Sinclair Centre Redevelopment Architectural and Engineering Technical Advisor Services

Attestation of assurance

The fairness monitor (FM) hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the competitive selection process for the Sinclair Centre Redevelopment Architectural and Engineering Technical Advisor Services, commencing with the issuance of the letter of interest (LOI ) and the request for information (RFI) until the close of the evaluation phase of the request for proposal (RFP) phase 2.

It is our professional opinion that the competitive selection process we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by:

Project requirement

Samson was engaged on December 17, 2020 as a FM to observe the competitive acquisition process for the Sinclair Centre Redevelopment Architectural and Engineering Technical Advisor Services, undertaken by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) as part of solicitations EZ899-201765/A to D. Samson is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

This report covers the activities of the FM starting with the issuance of a LOI and RFI on March 8, 2021 until the end of the evaluation phase of the RFP phase 2.

The objective of this project is to redevelop the Sinclair Centre site in Downtown Vancouver with a gross area of approximately 116,000 m². The objective is to co-locate and consolidate a number of federal government departments currently distributed among different premises within the Metro Vancouver area.

The project is recommended to be delivered through a design-build-finance-operate-maintain approach.

We reviewed all the information provided and observed all relevant activities subsequent to our engagement.

This report includes:

• our attestation of assurance
• a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment
• the methodologies applied
• relevant observations from the activities undertaken

Fairness monitoring engagement and observations

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we familiarized ourselves with the relevant documents and observed the procurement activities (for example, the LOI , RFI , RFP phase 1 and phase 2 and related amendments, the related questions and answers process and the bid evaluation), identifying fairness-related matters to the contracting and technical authorities, and ensuring that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate.

In this section

• Activities and observations: Request for information
• Activities and observations: Request for proposal phase 1
• Activities and observations: Evaluation phase of the request for proposal phase 1
• Activities and observations: Request for proposal phase 2
• Activities and observations: Evaluation phase of the request for proposal phase 2

Activities and observations: Request for information

An LOI and RFI was posted via buyandsell.gc.ca (EZ899-201765/A) on March 8, 2021 and closed on March 30, 2021. The purpose of the LOI and RFI was to gather information from industry on their views of the technical advisor services being contemplated.

Two amendments were posted on buyandsell.gc.ca, the last of which was on March 25, 2021. Questions from interested suppliers were accepted and answers were provided and distributed on buyandsell.gc.ca.

Eleven firms provided feedback on questions of interest. Approximately 40-50 firms (101 registered individuals) participated in the industry engagement session held on March 23, 2021 to engage a dialogue regarding the proposed requirements.

The FM reviewed the LOI and RFI document and feedback provided by interested suppliers on questions of interest. The FM also participated to the virtual industry day and reviewed all questions and answers provided during the LOI and RFI posting period to ensure that fairness considerations were satisfactorily addressed.

No fairness issues were identified.

Activities and observations: Request for proposal phase 1

The RFP phase 1 was initially posted via buyandsell.gc.ca (EZ899-201765/B) on April 30, 2021 and had a closing date of June 3, 2021. The RFP phase 1 was cancelled on May 27, 2021. It was replaced by another RFP phase 1 (EZ899-201765/C) mainly to provide clarifications to the submission requirements and evaluation section of the RFP document and to incorporate an associated Appendix H – Evaluation Matrix. The revised RFP 1 was posted via buyandsell.gc.ca on May 28, 2021 and had a closing date of June 15, 2021.

Two amendments were posted on buyandsell.gc.ca, the last of which was on June 10, 2021. Questions from potential bidders were accepted and answers were provided and distributed on buyandsell.gc.ca. The FM reviewed the RFP documents, as well as all questions and answers provided during the RFP posting period, to ensure that fairness considerations were satisfactorily addressed.

Seven bids were submitted by interested bidders.

No fairness issues were identified.

Activities and observations: Evaluation phase of the request for proposal phase 1

The FM reviewed the evaluation plan, framework and the scoring grid. An information session for the technical evaluation team was held on June 11, 2021, which the FM attended. The evaluation team consisted of 4 evaluators.

