Government of Canada Electronic Commerce

On this page

• Attestation of assurance
• Project requirement
• Fairness monitoring engagement and observations
• Reference documents

Attestation of assurance

The fairness monitor (FM) hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the Government of Canada Electronic-Commerce procurement process up to and including the conclusion of the request for information (RFI).

It is our professional opinion that the 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 16, 2021, as an FM to observe the procurement process of the Government of Canada Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on behalf of the Receiver General for Canada (RG) under solicitation WS3275735572. Samson is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

This report covers the activities of the FM, during the RFI on December 16, 2021, until the conclusion of the industry engagement information sessions on May 19, 2023.

The RG is exploring the possibility of creating centralized e-commerce offerings in response to the growing desire of Canadians to transact with government online and to solve some of the challenges the Government of Canada faces with e-commerce today. The RG envisions a single platform that could be used across the government that can be built upon over time to capitalize on opportunities as they arise.

We reviewed all the information provided and observed all relevant activities.

This report includes:

• our attestation of assurance
• a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment
• 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 activities
• observed appropriate phases/states observed, for example, pre-bid solicitation activities, bid solicitation activities, etc
• identified fairness-related matters to the appropriate parties, for example, contracting and technical authorities
• ensured that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate

Activities and observations: Request for information

The initial RFI was published on CanadaBuys, as solicitation WS3275735572 on December 15, 2021. The initial closing date of January 28, 2022, was extended through amendment until February 18, 2022.

There was a total of 5 amendments, the last of which was published on February 17, 2022. There were 16 questions responded to through the amendment process.

A first industry engagement information session was held on January 14, 2022, and 10 suppliers registered.

Amendment 1 to RFI WS3275735572 provided an overview of the virtual industry engagement information session. The questions raised and answers provided during the industry engagement information session were provided in amendment 2 to RFI WS3275735572.

Following the initial industry engagement information session, the first round of one-on-one sessions was held with 10 RFI respondents from May 3, 2022, to June 2, 2022.

A second industry day was held on January 11, 2023, and 9 suppliers registered. A second round of one-on-one sessions was held with the 9 RFI respondents during the period of January 18, 2023, to January 31, 2023.

Eleven suppliers participated in the RFI industry engagement activities in whole or in part.

A summary of feedback received from the RFI and one-on-one sessions was posted on CanadaBuys on May 19, 2023.

The summary of feedback informed industry that Canada has decided to place the e-commerce project on hold for an indeterminate period of time and that Canada would inform industry on any status changes of this initiative.

No fairness issues were identified.

It is the opinion of the FM that the RFI activities for the procurement of the above noted services were conducted in a fair, open and transparent manner. In this context, fairness refers to decisions being made objectively, free from bias, favouritism or influence and conform to established rules.

Reference documents

Documents related to solicitation WS3275735572 are available on CanadaBuys or through the project office.