Reports and consultations

Highlights

• On May 31, 2024, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)  launched the Office of Supplier Integrity and Compliance (OSIC) to replace and build on the department's former Integrity Regime. One of OSIC's responsibilities is administering a revised and expanded version of the Ineligibility and Suspension Policy (the Policy), which came into force on the same day as OSIC
• The revised Policy entails a number of important enhancements, including
  • expanded disclosure obligations for suppliers: suppliers must provide a broader list of key individuals within their organizations, providing OSIC greater visibility into corporate structures
  • additional offences as grounds for exclusion: there are more offences pertaining to economic crimes and anti-competitive behaviour (the Policy now takes an expanded consideration of business ethics and corporate social responsibility with the addition of violations related to forced labour, human trafficking, labour rights and environmental protections)
  • new flexible triggers as grounds for exclusion: the Registrar of Ineligibility and Suspension now has the authority to take action against suppliers in the absence of charges or convictions when a supplier is determined to pose a risk to the federal procurement or real property systems
  • more responsive sanctions: the Registrar has the ability to determine appropriate periods of ineligibility based on an assessment of aggravating and mitigating factors, ensuring sanctions are more commensurate with identified risks (further, provisional suspensions were introduced as a new sanction, enabling swift action against suppliers that are determined to pose immediate and significant risks to Canada)
• Given the expanded scope of the revised Policy, throughout fiscal year 2024 to 2025, OSIC undertook outreach and engagement with other government departments, procurement professionals, and the supplier community to raise awareness and ensure understanding of new Policy requirements and OSIC’s responsibilities
• Outreach and engagement activities included presentations to the Supplier Advisory Committee, Public Service Management Advisory Committee, and at the 2024 Transparency International Canada Day of Dialogue, as well as communiques, enquiry responses, and updating CanadaBuys with news of the OSIC launch and the revised Policy
• In addition, in fiscal year 2024 to 2025 OSIC achieved important results, summarized below
  • overall, a total of 26,573 integrity verification requests were received, representing verifications of 680,322 individual names
  • OSIC received on average 2,214 monthly verification requests and the highest volume was in February 2025 with more than 2,820 requests
  • more than 99% of these verifications were completed within the program’s 4-hour completion standard
  • 873 expedited verification requests were conducted on potential suppliers
  • the Registrar pursued 7 administrative actions under the Policy: 6 suspension-related activities and 1 determination of ineligibility
  • there were 3 active administrative agreements with suppliers. Pursuant to these agreements, these suppliers could continue to do business with the Government of Canada as long as the terms and conditions of the agreements were met
• Looking ahead, OSIC is committed to strengthening its administration of the Ineligibility and Suspension Policy. In particular, OSIC will continue to prioritize outreach to ensure consistent application of the Policy across all federal departments and agencies that are required to apply it, as well as other federal entities that have voluntarily adopted it

Note that in 2024 to 2025 OSIC also contributed to the development of PSPC’s first-ever annual report on Addressing misconduct and wrongdoing. In the years ahead, updates on OSIC’s responsibilities and results will be provided in this new departmental report.

Highlights

• Overall, a total of 30,613 integrity verification requests were received from April 2023 to March 2024, representing verifications of 1,134,793 individual names
• Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) received an average of 2,551 verification requests monthly. The highest number of requests, 3,337, were processed in September 2023
• The 2023 to 2024 fiscal year showed a 16% increase in integrity verification requests, and a 64% increase in individuals verified compared to the previous year (2022 to 2023)
• More than 99% of these verifications were completed within the program’s 4-hour completion standard
• 1,066 expedited verification requests were conducted on potential suppliers in the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year
• In this timeframe, 5 companies were ineligible to do business with the Government of Canada due to convictions for a listed offence (Les Entreprises Chatel Inc., R.M. Belanger Limited, Guaranteed Industries Limited, 3682021 Canada Inc. (Sports Max), Canada Bread Company Limited (also doing business as Bimbo Canada)), and one company was suspended (Teva Pharmaceuticals US Inc.)
• There were three active administrative agreements with suppliers:
  • Hickey Construction Limited (established on December 14, 2020), SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (established on May 10, 2022), and Ultra Electronics Forensic Technology Inc. (established on November 14, 2023)
  • pursuant to these administrative agreements, these suppliers could continue to do business with the Government of Canada as long as the terms and conditions of the agreements were met

To measure client satisfaction, PSPC conducted the 2023 to 2024 integrity verification services (IVS) portal user survey.  A total of 1,079 portal account holders responded. Results showed that respondents appreciate the IVS portal and speed of service. The percentage of positive responses for questions related to client service and IVS portal satisfaction was 70.57% or above. The IVS survey identified areas for improvement related to client training on verifications and the portal.

PSPC continued to explore opportunities to strengthen oversight of the Government of Canada’s procurement and real property systems  This included preparing for the launch of OSIC and the revised and expanded Ineligibility and Suspension Policy, as announced in the Procurement Improvement Action Plan (March 2024).

