Digital Platform Modernization Programme: Case Management Platform

On this page

• Attestation of assurance
• Activity requirement
• Fairness monitoring engagement and observations
• Reference documents
• Addendum to the final report

Attestation of assurance

The fairness monitor (FM) hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the Case Management Platform (CMP) in support of the Digital Platform Modernization (DPM) programme phase 3 (P3) procurement process up to and including the conclusion of the evaluation phase.

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:

Activity requirement

RFP Solutions Inc. was engaged on October 12, 2021, as an FM to observe the procurement activities for a CMP in support of the DPM programme P3, issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada on behalf of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) under solicitation WS3228586309. RFP Solutions Inc. is an independent third party with respect to these activities.

This report covers the activities of the FM for the industry engagement phase, including the invitation to qualify (ITQ), the review and refine requirements phase (RRR), the request for proposals (RFP) phase and the evaluation of bids leading to the recommendation of a highest-ranked bidder partnership to enter into negotiations. It covers the period from October 12, 2021 to August 5, 2024.

IRCC has a requirement for various goods and services for a multi-phased programme designed to modernize and optimize the Department’s systems and processes used to process client applications for immigration, refugee and citizenship services. The procurement strategy for the CMP component of the DPM P3 solution was refined through a series of industry engagement activities between Canada and potential suppliers.

The multi-phased procurement strategy included:

• an ITQ, intended to identify and select respondent partnerships, comprised of a core technology vendor (CTV) and a prime systems integrator (SI), to become a qualified supplier (QS)/qualified supplier partnership (QSP) eligible to participate further in the procurement process
• an RRR process, with the objective of obtaining feedback from QSPs on Canada’s preliminary requirements for the programme
• an RFP, intended to result in the award of up to 3 contracts
  • 1 contract to a CTV who will provide, operate and maintain a secure service
  • 1 task-based contract to a prime SI to configure and implement the CMP into production
  • 1 contract to an ancillary technology vendor (which may be the CTV or a third vendor) who will provide an enterprise data platform (EDP)

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
• observed the industry engagement phase
• reviewed all solicitation and RRR consultation documents prior to release
• observed the ITQ solicitation activities and the post solicitation period, including the evaluation of responses
• observed the RRR process
• observed the RFP solicitation and evaluation activities
• identified fairness-related matters to the contracting authority (CA)
• ensured that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate

An overview of our activities over the course of the engagement along with any related observations is provided below. Please note that some of the solicitations were posted concurrently. The sections below present the FM activities and observations for each solicitation.

In this section

• Request for information 1
• Request for information 2
• Request for information 3
• Proactive disclosure notice
• Invitation to qualify
• Evaluation process
• Review and refine requirements
• Request for proposals
• Evaluation process

Request for information 1

The request for information (RFI) 1 was issued via CanadaBuys on December 15, 2021 and on buyandsell.gc.ca. The purpose of the RFI was to inform industry of IRCC’s requirement for DPM P3 and to give industry the opportunity to provide feedback on the requirement and subsequent planned engagement activities. The FM reviewed several drafts of the RFI prior to its release and provided comments which were addressed prior to the release.

An industry day was conducted on January 14, 2022; representatives from 27 companies attended. The industry day was conducted via online meeting. The FM reviewed and provided comments on the presentation material which were addressed prior to the industry day. The FM also observed a technology test with participants prior to the conduct of the meeting and observed the industry day. No fairness concerns were identified.

Eight amendments were issued to the RFI to respond to industry questions and revise the RFI closing date to February 7, 2022. The FM provided comments on the amendments which were addressed prior to the release.

Twenty responses were received as of the RFI closing.

The RFI requested the interested vendors registered to participate in one-on-one meetings to provide feedback to a series of questions established by Canada prior to the sessions. The FM reviewed the one-on-one meeting protocols and agenda document prepared by Canada prior to its issuance to industry participants and provided comments which were addressed prior to its issuance.

Eighteen one-on-one meetings took place over the course of February 24, 2022 to March 11, 2022. The FM observed each one-on-one meeting and following, reviewed the minutes of the meetings for concordance to the sessions observed. No fairness concerns were identified.

Following the conclusion of the one-on-one meetings, Canada prepared a summary of feedback and outcomes report which was published on CanadaBuys on April 13, 2022 which remained open for industry access to March 31, 2023. The FM reviewed and provided feedback on the report which was addressed prior to its issuance.

