Contracting Policy

2. When bid solicitations are national in scope or originate from an office having the obligation to serve the public in both official languages pursuant to the Act and Regulations, all regular or standardized documents must be provided in both official languages (whether through the media or by electronic communications systems). This requirement also applies to public notices, statements of terms and conditions, basic forms, bid solicitations, standards, purchase descriptions and contracts.

Note:

In this policy, standards are those produced by a federal institution, or by a private or public standards-writing organization, if they are available in both official languages at the time the contracting process begins.

3. Where non-standardized documents, such as specifications, are used, it is up to the federal institution, i.e. the contracting authority (or the client department responsible for the preparation of the specifications when a common service organization handles the contracting process only) to determine if these documents must be available in both official languages to provide information to contractors in the language of their choice, in conformity with the Official Languages Act and Regulations. Thus, the non-standardized or specific documents may be provided in only one official language when the federal institution determines and can substantiate, based on relevant information regarding their public and the marketplace, that they will be requested in that language only. If it is determined later that a significant demand exists for such documents in the other official language, the federal institution must take the necessary measures to make the documents available in the other official language. In some cases, where the specifications do not originate in Canada, they are not translated.

4. When the bidding is not national in scope or when an office of a federal institution does not have obligations under the Act and Regulations, the contracting documents may be prepared only in the official language of the majority of the population concerned. This also applies to subsequent operations.

5. The contracting authority (or the client department responsible for the preparation of the specifications when a common service organization handles the contracting process only) is responsible for setting out the requirements, including those on official languages, and for the quality of the language of their statements of terms and conditions, and specifications. The institution is also responsible for actively offering the related services to the public in Canada in the official language of its choice, as required by the Act and Regulations.

6. The federal institution must include the appropriate conditions in its bid solicitation documents and its contracts to ensure that, when the public comprises members of both official language communities, its contractors observe the requirements of the Act and Regulations on service to the public and, where applicable, of Treasury Board policies. For example:

• Any contractor who carries out work on behalf of a federal institution (see section 25 of the Act) in a location where the federal institution would have to provide services or communications to the public, including supplemental background documentation such as brochures, operation and maintenance instructions, parts lists in both official languages, must also do so in both official languages.
• When the site of a project is in a location where a significant demand exists for services in English and French under the Act and Regulations, the signs must be erected in both official languages.

7. When a common service organization carries out procurement for goods or services, the client federal institution must submit, where necessary, contractual documents, including its requisition, specifications, standards and purchase descriptions in both official languages. If it does not do so, the federal institution must be prepared to show that its approach is consistent with the Act and Regulations.