The following clauses apply to and form part of any Supply Arrangement resulting from the Request for a Supply Arrangement (RFSA). Only Suppliers who are qualified and "Active" SA Holders at the time of a bid solicitation is issued are eligible to be invited to that bid.
Solutions Based Informatics Professional Services "SBIPS", or the "Services" refer to a requirement comprised mainly of Information Technology (IT) services and, in certain situations, essential goods, through which a Supplier delivers a solution to a requirement, phase or project, manages the overall requirement, phase or project and accepts responsibility/risk for the outcome. A SBIPS requirement is meant to produce a self standing outcome-driven result. Such result does not require any further work and could be used as a reference for future requirements, phases or projects.
The Supply Arrangement includes only those Services described in the Requirements for Services at Annex A "SBIPS Streams of Expertise and Definitions", which are also identified at Annex D "SBIPS SA Holder's Eligible Streams of Expertise, Regions and Metropolitan Areas".
All clauses and conditions identified in the Supply Arrangement and resulting contract(s) by number, date and title are set out in the Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) Manual issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).
2020 (2014-03-01) General Conditions, Supply Arrangement - Goods or Services, apply to and form part of the Supply Arrangement.
The Supplier must compile and maintain records on its provision of solution-based professional services to the federal government including any goods provided to support these professional services to the federal government under contract resulting from the Supply Arrangement. This data must include all purchases paid for by a Government of Canada Acquisition Card.
Canada will provide a report template which must be submitted at the end of each quarter. All data fields of the report must be completed as requested. If some data is not available, the reason must be indicated. If no goods or services are provided during a given period, the Supplier must still provide a 'NIL' report.
The date must be submitted on a quarterly basis to the Supply Arrangement Authority. Electronic reports must be completed and forwarded to the Supply Arrangement Authority, no later than 15 calendar days after the end of the quarterly report.
The Quarterly periods are defined as follows:
Failure to provide fully completed reports in accordance with the above instructions may result in the suspension or cancellation of the Supply Arrangement and/or the application of a vendor performance corrective measure.
The period begins from the date of issuance as stated on page 1 of the SA and ends with the award of the next re-compete process.
It is intended that this bid solicitation follow the guidelines set out by PWGSC' Professional Services National Procurement Strategy; however those guidelines are not incorporated into this document. The bid solicitation documents contain all the requirements relating to the bid solicitation. Any other information or documentation provided to or obtained by a bidder from any source is not relevant.
In as much as possible, PWGSC will issue a bid solicitation intended to replace the Supply Arrangements for the Services on an annual basis, although PWGSC reserves the right to choose to proceed with a different procurement vehicle for the requirement if it considers such action appropriate. Each such recompetition requires all bidders including those who may have received instruments under the previous solicitation, to submit a bid in response to the bid solicitation in order to continue to provide services under its resulting Supply Arrangements.
After the date of issuance of the Supply Arrangements, three refreshes process will be initiated which enables the pre-qualification of new suppliers and/or further pre-qualification to add streams and/or Tier and/or regions for existing Suppliers already included in the ePortal of the Centralized Professional Services System (CPSS).
Canada reserves the right to issue supply arrangements to bidders who qualify throughout the entire period of the Supply Arrangement. Evaluations of such arrangements will be processed three time a year (refreshes).
The Supply Arrangement Authority is:
The Supply Arrangement Authority (or an authorized representative) is responsible for the establishment of the Supply Arrangement, its administration and its revision, if applicable. Upon the issuance of a bid solicitation under the Supply Arrangement, that solicitation's Contracting Authority is responsible for any contractual issues relating to the contract solicited. Any changes to the Supply Arrangement must be authorized in writing by the Supply Arrangement Authority.
This individual is the central point of contact within the Supplier for all matters pertaining to this Supply Arrangement. The Supplier confirms that this individual has the authority to bind the Supplier. It is the Supplier's sole responsibility to ensure that the information related to the Supplier Representative is correct. If a replacement or a new Supplier Representative is required the Supplier will:
[Note to Supplier: The Name, Title, Telephone Number, Facsimile Number, Address and Email is as per your arrangement and is available to be viewed by Clients via the Centralized Professional Services System (CPSS) website]
The Supplier may designate another individual to represent the Supplier for administrative and technical purposes under any contract resulting from this Supply Arrangement.
