. $10,000), taxes included, for items such as furniture, office supplies (except printer and copier paper), simple services, etc.

  Cardholders must use the Standing Offers (SOs) and Supply Arrangements (SAs) established by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) as a first option to meet their procurement needs, as per the list of ten commodities for which these tools are mandatory. If an SO exists, cardholders must buy from a vendor included on the SO and quote the Standing Offer number to ensure that the Crown receives the pricing and benefits of the Standing Offer.

  Card holders must confirm that the supplier will accept the government acquisition card before placing an order. Note that if the vendor is the clear sole source of supply and does not accept the acquisition card, you may use your acquisition card with the vendor's PayPal; however these scenarios must be clearly justified using the PayPal Justification Form (see Procurement Bulletin 2016-7) and kept on file and provided when requested. For more information on the use of PayPal, please see the Paypal WebEx presentation (PPTX, 725 KB).

  For more information on Acquisition Cards please visit the iService Catalogue, and the Acquisition Card Program site. Clients can also search the iService Catalogue for additional details on the product or service they require.

• 1.1.2 Existing Tools

  Standing Offer (SO) and Supply Arrangement (SA) are federal government procurement tools designed to provide access to qualified or pre-qualified suppliers of required goods and services.

  For standing offers, the contracting authority will issue a call-up under the terms of the standing offer. Some standing offers allow the use to the acquisition card as a call-up method. For supply arrangements, a competition will typically be done among all or a number of SA holders in accordance with the rules established in the supply arrangement.

  A list of SAs and SOs can be found on the Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements (SOSA) site.

  Certain commodities have mandatory SAs and SOs associated with them. A list of commodities for which these tools are mandatory can be found on the Buy and Sell site.

  If a SA or SO is associated with a commodity but is not mandatory, then that commodity should be procured through that tool unless, in the opinion of the technical and contracting authorities, another source offers best value.

  In addition to SAs and SOs, ESDC has several Task Authorization based Capacity on Demand contracts.

  Common tools currently in place are:

  • Capacity on Demand: IT professional services (including project/change management, business analyst/architect)
  • Capacity on Demand: Non-IT professional services (Project Management and Business Services)
  • Capacity on Demand: HR Services
  • Professional Services using TBIPS, TSPS and ProServices
  • IT Products
  • Furniture
  • Language Training
  • Office Supplies
  • SOW Writing
  • Translation Services
  • Professional Audit Support Services Supply Arrangement (PASS SA)

  Please search the iService Catalogue for the required commodity.

• 1.1.3 Full Solicitation

  A full solicitation on Buy and Sell may be conducted where a requirement cannot be purchased using an existing procurement tool and exceeds $25k for purchases of goods or $40K for services.

  ESDC or a common services organization, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) or Shared Services Canada (SSC), will need to manage the solicitation process.

  Procurement Innovations Centre of Expertise

  If your requirement is for a unique need or product, you may want to consider one of the procurement innovation approaches. For more information please visit the Procurement Innovations Centre of Expertise site.

  A competitive procurement (tender) is not within ESDC authority if it meets ANY of the following criteria:

  • It is a request for services valued at more than $3,750,000 (including taxes);
  • It is a request for goods valued at more than $25K (including taxes);
  • It is a request for a commodity within SSC jurisdiction (as defined by the SSC Service Catalogue)
  • It is a request for services under the sole jurisdiction of PSPC’s Communications Procurement Directorate
  • It is for research and development services (PSPC has sole authority for this).

  Contract splitting is the practice of dividing an aggregate requirement into a number of smaller contracts, for the purpose of avoiding the required approval authorities or procurement procedures. Contract splitting must be avoided.
• 1.1.4 Sole Source Contract

  A non-competitive or sole-source contract is a contract for which bids were not solicited. The client must fully justify the exception for the sole source in order to proceed with this method of contracting. A list of the valid exceptions under the Government Contracts Regulations (GCRs) is detailed below. The client must also complete the TB questions for sole source when exception "(d) only one person is capable of performing the contract" is selected and the value is equal to or above $25k for purchases of goods or $40K for services.

