[ARCHIVED August 2, 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]

After several years of rumours regarding the replacement for the Canadian Federal Government’s PS Online system, details are starting to be released.

The ProServices Supply Arrangement (SA) is expected to be operational in the Spring of 2013. While there are not a lot of details available to date, here is what know at this time:

• This is a mandatory SA and departments will be required to contract through this SA for projects which fall under its scope and scale.
• The SA will be based on the categories from both the Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS) Task-Based Supply Arrangement and the Task-Based Informatics Professional Services Supply Arrangement (TBIPS)
• It will be used for contracts less than the NAFTA threshold (currently $78,500)
• It will be integrated into and accessed through the Centralized Professional Service System (CPSS), a system common to all the major professional services procurement tools.
• A Request for Supply Arrangement is expected to be released in Fall 2012 on MERX. Existing TSPS and TBIPS suppliers may be “grandfathered”, but existing PS Online suppliers without a TSPS or TBIPS SA will not be.
• All suppliers (existing and new) will be required to input applicable data elements (unknown at this time) into CPSS system before they can be contracted through the ProServices SA.

Some of the details yet to be worked on include the evaluation criteria and the possibility of “grandfathering” existing Tier 1 suppliers from the TSPS Task-Based SA and the TBIPS SA. Potential criteria identified include the number of years in business and the number of projects directly related to the categories of personnel.

Consultations on the new Supply Arrangement will be taking place across the country in August and September and registration is required. The ProServices LOI MERX posting lists dates and contact information for registration. Note that the first deadline to register is August 7^th for consultations in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto. You must register by September 4^th for consultations in Halifax, Montreal, and the National Capital Area.

If you have any questions about this or any other procurement or proposal topics, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2012 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Canadian Government, Procurement Advocacy, Procurement News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.