Suppliers are responsible for the maintenance of their tombstone data in CPSS. Suppliers must also safeguard the credentials released to the Main Supplier Contact (MSC) and supplier's Contacts that enable access to the Supplier Module. Canada will not delay or cancel any solicitation or Call-up process due to a supplier's inability to access, modify or validate such credentials, or because of any claim that such credentials were used without proper Authorization.
The Identified Users (also called Clients) include any government department, agency, or crown corporation listed in Schedules I, I.1, II, III, IV, and V of the Financial Administration Act, R.S., 1985, c.F-11 and any other party for which the Department of Public Works and Government Services has been authorized to act from time to time under section 16 of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act and Shared Services Canada (SSC) acting on its own behalf.
If there is a discrepancy between the wordings of any documents that appear on the list of documents below, the wording of the document that first appears on the list has priority over the wording of any document that subsequently appears.
The continuous compliance with the certifications provided by the Supplier in its arrangement and the ongoing co-operation in providing associated information are conditions of issuance of the Supply Arrangement (SA). Certifications are subject to verification by Canada during entire period of the SA and of any resulting contract that would continue beyond the period of the SA. If the Supplier does not comply with any certification, fails to provide the associated information, or if it is determined that any certification made by the Supplier in the arrangement is untrue, whether made knowingly or unknowingly, Canada has the right to terminate any resulting contract for default and suspend or cancel the Supply Arrangement.
The Supply Arrangement and any contract resulting from the Supply Arrangement must be interpreted and governed and the relations between the parties determined, by the laws in force in the Province of Ontario, Canada unless otherwise stipulated in the supplier's arrangement response to the RFSA.
In addition to the circumstances identified in 2020 09, Canada may, by sending written notice to the Supplier, suspend or cancel the Supply Arrangement where the Supplier has made public any information that conflicts with the terms, conditions, pricing or availability of systems identified in this Supply Arrangement, or where the Supplier is in default in carrying out any of its obligations under this Supply Arrangement.
Where an Aboriginal Business Certification has been provided, the Supplier warrants that its certification of compliance is accurate and complete in accordance with the "Requirement for the Set-aside Program for Aboriginal business" details in Annex 9.4 of the Supply Manual.
If such a Certification has been provided, the Supplier must keep proper records and documentation relating to the accuracy of the certification provided to Canada. The Contractor must obtain the written consent of the Contracting Authority before disposing of any such records or documentation before the expiration of six (6) years after final payment under the Contract, or until settlement of all outstanding claims and disputes, under the Contract, whichever is later. All such records and documentation must at all times during the retention period be open to audit by the representatives of Canada, who may make copies and take extracts. The Supplier must provide all reasonably required facilities for any audits.
Nothing in this clause must be interpreted as limiting the rights and remedies which Canada may otherwise have pursuant to the Contract.
The Supply Arrangement is not to be used for deliveries within a Comprehensive Land Claims Settlement Area (CLCSA). All requirements for delivery within a CLCSA are to be submitted to the Department of Public Works and Government Services for individual processing.
It is anticipated that some requirements may incorporate Controlled Goods. Supplier wishing to provide SBIPS under these requirements will need to be registered under the Controlled Goods Program.
As the Contract requires production of or access to controlled goods that are subject to the Defence Production Act, R.S. 1985, c.D-1, the Supplier and any subcontractor are advised that, within Canada, only persons who are registered, exempt or excluded under the Controlled Goods Program (CGP) are lawfully entitled to examine, possess or transfer controlled goods. Details on how to register under the CGP are available at: Controlled Goods Program.
When the Supplier and any subcontractor proposed to examine, possess or transfer controlled goods are not registered, exempt or excluded under the CGP at time of Supply Arrangement Issuance, the Supplier and any subcontractor must, within seven (7) working days from receipt of written notification of the Supply Arrangement Issuance, ensure that the required arrangement(s) for registration or exemption are submitted to the CGP. No examination, possession or transfer of controlled goods must be performed until the Supplier has provided proof, satisfactory to the Contracting Authority, that the Supplier and any subcontractor are registered, exempt or excluded under the CGP.