  Government Contracts Regulations (GCR) Sole Source Reasons

  There are certain situations where competition is not necessary or appropriate. Section 6 of the Government Contracts Regulations (GCR) contains four exceptions that permit a contracting authority to set aside the requirement to solicit bids. These are:

  1. the need is one of pressing emergency in which delay would be injurious to the public interest;
  2. the estimated expenditure does not exceed
     • in the case of a goods contract, $25,000,
     • in the case of a contract for the acquisition of architectural, engineering or other services required in respect of the planning, design, preparation or supervision of the construction, repair, renovation or restoration of a work, $100,000; and
     • in the case of a services contract, $40,000.
  3. the nature of the work is such that it would not be in the public interest to solicit bids; or
  4. only one person or firm is capable of performing the contract.

  Any use of the four exceptions to the bidding requirement must be fully justified on the contract file.

  Unsatisfactory reasons to invoke exception 6 (d):

  • The supplier is the only supplier the client is aware of that can provide the good or service.
  • The supplier has been used in the past and is preferred by the client.
  • The supplier is local (this is not an allowable reason under the trade agreements [ref. CFTA article 201 Non-Discrimination 3.a]).
  • The requirement is urgent.

  The contracting authority will review and confirm if sole source justification is reasonable. If justified, they will then identify the appropriate limited tendering reason under the trade agreements. If not justified, they will ask the client to provide additional details.

  ACAN

  The contracting authority may recommend the posting of an Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) in cases where a sole source is requested. An ACAN is a notice on BuyandSell.gc.ca which indicates to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified supplier, believed to be the only one capable of performing the work. Other suppliers have the opportunity to signal their interest in bidding by submitting a statement of capabilities. Following notification to suppliers who did not successfully demonstrate that their statement of capabilities met the requirements set out in the ACAN, the sole source process can then be awarded using the Treasury Board's electronic bidding authorities. In the case where a supplier successfully demonstrates their capability to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, we must proceed with a competitive process.

  ACANs must not be posted in situations where the contracting authority cannot accept a statement of capabilities or in solicitation processes where electronic or traditional bidding cannot be used. Examples where an ACAN should not be used include situations involving national security or extreme urgency brought on by unforeseeable circumstances, or where work has already begun. In such cases, the rationale underlying the decision not to publish an ACAN should be well documented on the procurement file.

• 1.1.5 Convenience Cheques

  In special cases, where the acquisition card is appropriate but the vendor or individual does not accept the acquisition card, a convenience cheque may be used. Only the Convenience Cheque Coordinator is authorized to issue a convenience cheque, and their approval is needed before this approach is used.

  For more information on convenience cheques please view the Convenience Cheque procedures.

1.2 Methods outside normal Procurement Processes

• 1.2.1 Fund Commitments

  Formerly known as manual payments, the below are approved usage of fund commitments.

  Note that Departmental procedures related to Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures (THCEE) must still be followed where applicable.

  List of Approved Use of Funds Commitments

  1. Memorandum of understanding with other government departments, agencies or Crown corporations (see Procurement Bulletin 2015-11 (PDF, 88 KB) for more information);
  2. Memorandum of understanding with other levels of government (see Procurement Bulletin 2015-11 (PDF, 88 KB) for more information), NOTING changes announced in Procurement Bulletin 2018-8 regarding the use of MOUs and FCs for agreements with universities or colleges);
  3. Reimbursement of tuition;
  4. Conference attendance;
  5. Common System for Grants and Contributions (CSGCM) Funds Commitment interfaced through Partner Systems;
  6. Grants & Contributions (G&C) Commitments used for non-CSGC G&Cs (such as Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs));
  7. Non-Salary Interdepartmental Settlement (IS);
  8. Postage meter refills;
  9. Use of departmental forms and publications contracts;
  10. FCs related to travel will be handled by the Integrated Corporate Accounting and Accountability Directorate (ICAAD);
  11. Fleet costs paid through the ARI fleet credit card (under contract with PSPC);
  12. Employee relocation costs – reimbursement to employees or costs paid to Brookfield Global Relocation (under contract with PSPC);
  13. Employee reimbursement for medical expenditures;
  14. Payments to medical professionals for employee medical expenditures up to $500 only;
  15. Accommodations services with Brookfield Global Integrated Solution (BGIS, under contract with PSPC);
  16. Claims against the Crown.
• 1.2.2 Contractual Arrangements and Transfer Payments

  Where possible, and especially when using private sector resources, the best option is to protect the Crown by using a contract, which must follow the requirements of the Government Contracts Regulations (GCRs) and the Contracting Policy.
  However, there are other instruments available. Determining the appropriate type of instrument to use requires an understanding of the legal characteristics of each party, the applicable laws, relevant policies, and the substance and nature of the transaction. For more information on the different types of agreements that ESDC can put in place, refer to the Guideline on Agreements.

