Summary and procedures for registrations and cancellations for all streams: National Capital Region

Explore the possibilities of language training in virtual classrooms or in person offered to departments and agencies of the Government of Canada in the National Capital Region.

On this page

• Summary of services under the standing offers
• Step 1: Language-level assessment
• Step 2: Identification of the offeror
• Step 3: Creating and issuing a call-up
• Step 4: Confirmation of group creation
• Call-up limitation
• Call-up cancellation fees policy for training
• Security requirements
• Statutory holidays
• Stream specific information

Summary of services under the standing offers

For a more detailed description of the professional services provided, please consult the Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements Application (SOSA App) to access the full texts of the Standing Offers (SOs).

Additional information that is unique to each stream can be found under stream specific information.

Step 1: Language-level assessment

The placement test report will allow the offeror to know the learner’s level. If necessary, the offeror could validate the result of the placement test and inform the designated user and the learner, at no additional cost to Canada. This could result in a change of level.

We recommend using offerors from work stream 8. In addition, a third-party placement test (tests conducted outside of the standing offers) may be used provided that it contains at least the following information:

• target language
• targeted level (A, B or C)
• recommended starting objective (refer to Appendix 3 of the standing offer)
• estimate of the number of hours required to reach the targeted level

Other recommendations (if applicable), such as:

• linguistic background
• linguistic portrait (strengths and areas to work on)
• pedagogical recommendations

Step 2: Identification of the offeror

For streams 1 and 2: By rotation with assigned steps/levels.

For stream 3 to 8: Please consult the list of offerors and hourly rates (accessible only on the Government of Canada network).

To register the employee for their first session (streams 1 and 2): After obtaining the learner's language placement test report, the designated user will consult the training schedules to find out which offeror identified by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) will deliver the recommended step at the desired session.

To register the employee for training (streams 3 to 7): After obtaining the learner's language placement test report, the designated user will consult the list of offerors and hourly rates (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) to find out the choice of offerors available for this field of work.

The designated user will register the learner for the session indicated in the report by issuing a call-up along with the language placement test report. The offeror must receive the call-up no later than 10 business days before the start of the session. If the call-up is received less than 10 business days before the start of the session, the offeror may, at its discretion, accept the registration and add the learner to an existing group, or reject the registration.

Call-up process

For streams 1 and 2: By rotation with assigned steps/levels.

For stream 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8: Designated users may award call-ups in accordance with the Government Contracts Regulations, section 6 b) (i) (currently valued at $40,000) directly to a qualified offeror regardless of their ranking. The designated user will communicate with one of the offerors who has been awarded this Standing Offer in order to determine if they are available to perform the work. If the offeror is available to perform the work, a call-up will be issued against their Standing Offer. If the offeror is not available to perform the work or fails to respond within the time frame established by the designated user, the designated user will communicate with another offeror, and so on, until a call-up has been issued.

Call-ups with a value exceeding $40,000 will be allocated on a rotating basis between offerors. The rotation will be managed by the Standing Offer Authority and will be done according to the offeror rankings described in article 6.2, Order of classification of Standing Offers starting with the offeror located in the first place, continuing with the second ranked offeror and so on until all offerors receive a call-up. Canada will then restart the process, restarting the rotation with the highest ranked offeror and proceeding in order.

Please contact the standing offer authority (tpsgc.paformationlinguistique-aplanguagetraining.pwgsc@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca) to obtain the name of the offeror, providing the following information:

• applicable work stream
• name of the federal institution
• name of the employee’s training coordinator(s)
• telephone number of the coordinator
• coordinator's email address

Note: It is recommended that offeror rotation be used for all call-ups with an estimated value near the $40,000 limit in order to avoid complications if the volume of services requested increases.

For stream 7: No ranks, designated users may award call-ups directly to a qualified offerors under this stream.

Step 3: Creating and issuing a call-up

It is recommended that a call-up be issued at least 10 business days prior to the desired start of the tutoring. The designated user must understand that language training tutoring is a service involving human resources, which requires significant planning on the part of the offeror. It would therefore be unreasonable to request a start of tutoring for the day following the issuance of a call-up.

Certain times of the year are very busy, such as January, March and September, so plan your tutoring needs accordingly.

Call-up instrument

Option 1

• Work will be authorized or confirmed by the designated user using the duly completed forms or their equivalents as identified below, or by using Canada acquisition cards (Visa or MasterCard) for low dollar value requirements
• Call-ups must be made by designated users' authorized representatives under the SO and must be for goods or services or combination of goods and services included in the SO at the prices and in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the SO
• The following forms are available through Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)’s forms catalogue (accessible only on the Government of Canada network):
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 942 Call-up against a SO
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 942-2 Call-up against a SO: Multiple delivery
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 944 Call-up against multiple SOs (English version)

Option 2

You may use an equivalent form or electronic call-up document which contains at a minimum the following information:

• name(s) of the learner(s)
• SO number
• statement that incorporates the terms and conditions of the SO
• description and unit price for each line item
• total value of the call-up
• point of delivery
• confirmation that funds are available under section 32 of the Financial Administration Act
• confirmation that the user is a designated user under the SO with authority to enter into a contract

Step 4: Confirmation of group creation

The offeror must submit to the designated user a written confirmation of the start date within a maximum of 5 working days before the start of the training.