The evaluation of the bids consisted of a review of the documentation submitted by the bidders as indicated in the RFP phase 1. The evaluation of bids began on June 16, 2021. The contracting authority (CA) and the FM attended the consensus meetings with the evaluation team. Consensus meetings took place on June 30 and July 6, 2021.

The FM reviewed the summary report on the overall phase 1 technical evaluation produced by PWGSC on July 6, 2021 to confirm the 5 respondents with the highest ratings who were eligible to participate in phase 2 of the procurement process as per the terms of the RFP .

All 7 respondents were notified of the evaluation outcome on July 8, 2021. The FM reviewed the communication with the respondents to ensure consistency with the evaluation details that were to be provided to the respondents as per the terms of the RFP .

The 5 respondents with the highest ratings were asked to confirm their participation in the RFP phase 2 process. Four respondents confirmed their participation; 1 declined to participate. Their responses were received during the period from July 8 to 13, 2021.

No fairness issues were identified.

Activities and observations: Request for proposal phase 2

The RFP phase 2 (EZ899-201765/D) was sent out on July 15, 2021 to the 4 respondents who confirmed their participation. The RFP phase 2 had an initial closing date of August 17, 2021 and was extended to September 21, 2021. Following the issuance of the RFP phase 2, 2 respondents chose to withdraw from the process.

Six amendments were issued, the last of which was on August 31, 2021. Questions from respondents were accepted and answers were provided and sent directly to them. An information meeting took place on August 11, 2021 to assist the respondents in the development of their proposals and allow them to ask questions about the RFP and the project.

The FM reviewed the RFP phase 2 documents, as well as all questions and answers provided during the RFP posting period, to ensure that fairness considerations were satisfactorily addressed.

No fairness issues were identified.

Activities and observations: Evaluation phase of the request for proposal phase 2

The FM reviewed the evaluation plan, framework and the scoring grid. The evaluation team consisted of 3 evaluators who had previously participated in the evaluation of the RFP phase 1.

The evaluation of the bids consisted of a review of the documentation submitted by 2 respondents. In addition, an oral presentation of the respondents was evaluated to assess specific topics related to the project and public infrastructure.

The evaluation of bids began on September 22, 2021. Oral presentations by bidders took place on October 6, 2021, while consensus meetings took place on October 1 and 6, 2021.

The CA and the FM attended the oral presentations of the respondents, as well as the consensus meetings with the evaluation team.

The FM reviewed the summary report on the overall phase 1 and 2 technical evaluations and financial evaluation produced by PWGSC on October 6, 2021 to confirm the respondent with the highest total score.

As permitted by the RFP , PWGSC entered into a fee negotiation with the respondent with the highest total score. The revised fee submitted by the respondent was formally approved on January 12, 2022. The FM attended all meetings relating to fee negotiation.

No fairness issues were identified.

Reference documents

Documents related to the solicitations EZ899-201765/A to C are available on CanadaBuys. Solicitation EZ899-201765/D was sent directly to respondents who chose to participate in the RFP phase 2. All documents can be obtained through the project office.

Addendum to the final report

September 30, 2022

Addendum to the FM final report dated January 16, 2022 regarding the competitive selection process for the Sinclair Centre Redevelopment Architectural and Engineering Technical Advisor Services, undertaken by PWGSC .

This addendum to the FM final report covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase, including contract award.

Fairness monitoring activities related to contract award and debriefings

The successful bidder was informed of contract award on September 1, 2022, and the notice was posted on buyandsell.gc.ca on Friday September 2, 2022. A letter advising of the results was sent to the other bidder on September 2, 2022. No debriefing meetings were requested by the bidders. The FM reviewed the correspondence with the bidders.

Attestation of assurance

The FM hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the competitive selection process for the Sinclair Centre Redevelopment Architectural and Engineering Technical Advisor Services.

It is our professional opinion that the competitive selection process that we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by: