Fairness monitoring

The Fairness Monitoring Program provides client departments, government suppliers, Parliament and Canadians with independent assurance that Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) conducts its departmental activities, such as procurement or a real property transaction, in a fair, open and transparent way.

On this page

• Learn how fairness monitoring works
• Who needs a fairness monitoring assessment
• Access fairness monitor reports

Learn how fairness monitoring works

The program retains and manages the services of independent fairness monitors who act as objective third parties and whose role is to observe all or part of a departmental activity.

Fairness monitoring helps PSPC to:

• provide real-time monitoring during the procurement process
• deal with fairness-related issues early in the process to avoid possible costly after-the-fact resolutions
• ensure that procurement activities are carried out with integrity
• enhance public trust in the way the Government of Canada does business

Who needs a fairness monitoring assessment

An assessment for fairness monitoring coverage is mandatory for:

• departmental activities subject to ministerial or Treasury Board approval, except:
  • non-competitive procurements
  • amendments to existing contracts
• competitive procurements for which at least 1 of the following applies:
  • procurement complexity assessment is level 4 or 5
  • procurement risk assessment is level medium-high or high

The assessment is optional for any other departmental activity that is not subject to a mandatory assessment but where an enhanced assurance of fairness, openness and transparency is desired.

Access fairness monitor reports

Fairness monitors provide reports which contain their observations, impartial opinions and professional attestation of the fairness, openness, and transparency of the monitored activity.