Failure of the Supplier to provide proof, satisfactory to the Contracting Authority, that the Supplier and any subcontractor are registered, exempt or excluded under the CGP, within thirty (30) days from receipt of written notification of Supply Arrangement Issuance, will be considered a default under the Supply Arrangement except to the extent that Canada is responsible for the failure due to delay in processing the Arrangement.
The Supplier and any subcontractor must maintain registration, exemption or exclusion from the CGP for the duration of the Supply Arrangement and in any event for so long as they will examine, possess or transfer controlled goods.
As part of Canada's policy directing federal departments and agencies to take the necessary steps to acquire products and services that have a lower impact on the environment than those traditionally acquired, Suppliers should:
The Travel and Living expenses are calculated differently between the Regions and Metropolitan areas and this may affect the total cost of a Professional Services Supply Arrangement requirement. Accordingly, if any contract resulting from a solicitation let under this supply arrangement permits payment to a Contractor in its basis of payment for Travel and Living expenses, such expense will only be reimbursed in accordance with the information provided at the following CPSS link: Definitions of the National Zone, Regions and Metropolitan Areas.
Regions | Metropolitan Areas |
---|---|
National Zone | |
Atlantic | Halifax, Moncton |
Quebec | Montreal, Quebec City |
Ontario | Toronto |
Western | Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg |
Pacific | Vancouver, Victoria |
National Capital | National Capital Region |
Canada will use a SBIPS Request for Proposal (RFP) model based on the bid solicitation template 2T-HIGH1, available in the Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) Manual as the basis for issuing bid solicitations under this Supply Arrangement (SA) and as provided in 6C below. Each bid solicitation will contain at a minimum the following:
Bids will be solicited for specific requirements within the scope of the Supply Arrangement (SA) from qualified Suppliers who have been issued a SA.
The bid solicitation will be posted on the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) (or as applicable with a Government of Canada (GC) web-based electronic procurement tool) or will be sent by email directly to suppliers depending on the selection methodology selected.
Canada may consolidate requirements across Clients and award contracts on a periodic basis to receive best or better pricing.
Individual solicitations will be based on the requirements of the Clients for whom the Services will be performed, and will describe the requirements of a specific project, including the appropriate Stream of Expertise, Tier, Region and Metropolitan Area. The award of the Contract may be made by assessing requirements and corporate or resource qualifications such as insurance coverage, security level, individual consultant experience. All such requirements will be further described in each individual RFP.
The selected SA Holders will be invited to submit a proposal via the GC electronic procurement tool (or to the Contracting Authority as instructed in the SBIPS SA RFP, until such time as the electronic procurement tool is available). Based on the templates provided, the proposal may include electronic response templates for mandatory, rated and/or financial criteria, and mandatory certifications.
Only suppliers who are qualified SA Holders at the time individual solicitations are issued are eligible to compete. In addition to being a SA Holder, in order to submit a proposal, a SA Holder must:
The Client will evaluate the qualifications and experience of the SA Holder against the requirements set out in the SBIPS SA RFP and as represented in the SA Holders proposal.
The SA Holders price will be evaluated in accordance with the requirements as set out in the SBIPS RFP and as presented in the SA Holders (bidders) Financial Proposal. Identification of the recommended SA Holder will be determined through the selection method identified in the SBIPS SA RFP. Canada reserves the right to evaluate individual solicitations issued under the SA framework on the basis of:
In accordance with the method of selection stated in the SBIPS SA RFP, a Contract will be issued by the Contracting Authority to authorize the SA Holder to proceed with the Services. The SA Holder will not undertake any of the specified Services unless and until a Contract is authorized by the Contracting Authority. The SA Holder must sign and return a copy of the Contract to the Contracting Authority. It is understood and agreed that the SA Holder must not commence any Services until authorized by the Contracting Authority.
Provided a Client has the legal authority to contract, it may choose to award contracts under this Supply Arrangement in accordance with the Tier 1 Contract Limitations described below. All Tier 2 contracts and those contracts for clients without authority to contract under Tier 1 will be managed by PWGSC or Shared Services Canada (SSC). The Supplier agrees only to perform individual contracts made by an authorized representative of Canada pursuant to this Supply Arrangement that do not exceed the applicable Contract Authority value Limitations.
