For immediate release
VANCOUVER, September 8, 2006 – The Honourable Michael M Fortier, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), today inaugurated the Pacific regional office of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) to help small and medium business suppliers compete for government business.
“The new Government of Canada pledges to make the system easier for small and medium enterprises (SME) to understand,” said Minister Fortier. “We are opening up regional offices in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver to train and assist SMEs so they can all have a fair opportunity to compete for government contracts.”
The new Pacific office was created in order to help small and medium enterprises comply with and understand the government's procurement processes, identify ways PWGSC’s supply policies and programs can be strengthened to foster the development of innovative products and services, act as an advocate for SMEs in this region, provide information to SMEs using the “Supplier Seminar Program”, attend business trade shows to provide information to SMEs, organize special events in order to help SMEs, and to schedule more information sessions in partnership with chambers of commerce and various SME associations.
The Pacific office, as well as other regional offices, will work within the government to ensure the procurement system treats SMEs fairly and equally by analyzing SME access to and performance in government business, reviewing SME participation on all major crown procurements (over $10M) and by proposing improvements to procurement processes.
For more information, contact the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises at 1-800-811-1148, by e-mail at osme@pwgsc.gc.ca, or visit www.pwgsc.gc.ca/sme. The Pacific Office can be reached at Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Pacific Region, 641-800 Burrard Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6Z 2V8, tel. 604-775-6859, fax at 604-775-7395.
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For further information, please contact:
Jean-Luc Benoît
Director of Communications
Office of Minister Fortier
819-997-5421
Media Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-2315
PWGSC news releases are also available on our Internet site at: www.pwgsc.gc.ca/text/generic/media-e.html
BACKGROUNDER
Inauguration of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises’ Pacific Office
Expanding the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) is part of the government's Federal Accountability Act and Action Plan. It will help fulfill the government's commitment to reform procurement. Other measures to strengthen the transparency and integrity of government contracting include:
a legislated commitment to fairness, openness, and transparency in the procurement process;
a requirement for contracts to include integrity provisions to prevent corruption, collusion, and the payment of contingency fees in the procurement process;
the promotion of fairness, openness and transparency in the bidding process through a new Policy on Managing Procurement, which will be independently reviewed before it is finalized;
a proposed Procurement Auditor to review procurement practices on an ongoing basis;
the provision of accreditation and training for procurement officers; and
the introduction of a Code of Conduct for Procurement.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
SMEs are vitally important to federal government procurement as well as to the Canadian economy as a whole. SMEs are significant contributors to the economic performance of Canada, accounting for 43 percent of Canada’s economic output, 66 percent of all private sector employment, and over 99 percent of all Canadian businesses. SMEs are defined as for-profit enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
As the new procurement changes are implemented, PWGSC is ensuring SMEs continue to have access to government procurement opportunities through OSME.
Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME)
OSME is strengthening access to government business for SMEs through collaboration with industry associations and individual businesses. Areas of focus include training, exchanging information, developing support tools, and recommending procurement policy changes that respond to SME and regional issues. OSME is also working with SME organizations to share information on forming joint venture consortia to access major government contracts, and identifying and pursuing opportunities that encourage the introduction of innovative new products.
The mandate of OSME and its regional offices includes providing assistance to SMEs wishing to do business with the government. The Office is helping SMEs as they navigate the government procurement system by:
helping them comply with and understand the government's procurement processes,
identifying ways PWGSC’s supply policies and programs can be strengthened to help SMEs with innovative products and services to be considered in procurement plans,
acting as an advocate for SMEs,
providing information to SMEs using the “Supplier Seminar Program”,
attending business trade shows in order to provide information to SMEs,
organizing special events in order to help SMEs, and,
scheduling more information sessions in partnership with chambers of commerce and various SME associations.
The Office is also working within the government to ensure the procurement system treats SMEs fairly by:
analyzing SME access to and performance in government business,
reviewing SME participation on all major crown procurements (over $10 million),
recommending new commodity management strategies to enhance the contributions SMEs can make to serving government needs and to transforming procurement, and,
proposing improvements to procurement processes.
PWGSC has taken additional steps to promote SME involvement in a fair, open and transparent procurement process. Several additional targeted initiatives underway include
making it easier for smaller businesses to access bidding opportunities by eliminating user fees on the government’s electronic tendering system (MERXTM) for all federal opportunities,
developing a SME web portal which reduces the complexity of dealing with various government departments by offering a single point of contact for SMEs wishing to do business with the government,
informing and clarifying for SMEs the exceptions to the mandatory Standing Offer policy,
using regional standing offers to ensure businesses across the country have access to procurement opportunities,
enhancing the role of Business Access Canada (formerly Contracts Canada) — an inter-departmental initiative to simplify access to federal government purchasing information,
providing information to help the private sector form new joint ventures between SMEs,
using plain, easy to understand language in our bid solicitation and contracting documents, and
ensuring that all our procurement policies are publicly available.
Through a series of cross-country regional workshops conducted by PWGSC, SMEs identified their key concern: the ability to access government business competitions. In response, PWGSC has expanded a professional services standing offer to allow SMEs providing this service direct access to government business opportunities; is expected to re-compete office supply regional standing offers to allow additional firms the opportunity to compete; and, where possible, is removing possible access barriers for joint ventures.
A summary report of the concerns raised by SMEs during the workshops, and their proposals for how these concerns could be addressed is available for the public on the SME web portal.
OSME Accomplishments
Past initiatives by the department that support the involvement of smaller and regional firms in government supply can be summarized as follows:
created the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) as a focal point for identifying and addressing SME issues and responding to their enquiries;
established the Business Access Canada (BAC) Program to provide training to companies across Canada on how they can navigate the procurement system;
implemented the local sourcing policy which promotes local sourcing for low cost requirements, and used Regional Master Standing Offers (as opposed to National Master Standing Offers);
created the standing offer exceptions policy which allows departments to purchase outside standing offers when they can get better prices;
established a 1-800 number to respond to enquiries from SMEs, and web sites for BAC and OSME;
simplified language in bid solicitations and contracts;
eliminated the registration fee for subscriptions to MERX, the on-line bidding system;
created the Professional Services (PS) Online Marketplace supply system in December 2005 to allow SMEs in this sector to have direct access to government business; and,
consulted with individual SMEs and industry associations on supplier issues related to procurement.
OSME Contact Info
More information on OSME and its initiatives can be obtained by calling toll free at 1 800 811-1148, by visiting www.pwgsc.gc.ca/sme, or e-mailing osme@pwgsc.gc.ca.
The Pacific Region office can be reached by phone at 604-775-6859, by fax at 604-775-7395 and by mail at: Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Pacific Region, 641-800 Burrard Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6Z 2V8. The Regional Director of the Pacific Office is Elpidio A. Domingo, P.Eng.