Request for information 2

RFI 2 was issued via CanadaBuys on June 14, 2022 and on buyandsell.gc.ca. It sought feedback from industry on de-coupling the DPM P3 technology solution’s front-end client experience layer from the back-end core technology components. The FM reviewed the draft RFI prior to its release and provided comments which were addressed prior to the release.

Seventeen responses were received as of the RFI closing on June 27, 2022.

The RFI also requested the interested vendors registered to participate in one-on-one meetings to provide information on industry’s experience, analysis and lessons learned on executed projects involving decoupled solutions. The FM reviewed the one-on-one meeting protocols and procedural agenda document prepared by Canada prior to its issuance to industry participants and provided comments which were addressed prior to its issuance.

Thirteen one-on-one meetings took place over the course of July 13, 2022 to July 18, 2022. The FM observed each one-on-one meeting. No fairness concerns were identified.

Following the conclusion of the one-on-one meetings, Canada prepared a summary of feedback and outcomes report which was published on CanadaBuys on August 8, 2022, which remained open for industry access to March 31, 2023. The FM reviewed and provided feedback on the report which was addressed prior to its issuance.

Request for information 3

RFI 3 was issued via CanadaBuys on June 30, 2022. The RFI sought to inform industry of IRCC’s sourcing strategy and procurement approach for DPM P3 and elicit feedback.

A second industry day was conducted on July 12, 2022 to present IRCC’s sourcing strategy and procurement approach to industry. Representatives from 13 companies attended. The industry day was conducted via online meeting. The FM reviewed several drafts of the presentation material prior to the second industry day and observed the second industry day. No fairness concerns were identified.

The industry day presentation material was published to CanadaBuys as an amendment to the RFI.

Thirteen responses were received as of the RFI closing on July 21, 2022.

Canada prepared a summary of feedback and outcomes report which was published on CanadaBuys on August 8, 2022, which remained open for industry access to March 31, 2023. The FM reviewed and provided feedback on the report which was addressed prior to its issuance.

Proactive disclosure notice

Throughout the course of the industry engagement phase, Canada reviewed its on-going work related to the DPM programme and determined to issue a proactive disclosure notice to industry. The notice was intended to provide an open solicitation posting against which Canada could make DPM programme source materials provided by Canada to contractors and pertinent contract materials (statements of work, deliverables) available to the broader supplier community. The purpose of the notice was to share relevant background information with industry, with a view to avoid creating circumstances that would provide any 1 supplier with an unfair advantage over others or create a conflict of interest relative to the DPM P3 procurement processes.

Canada reviewed the intent and structure of the proactive disclosure process with the FM, who provided comments that were considered. The FM reviewed the draft notice prior to its publication and provided comments that were addressed prior to its issuance.

The proactive disclosure notice was issued via CanadaBuys on October 25, 2022. Over the course of its posting period, Canada continued to publish Canada’s source material, contract tasks and deliverables pertaining to on-going work at IRCC on a regular basis as work progressed within IRCC. The FM had the opportunity to review the materials published against the notice. No fairness concerns were observed.

In addition, over the course of the posting period, Canada also issued 2 topic-specific notices to industry against the proactive disclosure notice.

The first notice was issued on March 3, 2023 which informed industry of a circumstance of the hiring of a contract resource who had been engaged in preparation of various aspects of the DPM programme by a company that was potentially interested in bidding on active DPM P3 procurements. The notice further provided disclosure of review conducted by Canada and measures implemented. The FM reviewed the draft notice and provided comments that were addressed prior to its issuance. No fairness concerns were identified.

A second notice was issued on February 7, 2024, following changes to senior ranks of the public service, which informed industry of the fact that a family member of a newly appointed departmental senior official was an employee of 1 of the qualified supplier partnerships engaged in the DPM P3 back-end case management platform procurement process. The notice further provided disclosure of review conducted by Canada and measures implemented. The FM was not requested to review this notice in advance of its issuance but reviewed the notice following its release. No fairness concerns were identified.

Documentation issued against the proactive disclosure notice remained available for industry access during its posting period. The proactive disclosure notice closed on March 31, 2024, following the release of the RFP for the back-end case management platform solution.

Invitation to qualify

The ITQ was issued on October 27, 2022, using the electronic procurement solution (EPS) SAP Ariba, with a public notice also issued via CanadaBuys. The FM reviewed drafts and the final ITQ before it was issued and provided fairness-related comments to the CA as required.