Highlights

• Overall, a total of 26,289 integrity verification requests were received in 2022 to 2023, representing verifications of 694,020 individual names
• PSPC received on average 2,191 monthly verification requests and the highest volume was in March 2023 with more than 2,789 requests
• The 2022 to 2023 fiscal year showed a 1.1% increase in integrity verification requests, and an 11.7% increase in individuals verified compared to the previous year, 2021 to 2022
• 1,023 expedited verification requests were conducted on potential suppliers in the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year
• More than 99% of these verifications were completed within the program’s 4-hour completion standard
• Three companies are ineligible to do business with the Government of Canada due to convictions for a listed offence (Les Entreprises Chatel Inc., R.M. Belanger Limited and Guaranteed Industries Limited)
• There are two active administrative agreements with suppliers (Hickey Construction Ltd. and SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.)
  • The administrative agreement with Hickey Construction Ltd. was established on December 14, 2020 and the administrative agreement with SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. was established on May 11, 2022
  • pursuant to these agreements, both suppliers may continue to do business with the Government of Canada as long as the terms and conditions of the agreements are met

Integrity Regime partners continue to return positive feedback on the verification portal and on the integrity verification client service, and provide further areas for technical development, through the integrity verification services (IVS) portal user survey.

Highlights

• Overall, a total of 26,000 integrity verification requests were received in 2021 to 2022, representing verifications of 620,815 individual names
• PSPC received on average 2,176 monthly verification requests and the highest volume was in December 2021 with over 2,613 requests
• The 2021 to 2022 fiscal year showed a 2.2% increase in integrity verification requests, and a 33% increase in individuals verified compared to the previous year, 2020 to 2021
• 1,078 expedited verification requests were conducted on potential suppliers in the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year
  • over 99% of these verifications were completed within the program’s 4-hour completion standard
• 3 companies are ineligible to do business with the Government of Canada due to convictions for a listed offence (Les Entreprises Chatel Inc.., R.M. Belanger Limited and Guaranteed Industries Limited)
• There is 1 active administrative agreement with a supplier (Hickey Construction Ltd.)
  • this administrative agreement was established on December 14, 2020 and pursuant to the agreement, the supplier may continue to do business with the Government of Canada as long as the terms and conditions of the agreement are met

To measure client satisfaction, PSPC conducted the integrity verification services (IVS) portal user survey which was responded by 1,112 procurement and real property officers. Through the survey, the majority of procurement officers indicated that they are satisfied with the service received and the response time of the Integrity Regime Team. Regarding the IVS portal, 88.26% of responses from procurement officers stated that the portal was easy to navigate and 68.62% of respondents responded that there were no areas that required improvement.

Highlights

• 619 expedited verification requests were conducted on potential suppliers in the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year
• Overall, a total of 25,447 integrity verification requests were received in 2020 to 2021, representing verifications of 467,575 individual names
• The average number of monthly verification requests was approximately 2,050
• The 2020 to 2021 fiscal year showed a 12% decrease in integrity verification requests, but a 25% increase in individuals verified compared to the previous year, 2019 to 2020
• Over 99% of these verifications were completed within the program’s 4-hour completion standard
  • to date, no contracts have been awarded to a supplier that is ineligible or suspended under the Integrity Regime
• Currently, under the regime, 3 companies (Les Entreprises Chatel Inc., R.M. Belanger Limited and Guaranteed Industries Limited) are ineligible to do business with the Government of Canada due to convictions for a listed offence
• Hickey Construction Ltd. may do business with the Government of Canada pursuant to an administrative agreement which came into effect on December 14, 2020
  • an administrative agreement between the Government of Canada and SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. concluded in December 2020 following the final disposition of criminal charges facing the supplier

In support of the Government of Canada’s response to the pandemic, including securing necessary products and supplies for Canadians, PSPC continued to provide an excellent response time on integrity verification requests, ensuring minimal disruption to clients’ procurement and real property processes.

Highlights

• 20 expedited verification requests were conducted on potential suppliers in the 2019 to 2020 fiscal year
• Overall, a total of 28,933 integrity verification requests were received this year, representing verifications of 374,413 individual names
• Over 99% of these verifications were completed within the program’s 4-hour completion standard
• PSPC received on average 2,355 monthly verification requests, and the highest volume received was in November 2019 with over 4,600 requests
• Overall, the 2019 to 2020 fiscal year showed an 8.17% increase in integrity verifications and an 8.9% increase in individuals verified over the previous year
  • 3 companies were ineligible from doing business with the Government of Canada, while 1 company held an administrative agreement with PSPC in lieu of suspension

The 2019 to 2020 fiscal year presented a fast-paced and constantly evolving marketplace in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. To support the Government of Canada’s response to the pandemic, including securing necessary products and supplies for Canadians, the Integrity Regime created a process to expedite urgent pandemic-related integrity verifications.

Integrity Regime partners continue to return positive feedback on the verification portal and on the integrity verification client service, and provide further areas for technical development, through the integrity verification services (IVS) portal user survey. In 2019 to 2020 a survey of over 4,000 procurement officers was conducted and the majority of procurement officers indicated that they were satisfied with the service received and the response time.