Centralized professional services system
Common business rules
Harmonized business rules regarding requirement values
This table explains the differences between the dollar value threshold for contracting using the professional services supply arrangements (SA). Please note that the temporary help services (THS) in the National Capital Region (NCR) is not harmonized in this manner and has its own requirement thresholds.
| Method of Supply | Supply arrangement thresholds | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-CKFTA (Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement) |
CKFTA-4.5M | Over 4.5M | |
| ProServices | Available | Not available | Not available |
| Task Based Informatics Professional Service (TBIPS) | Not available | Available | Available |
| Solutions-Based Informatics Professional Services (SBIPS) | Available | Available | Available |
| Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS), task-based | Not available | Available | Available |
| Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS), solutions-based | Available | Available | Available |
| Professional Audits Support Services Supply Arrangement (PASS-SA) | Available | Available | Available |
Harmonized business rules regarding minimum number of vendors to be contacted
This table lists the common business rules regarding the minimum number of vendors to be contacted during the procurement process, along with the minimum response time given to suppliers to prepare a proposal. Please note that THS in the NCR is not harmonized in this manner and has its own vendor invitation minimums and response times.
| Invitation rules | Supply arrangements | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-40K | 0-CKFTA | CKFTA-4.5M | Over 4.5M | |
| Minimum number of suppliers to invite | 1 | 2 | 15 | All |
| Minimum number of suppliers response time (days) | 0 | 5 | 15 | 20 |
Features common to all methods of supply search results in CPSS:
- Initial search results list active suppliers that match all search criteria by legal name in alphabetical order
- Final search results provide client contracting personnel with the “email for search results” email address of the ‘regional contact’ assigned to that region or metropolitan area
- The search module used by client departments has a choice of 6 regions and 12 metropolitan areas to indicate location of service delivery (THS in the NCR excluded)
- "Remote/Virtual access" covers all of Canada and is used when the client has no preference in terms of where the work is performed (THS in the NCR excluded)
- Final search results inform client departments if the supplier has a "local office" in a metropolitan area (only under certain thresholds)
- Searches conducted at the metropolitan area are automatically rolled up by the system to the regional level if there are less than 3 suppliers in the metropolitan area search result (THS in the NCR excluded)
Supply arrangement travel and living information
The following travel and living information is a result of a standard national approach for the procurement of professional services and is applicable to only the professional services SA.
When using a professional services SA, clients must include within their bid solicitation a Travel and Living clause that is appropriate for their requirement. In order to assist clients, within each of the applicable bid solicitation models/templates, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has included some optional travel and living clauses. These clauses may be used if they fit the particular requirement however PSPC recommends that clients consult their legal services in using any custom clauses.