Requirement Value (Goods and Services Tax (GST)/Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) included) |
Contracting Authority | |
---|---|---|
Tier 1 | Requirements up to and including $2M | Client/ PWGSC/SSC |
Tier 2 | Requirements greater than $2M | PWGSC/SSC |
Clients may award contracts to pre-qualified Suppliers in the applicable Stream, Region, and Metropolitan Area, that best satisfies all the requirement particulars as set out in the bid solicitation, in accordance with the following:
Clients may direct a contract to an eligible Supplier in accordance with the Government Contract Regulations.
Clients may issue a contract using this SA to pre-qualified Supplier satisfying the requirement particulars as set out in a bid solicitation in accordance with the following: a minimum of two Suppliers must be invited to submit a proposal via e-mail, with the Client (Identified User):
Clients may issue a contract to pre-qualified Supplier satisfying the requirement particulars as set out in the bid solicitation in accordance with the following: a minimum of fifteen Suppliers must be invited via e-mail to submit a proposal, with the Client:
A Notice of Procurement (NPP) will be posted on GETS for all requirements above NAFTA.
Note: If the number of Suppliers that meet the requirement is less than fifteen, all Suppliers will be automatically selected.
Once the minimum of Suppliers has been selected as per (ii) or (iii) above, at any time during the course of the procurement process the Client may choose to invite additional Suppliers using the CPSS Client Module. There is no limit to the maximum number of Suppliers that may be invited to submit a proposal under Tier 1; however, excepting the circumstances of 2.10 below, Suppliers may not submit a proposal in response to a solicitation unless they have been invited to do so. However, should an uninvited SA Holder wish to be invited, it may contact the Contracting Authority to request an invitation at any time prior to five days before the published bid closing date, and an invitation will be made to that SA Holder unless it would not be consistent with the efficient operation of the procurement system. In no circumstance will such an invitation require Canada to extend a bid closing date. Where additional invitations are made during the solicitation process, they may not be reflected in a bid solicitation amendment.
At a minimum, each Tier 1 bid solicitation issued will provide Suppliers with the following minimum number of calendar days to submit their proposal, which time may be extended based upon a requirement's complexity:
Tier 2 requirements will be managed by a PWGSC Procurement Representative, on behalf of the Client, or SSC on its own behalf in accordance with the following:
Canada will invite through GETS all qualified Tier 2 Suppliers to submit a proposal in response to a bid solicitation. It will be the responsibility of all Tier 2 SA Holders to access GETS on a continuous basis to ensure they are kept informed of the various Tier 2 requirements available.
As a minimum, each Tier 2 bid solicitation will provide qualified Suppliers with twenty (20) calendar days to submit their proposal, which may be extended based on a requirement's complexity.
For a requirement in either Tier, all Suppliers qualified in each relevant Stream, Region and Metropolitan Area will be invited by e-mail or GETS to bid where any supplier has been provided with a request for information in respect of services that in whole or in part appear in the requirement to be solicited under this SA.
By submitting a bid, the Bidder agrees that during a solicitation under this supply arrangement, if the Bidder has performed services for Canada under any current or past SBIPS instrument, Canada may disclose such fact (including the previous contract value and date of issuance) during any such solicitation for replacement or follow-on services.
The conditions of any contract awarded under the Supply Arrangement will be in accordance with the resulting contract clauses of the SBIPS RFP model, based on the SACC manual template 2T-HIGH1 (for higher complexity requirements) and general conditions 2035 (2014-03-01). These model resulting contract clauses contain samples of the terms that will form the basis for any future resulting contracts under the Solutions-Based Informatics Professional Services (SBIPS) Supply Arrangement method of supply.
The above template is set out in the Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions Manual issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada.
To the extent possible, these Articles are written as they will appear in any future SBIPS Supply Arrangement resulting contracts, however, individual resulting contract clauses may be modified to suitindividual Client requirements. For example, the term of the resulting contract and the basis of payment clauses may all be tailored to individual Client requirements.
It is a mandatory requirement of this SBIPS RFSA solicitation that the bidder accepts in their entirety these Articles as they appear in the SACC manual template 2T-HIGH1 (for higher complexity requirements) and general conditions 2035 (2014-03-01), to be used in bid solicitations resulting from the SBIPS Supply Arrangement as indicated below. By submitting an arrangement the supplier accepts these Articles in their entirety.
The statement of work and basis of payment are specific to the requirement and will be determined by the Identified User.