Seven amendments to the ITQ were issued to respond to questions and make changes to the ITQ. The FM reviewed the amendments and provided fairness-related comments to the CA as required. We also monitored the publication of the documentation in the EPS.

As of the ITQ closing date on January 9, 2023, 7 responses were received and handled in accordance with deadline and instructions stated in the ITQ. Responses received to the ITQ represented 4 prime SIs partnered with 2 CTVs. Partnerships were in accordance with the ITQ rules.

No fairness concerns were observed during the ITQ solicitation period.

Evaluation process

Prior to evaluating responses, the CA prepared evaluation workbooks for use by the evaluation team.

The FM reviewed the evaluation workbooks for alignment against the published ITQ and amendments. The FM also reviewed with the CA the evaluation team structure and evaluation guidelines, including the:

• evaluator responsibilities
• code of conduct
• security
• confidentiality
• conflict of interest requirements

Evaluation of responses was undertaken by 5 teams, with each team assigned to a sub-set of the evaluation criteria for all responses.

The CA and procurement team conducted evaluation training for the evaluation team members, including presentation of the evaluation methodology. Evaluator training was conducted, via Microsoft (MS) Teams, on January 26, 2023 for evaluators assigned to evaluation criteria scheduled first for review and on February 7, 2023 for evaluators assigned to evaluation criteria that were scheduled for review later in the evaluation process. The FM observed the training sessions.

The evaluation team members first independently reviewed the responses prior to convening for consensus evaluations on their respective evaluation criteria.

Consensus evaluation meetings were held on February 8, 21, 24, March 6, 13, 17, 20, 31, and April 13, 14, 17 and 18, 2023, via MS Teams. Reference checks were conducted to validate content in supplier responses throughout the evaluation process.

The evaluation of responses was subject to a phased bid compliance process for the mandatory evaluation criteria. The CA issued a compliance assessment report (CAR) to each respondent partnership in accordance with the terms of the ITQ. Upon receipt of the CAR responses, the evaluation team members independently reviewed and assessed the information provided prior to reconvening for consensus evaluation.

The CAR responses were also validated by reference checks conducted by the CA, with the results reviewed by the members of the evaluation team prior to finalizing their evaluations.

All 7 responses were determined to meet all mandatory evaluation criteria and were evaluated against the point rated technical criteria. Responses were required to achieve a minimum pass mark on the point rated technical criteria. All 7 responses met the required score. At the conclusion of the evaluation process, the responses were ranked by their total points allocated. In accordance with the ITQ, the 4 highest ranking responses were eligible to move forward in the process as QSPs.

The FM observed each of the consensus evaluation meetings, including the CAR and reference check processes, providing fairness-related comments to the CA as required. The FM made inquiries of the reference check process to verify it was conducted in accordance with the ITQ. We reviewed the questions drafted by the CA prior to their issuance to the named client project references and reviewed the responses and the respective evaluation teams’ disposition thereof.

Once the evaluation process was complete, the FM reviewed the record of results.

The CA prepared draft notifications for each respondent partnership, providing notification of their status in the process, and providing detailed feedback on their respective results in the ITQ evaluation process. The FM reviewed the draft notices prior to their issuance for concordance to the evaluation outcomes observed.

Respondent partnerships were notified by the CA of their status in the process on April 24, 2023. One respondent partnership submitted a written response seeking clarification to the CA on April 25, 2023. The FM reviewed the response and made inquiries with the CA as to its disposition.

On May 15, 2023, Canada published a notice of the qualification of QSPs under the ITQ on the EPS and CanadaBuys.

No fairness concerns were observed with respect to the ITQ evaluation process.

Review and refine requirements

During the period of the ITQ evaluation process, Canada prepared and issued an update notification to all respondent partnerships to provide information on preliminary plans and tentative timing for the conduct of the RRR process. The FM reviewed the draft notification prior to its issuance and provided feedback to the CA as required.

In preparation for the RRR, Canada undertook planning and content preparation, including:

• preparation of detailed terms of reference for the QSPs
• set up of a secure file sharing site to be used by Canada and QSPs to exchange documentation during the RRR process (Central Collab) including permission structure to maintain confidentiality of QSP provided documentation
• preparation of non disclosure agreements (NDAs) for completion by Canada’s participants
• preparation of RRR process instructions for Canada’s participants

The FM made inquiries on the plans and process for RRR and provided feedback to the CA as required, including review and fairness-related comment on the QSP terms of reference prior to its issuance to QSPs on April 25, 2023 and review and fairness-related comment on the plans for the set-up of Central Collab. The FM also reviewed the NDAs and process instructions prepared for Canada’s participants.

