Do you supply goods and services to Shared Services Canada? As of July 2016, all Shared Services Canada (SSC) suppliers must submit their bids and invoices using the Procure-To-Pay (P2P) portal. As well as providing an electronic procurement and payment system, the portal will provide enhanced visibility of procurement activities in SSC, and is expected to result in an improved end-to-end service delivery experience.

Suppliers must register to use the P2P portal. Before registering on the portal, suppliers are invited to attend an interactive WebEx training session, followed by a Q&A. These sessions run every Wednesday (2-4 pm) through the summer and fall of 2016. To register for a training session, please send your request to: SSC.p2p-p2p.SPC@canada.ca.

“How-to” documents and instructional videos are also available on the P2P portal. Support questions may be addressed to SSC.p2p-p2p.SPC@canada.ca.

As part of the security screening process for Government of Canada contractors, the Contract Security Program completes a criminal record check in accordance with the Treasury Board Standard on Security Screening. The Contract Security Program conducts criminal record checks through the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The RCMP is retiring the name-based criminal record check process in favour of mandatory electronic fingerprinting. This process entails the police service or an accredited fingerprinting company taking a copy of your fingerprints with an electronic scanner. The fingerprints are used by the RCMP only to confirm your identity. After completion of service, the copy of your fingerprints is destroyed. It is not kept or searched for other purposes.

Mandatory electronic fingerprinting is already in place for employees of most government departments; but has not yet been implemented for industry clearances. Once this process is implemented, all new requests for personnel security screening will require confirmation that an electronic fingerprint check has been completed to initiate the criminal record check.

Company security officers will direct their employees to service providers to have their fingerprints taken prior to submitting their application. A confirmation that the fingerprints were taken, along with the employee’s personnel screening forms will be submitted electronically to the Contract Security Program. This change is expected to expedite the time it takes to process screening requests.

The Contract Security Program is working with the RCMP on an implementation plan for industry that will identify how the changes will be rolled out. The new process is expected to be launched in fall 2016. A detailed communiqué on the new process and its requirements will be sent to all company security officers and their alternates closer to the launch date.

For more information, contact the Contract Security Program.

[ARCHIVED November 10, 2016 – This page will no longer be updated. Please see https://blog.theproposalcentre.ca//list-of-primers/ for current information on key Government of Canada and Government of Ontario contract vehicles]

The Government of Canada purchases professional services primarily through contract vehicles such as standing offers and supply arrangements. In some cases, the use of a standing offer or supply arrangement is mandatory.

Task-Based Informatics Professional Services (TBIPS) Standing Offer (SO) and Supply Arrangement (SA): Qualify for Contracts for IT Professional Services [Currently closed for bids. Next refresh is anticipated for January 2017]
The TBIPS SO and TBIPS SA are two of several mandatory contract vehicles related to the provision of IT Professional services. Read the rest of this entry »

[ARCHIVED November 10, 2016 – This page will no longer be updated. Please see https://blog.theproposalcentre.ca//list-of-primers/ for current information on key Government of Canada and Government of Ontario contract vehicles]

We are pleased to publish an update to our SO, SA, and VOR Primers Page and all associated contract vehicle primers.  On the List of SO, SA, VOR Primers page you will find the due dates for open and anticipated solicitations for qualifying for mandatory Supply Arrangements (SA), Standing Offers (SO), and Vendor of Record (VOR) Arrangements. This page also includes links to our updated Primers which summarize key details for each contract vehicle.

Read the rest of this entry »

[ARCHIVED November 10, 2016 – This page will no longer be updated. Please see https://blog.theproposalcentre.ca//list-of-primers/ for current information on key Government of Canada and Government of Ontario contract vehicles]

Are you a Company Security Officer (CSO) or Alternate Company Security Officer (ACSO) for an organization that holds a federal security clearance? If yes, and you are interested in developing a better understanding of the Industrial Security Program and your responsibilities in this program, you should attend a Company Security Officer (CSO) Training Session. Read the rest of this entry »

Currently, all City of Ottawa Requests for Quotation (RFQ) over $100,000 are hosted on MERX.com. As April 4, 2016, all City of Ottawa RFQs for opportunities under $100,000 will also be hosted on MERX. These opportunities will no longer be hosted on Ottawa.ca.

Read the rest of this entry »

Following the renewal of the Task-Based Informatics Professional Services (TBIPS) Request for Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements in the fall of 2015, the Government of Canada published the median rates established for TBIPS Standing Offers by Region and Metropolitan Area, Category of Personnel, and Level of Expertise. The rates can be downloaded in PDF format from the TBIPS SO Median Rates notice. Read the rest of this entry »

[ARCHIVED May 9, 2016 – This page will no longer be updated. Please see https://blog.theproposalcentre.ca//list-of-primers/ for current information on key Government of Canada and Government of Ontario contract vehicles]

We are pleased to publish an update to our SO, SA, and VOR Primers Page and all associated contract vehicle primers.  On the List of SO, SA, VOR Primers page you will find the due dates for open and anticipated solicitations for qualifying for mandatory Supply Arrangements (SA), Standing Offers (SO), and Vendor of Record (VOR) Arrangements. This page also includes links to our updated Primers which summarize key details for each contract vehicle.

Read the rest of this entry »

[ARCHIVED February 6, 2018 – This page will no longer be updated. Please see https://blog.theproposalcentre.ca//2018/02/06/nafta-threshold-2018-2019/ for updated information on the NAFTA threshold]

The Government of Canada’s contracting policies and regulations are affected by numerous trade agreements that Canada has signed with other countries and even one between the provinces (the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)). Of all the agreements, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has the most significant impact on government procurement by dictating some of the terms governing how solicitations are run.

From a services perspective, the threshold for the past two years has been $80,400.  Treasury Board has recently announced that for the period from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017, the threshold will be $89,600, inclusive of taxes. Updated thresholds for goods, services and construction, for all trade agreements can be found in Treasury Board’s Contracting Policy Notice 2015-3. Read the rest of this entry »

The Government of Canada purchases professional services primarily through contract vehicles such as standing offers (SO) and supply arrangements (SA). In some cases, the use of a standing offer or supply arrangement is mandatory.

For Information Technology (IT) professional services contracts, the Solutions-Based Informatics Professional Services (SBIPS) SA is one of several available contract vehicles, and will be for years to come.

Solutions-Based Informatics Professional Services (SBIPS) Supply Arrangement (SA): Qualify for Contracts for Contracts for IT Professional Services [Open for bids indefinitely – Quarterly due dates: last business day of the month in March, June, September and December. The next due date is December 31, 2021.]

The SBIPS SA is one of several procurement tools for the purchase of IT professional services. While the better known Task-Based Informatics Professional Services (TBIPS) SA and the ProServices SA focus on contracts dealing with resource-based contracts (i.e., services provided by individuals), the SBIPS SA is used to procure complete solutions. PWGSC defines SBIPS as follows: Read the rest of this entry »