Call-up limitation

Individual and batch call-ups against the SO must not exceed $400,000 (including all subsequent amendments and applicable taxes included).

Call-up cancellation fees policy for training

For all streams of work, the following cancellation fees will be applied for whom a cancellation or postponement of training is requested. No other fees or compensation of any kind will be paid by Canada.

Cancellation fees before the start of the training

In all cases, if at least 10 working days' notice is given before the start of the training, no cancellation fees apply.

Cancellation fees Streams 1 and 2:

1. Cancellation fees for a learner: After 10 business days’ notice has passed, the equivalent of 50% of the price of the unused training hours provided for in the call-up will be paid in cancellation fees
   • for example, if a call-up provides for 100 hours of tutoring for person XYZ and a cancellation is made after 10 hours of tutoring, the cancellation fee would be the equivalent of 45 hours of tutoring (50% of the remaining 90 hours in the call-up)
2. Replacement of a learner: After 10 business days notice has passed, if a learner in a group wishes to cancel their participation in the group, the group will continue without this learner
   • also, as the offeror is responsible for creating the groups, the designated user will not be able to replace the learner with another learner, unless the offeror is in agreement at their discretion, the offeror may accept and integrate another learner of the same level to the group that is already formed or refuse to do so. If the offeror accepts to do so, the hourly rate will not be reduced

If the offeror accepts to do so, the hourly rate will not be reduced.

Cancellation fees for Streams 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7:

1. Cancellation fees for an entire group/a learner: After 10 business days’ notice has passed, the equivalent of 2% of the price of the unused training hours provided for in the call up will be paid in cancellation fees
   • for example, if a call up provides for 100 hours of tutoring for a group from department or person XYZ and a cancellation is made after 10 hours of tutoring, the cancellation fee would be the equivalent of 1.8 hours of tutoring (2% of the remaining 90 hours in the call up)
2. Replacement of a learner (Stream 3 only): After 10 business days’ notice has passed, if a learner in a group wishes to cancel their participation in the group, the group will continue without that learner
   • however, the designated user may decide to replace the learner with a learner at the same level and the hourly rate will not be reduced

Unplanned absences and training postponement:

• an unplanned absence is an absence of up to 3 consecutive business days that was not identified in the call-up
• is a maximum of 2 unplanned absences per month is allowed, with notice
  • if more than 2 unplanned absences are requested, the designated user will pay the offeror the equivalent of 100% of the price of the missed course
• the designated user will pay the offeror for any unplanned absence of an entire group (stream 3) or of a learner in individual training if written notice was not given at least 1 business day in advance
  • the designated user will pay the offeror the equivalent of 100% of the price of the missed course
• individual training: Unplanned absences for which notice was sent at least one business day in advance may be made up at the end of the call up period
• group training (part-time or full-time):
  • for streams 1 and 2: The designated user will pay the offeror for any unplanned absences of a learner in a group and such absences cannot be rescheduled at the end of the training period
  • for stream 3: The designated user will pay the offeror for any unplanned absence of an entire group of learners if written notice was not given at least 1 business day in advance

Unplanned absences for which notice was sent 1 business day in advance may be made up at the end of the call-up period, but not after the date of the end of the call-up, unless they are authorized by the designated user by way of a call-up amendment.

Unplanned absences for which notice was not sent 1 day in advance may not be postponed, unless they are authorized by the designated user by way of a call-up amendment.

The designated user will pay the offeror for any unplanned absences of a learner in a group and such absences cannot be rescheduled at the end of the training period.

Security requirements

The following security requirements (security requirements checklist (SRCL) and related clauses, as provided by PSPC’s Contract Security Program (CSP)) apply and form an integral part of the SO. All subsequent orders have security requirements. You must therefore attach the SRCL form located in Annex SRCL of the SO to all your subsequent orders.

Security requirement for Canadian suppliers:

• contractor must, at all times during the performance of the contract, hold a valid Designated Organization Screening (DOS), issued by the CSP
• contractor personnel requiring access to protected information, assets or sensitive site(s) must each hold a valid Reliability status, granted or approved by the CSP
• contractor must not remove any protected information or assets from the identified site(s), and the contractor must ensure that its personnel are made aware of and comply with this restriction
• subcontracts which contain security requirements are not to be awarded without the prior written permission of the CSP
• contractor must comply with the provisions of the:
  • Security Requirement Checklist and security guide (if applicable), attached at Annex SRCL
  • Contract Security Manual (Latest Edition)

Statutory holidays

Training and placement tests must not be given on federal government statutory holidays or between December 25 and January 1. Learners will have the opportunity to complete take-home exercises that the teacher provides during this period.

• New Year’s Day (January 1)
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Victoria Day
• June 24 (for services to learners working in Quebec)
• Canada Day (July 1)
• Provincial civic holiday (the first Monday in August, except for services to learners working in Quebec)
• Labour Day (the first Monday in September)
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30)
• Thanksgiving (the second Monday in October)
• Remembrance Day (November 11)
• Christmas Day (December 25)
• Boxing Day (December 26)

When there are 1 or more holidays during the session the learner will be enrolled in, you must reduce the total number of training hours for the session by 7.5 hours per holiday. For example: The total number of hours for a full-time group session is 250 hours, there are 2 holidays during the session, so the call-up must be issued for a total of 235 hours.

Additionally, there are no classes between December 25 and January 1. The training schedules have been extended to reflect this holiday break.