Following the conclusion of the ITQ process, the 4 QSPs were formally invited by the CA to participate in the RRR process. This included initial one-on-one meet and greet meetings with each QSP on April 26, 2023 to thank the QSPs for their participation in the process to date and to respond to logistical questions related to the anticipated RRR plans. The FM attended and observed each of the 4 one-on-one meetings.

The RRR process officially commenced with a kick-off meeting involving a presentation by Canada, followed by an open question-and-answer session on May 2, 2023. Representatives of each QSP attended in person at Canada’s facilities and virtually via MS Teams. The FM reviewed the invitation to the QSPs and reviewed the presentation materials prior to the kick-off meeting. The FM attended and observed the kick-off meeting both in-person and virtually.

Following the kick-off, the RRR process was conducted in an iterative manner over the course of May 4, 2023 to February 22, 2024.

RRR consisted of a series of plenary meetings with representatives from all QSPs, one-on-one meetings with representatives from each of the 4 QSPs, as well as one-on-one meetings with representatives from each QS partner. During the RRR phase, Canada also prepared and issued draft approaches for the RFP, series of questions, as well as draft and refined components of the RFP package for feedback from the QSPs and QS partners both in the scheduled meetings and via written submission.

The FM reviewed materials prepared for RRR sessions by Canada and provided feedback to the CA as required. The FM attended and observed each of the RRR plenary and one-on-one meetings. The FM had access to Central Collab to monitor issuance of documentation throughout the process.

Each QSP was provided with consistent timing, conditions, and opportunity to provide feedback to Canada during the RRR process. The sequence in which QSPs were invited to participate in each round of meetings was also altered throughout the process to provide each QSP with equal opportunity to participate early or later in the respective meeting activities.

Throughout the course of the RRR phase, Canada also issued process updates, meeting notes and question-and-answer documents to provide all QSPs with updates, information on upcoming RRR plans and general questions posed and Canada’s responses thereto. The FM reviewed the process updates and reviewed the meeting notes and question-and-answer documents for concordance to the RRR meetings observed, and provided fairness-related comments to the CA as required prior to their issuance to the QSPs.

The FM reviewed the documentation on the approaches to the RFP and the drafts of the RFP package components and provided fairness-related comments to the CA as required prior to their issuance to the QSPs.

Over the course of the RRR process, Canada further refined the draft RFP package components to develop the final full RFP package. The FM reviewed the final RFP package prior to its issuance to the QSPs.

The RRR process was formally concluded with the issuance of the final RFP package to the QSPs.

No fairness concerns were observed during the RRR phase.

Request for proposals

The RFP was issued to the QSPs via IRCC’s Central Collab secure web platform on March 20, 2024, with an initial closing date of May 1, 2024. A public notice was also published on CanadaBuys.

During the RFP solicitation period, 1 QSP notified the CA of its intent to withdraw from the CMP RFP process. Formal confirmation of the 1 QSP’s withdrawal from the process was received by Canada on April 12, 2024. We made inquiries and reviewed the withdrawal notice.

Canada issued 20 amendments to the RFP during the solicitation period to respond to questions and make changes to the RFP. This included the introduction of a staggered closing date for the receipt of written and recorded proposal components of May 1 and May 15, 2024, respectively; followed by an extension to these closing dates to May 13 and May 27, 2024 respectively.

The FM reviewed the amendments and provided fairness-related comments to the CA as required. The FM also monitored the publication of the documentation in Central Collab.

As of the May 15, 2024 closing date and time for receipt of written proposal components responses from 3 QSPs were received by Canada.

As of the May 27, 2024 closing date and time for receipt of recorded proposal components, responses from 3 QSPs (hereafter referred to as bidder partnerships) were received by Canada.

The FM confirmed the receipt of responses with the CA.

No fairness concerns were observed with respect to the RFP solicitation process.

Evaluation process

Prior to evaluations, the CA prepared evaluation workbooks for use by the evaluators.

The FM reviewed the evaluation workbooks for alignment against the published RFP and amendments. The FM also reviewed with the CA the evaluation team structure and evaluation guidelines, including the:

• evaluator responsibilities
• code of conduct
• security
• confidentiality
• conflict of interest requirements

Evaluation was undertaken by 9 teams, with each team assigned to a sub-set of the evaluation criteria for all proposals.