1.3 Inappropriate Contracting Methods

An inappropriate contracting method occurs when someone without contracting authority purchases goods or services from a vendor without following the ESDC procurement process. When such a situation occurs, a Confirming Order or a contract including pre-contractual clauses must be issued in order to proceed with any payments resulting from the purchase.

Confirming Orders or Pre-contractual Work requests must be submitted using the Substantiation Form (DOCX, 26 KB), in accordance with the Confirming Order or Pre-Contractual Work Process. Once the form has been reviewed and finalized, with the assistance of the CFOB procurement specialist, it will require the signature of the Fund Centre (FC) Manager and his/her immediate supervisor. For requirements above $5K, the signature of the respective DG or ADM will also be required.

CFOB will review all requests for Confirming Order or Pre-Contractual Work and may recommend corrective measures, up to and including the withdrawal of delegation of authorities. Please refer to the Withdrawal of Authorities under the Directive on Delegation of Authorities Instrument section of the Delegation of Spending and Financial Authorities – Supplementary Notes.

In ESDC, all contracting requests, including Confirming Orders or Pre-Contractual Work from Fund Centre Manager organizations, are managed by the Procurement Operations Team within the Chief Financial Officer Branch (CFOB).

1.4 Schedule

Regardless of which tool or method, the procurement schedule is an important part of the process. The procurement schedule will be determined once the PReq is received by the procurement specialist.

The below are some items that can impact the schedule.

Procurement Review Committee (PRC) Approval

The Procurement Review Committee provides oversight to procurement activities that have a higher risk potential for the organization, conducting reviews at the pre-contractual stage of the procurement cycle. The role of the committee is to uphold the values of prudence, probity and sound contract management.

The PRC meets on a weekly basis, limiting the impact on the procurement schedule. The committee can also meet outside the regular schedule as required.

The PRC is required to review and approve all proposed procurements when any of the following apply:

• Competitive requirements valued at over $1M;
• Sole source requirements above $25K for goods or $40K for services (including ACAN’s);
• Requirements with a high degree of risk or exposure;
• Requirements invoking a National Security Exception (NSE) with a value above any of the trade agreements threshold;
• Requirements subject to a Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement (CLCA);
• Before awarding a contract to a Former Public Servant in receipt of a pension pursuant to the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA);
• Requests for the issuance of a Confirming Order or the insertion of Pre-contractual clauses into a contract; or
• Requirements with potential socio-economic impact identified by AMPP Management.

For more detail, please consult the Procurement Review Committee webpage.

Security Requirements

Note that security requirements can have a significant impact on the schedule.

General timelines:

• Personnel security – up to 5 days
• Authority to process IT (NCR) – up to 30 business days
  • Authority to process IT (outside NCR) – up to 90 business days
• Register a new Supplier for clearance – up to 6 months

Minimum Posting Periods for competitive processes

If the requested commodity is not subject to any of the trade agreements, then the RFP posting period is at the discretion of the contracting authority but should not be less than 15 calendar days under normal circumstances.

The RFP must also be posted for a minimum of 15 calendar days when one of the mandatory procurement tools is used (TBIPS, TSPS, SBIPS, ProServices).

If the value of the requested commodity reaches the threshold of any of the international trade agreements, the solicitation minimum posting period is 40 calendar days. This period can be reduced by 5 days for each of the following conditions. However, it cannot be less than 30 calendar days:

• The notice of the proposed procurement (NPP) is published by electronic means;
• All the tender documentation is made available by electronic means from the date of publication of the NPP;
• The procuring entity accepts tenders by electronic means.

Regardless of any of the above minimum solicitation period requirements, suppliers must always be provided with a reasonable amount of time to prepare and submit responsive bids. Depending on the nature and complexity of the requirement, the procurement specialist may determine that a longer solicitation period is required.

Service Standards for ESDC Procurement Team Requests

The client must be aware of the timelines for contracting early on in the procurement process. The complexity of a procurement will affect how long the process takes. Please visit iService for more information on ESDC Service Standards. Clients must also be aware of year-end procurement deadlines (PDF, 68 KB) for submitting PReqs.

Note that the service standards apply to procurement managed by ESDC. Requirements over ESDC's Basic Contracting Limits (Appendix C - Contracts Directive) will be sent to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) or Shared Services Canada (SSC) by the contracting specialist as applicable.