The CA and procurement team conducted evaluation training for the evaluators, including presentation of the evaluation methodology. Evaluator training was conducted, via Microsoft (MS) Teams, on May 13, 21, 22, 23, 29, and June 12, 2024, with evaluator training for members of each evaluation team taking place prior to the respective team’s commencement of evaluations. The FM observed the training sessions.

The evaluators first independently reviewed the proposals prior to convening for consensus evaluations on their respective evaluation criteria.

The consensus evaluation meeting for the mandatory technical criteria was held on May 21, 2024. The FM observed the consensus evaluation meetings. All 3 proposals were determined to meet all mandatory technical criteria and were evaluated against the point rated technical criteria.

Proposals were first rated against the point rated technical criteria for prime SI core team resources. Proposals were required to obtain a minimum pass mark on these criteria in order to be assessed further. The consensus evaluation meetings for the point rated technical criteria for prime SI core team resources were held on May 29 and 30, 2024. All 3 proposals were determined to meet the minimum pass mark on these criteria and were evaluated further against the remaining point rated technical criteria. Evaluation of the remaining point rated technical criteria was conducted as follows:

• Evaluation of written proposals against the remaining point rated technical criteria
  • Consensus evaluation meetings were conducted May 31, June 3 and 4, 2024; June 13, 14 and 18, 2024; June 27 and July 12, 2024; and July 9, 10 and 11, 2024
• Evaluation of submitted video demonstrations
  • Consensus evaluation meetings were held on June 25 and 26, 2024
• Core team resource interviews
  • Interviews were conducted on site at IRCC premises on June 5, 6, and 7, 2024, with independent evaluations followed by consensus evaluations completed after the respective interviews
• Express entry statement of work implementation approach presentations
  • Presentations were conducted virtually using MS Teams on July 9, 10 and 11, 2024, with independent evaluations followed by consensus evaluations completed after the respective presentation and follow-on clarifying question and answer period
• Express entry scenario technical walk-through presentations
  • Walk-throughs were conducted virtually using MS Teams on June 18, 20 and 21, 2024, with independent evaluations followed by consensus evaluations completed after the respective walk-through and follow-on clarifying question and answer period

The FM reviewed all invitations and instructions to bidder partnerships prior to their issuance, and reviewed follow-on questions and answer documents prepared by the CA prior to their issuance. The FM observed all interviews and presentations and all consensus meetings. Once the evaluation process was complete, the FM reviewed the record of results.

The CA conducted the evaluation of financial bids and compiled the overall outcomes of the evaluation process. The FM reviewed the record of results.

The CA prepared a draft notification for the highest-ranking bidder partnership of the letter of intent to initiate the negotiation period in accordance with the RFP. We reviewed the draft notification and provided comments to the CA prior to its issuance. The notification was issued to the highest-ranking bidder on July 23, 2024.

No fairness concerns were observed with respect to the RFP evaluation process.

Reference documents

Documents related to solicitation WS3228586309 are available on CanadaBuys or through the project office.

Addendum to the final report

November 1, 2024

Addendum to the final report dated August 15, 2024 for DPM programme CMP.

This addendum covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase including contract award and debriefings.

Following notification to the highest-ranking bidder partnership on July 23, 2024, Canada conducted negotiations with the core technology vendor of the highest-ranking bidder partnership. Observation of the negotiations was outside of the scope of the FM however the FM made inquiries of and was kept informed by the CA on the status of the negotiations. As set out in the RFP, the negotiation period was extended by Canada and successfully concluded on August 29, 2024.

The CA prepared draft notifications for each bidder partnership, providing notification of their status in the process, details of the contract awards, and detailed feedback on the bidder partnership’s respective results in the RFP evaluation process. The FM reviewed the draft notices for concordance to the evaluation outcomes observed and provided comments to the CA prior to their issuance.

The 3 bidder partnerships were notified in writing of the contract awards on September 19, 2024.

The contract awards were published on CanadaBuys on September 21, 2024.

The CA received correspondence from 2 bidder partnerships requesting additional information on the evaluation results. The CA responded to request any specific questions be submitted in writing, to provide a written debriefing in accordance with the RFP. The FM reviewed the response letter prior to its issuance.

In reviewing the contract award and debriefing process no fairness concerns were observed.

Attestation of assurance

The FM hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the CMP in support of the DPM programme P3 procurement process up to and including the conclusion of the contract award and debriefing activities.

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: