The views and recommendations contained on this page are those of the participants at the OSME consultations. These opinions are not necessarily those of the Government of Canada.
| Theme |
Concern |
Suggestion |
| 1. Access |
A. Flexibility of system currently in place |
i. Raise sole source contract limits for professional services
ii. Allow managers more discretion for sole source contracting
iii. Standing offers should qualify organizations equally, currently the top ranking firm receives and firms further down the list do not get any business
iv. Do not use price ranking on SOs
v. Introduce an automated marketplace for the procurement of professional services
|
| B. RFPs are unnecessarily complex and often have inappropriate criteria |
vi. Suspend the mandatory requirement of a standing offer
vii. Expand the Exception Policy for professional services in short term
viii. Implement the "reasonable-person" interpretation model and give procurement officers discretionary authority to inquire about the broader skills and experience of a firm
ix. Streamline and simplify the RFP process
x. Ensure the writers of RFPs have knowledge of requirements for each commodity areaxi. Consult with industry experts to ensure criteria are realistic and reflective of qualities desired in RFPs
xii. Develop templates of criteria for the different areas of expertise
xiii. Retain the option for local purchase orders and credit card purchases
xiv. Reduce paper burden of compliance
xv. Provide templates or software for mandatory requirements such as requirement that submissions be submitted in both official languages
|
| C. Duration of Standing Offers |
xvi. Recompete Standing Offers on a more frequent basis
xvii. Create a mechanism which enables companies to join existing Standing Offers
xviii. Provide mechanism for firms that clearly demonstrate they can offer the same goods and services at a lower cost compared to a standing offer to be utilized by departments
|
| D. Commodity categorization |
xix. Better more precise categories for Professional
Services |
| 2. Accountability |
E. Value for Money |
xx. Consider quality not just price
xxi. Restrain large firms from charging premiums
for sub-contracted work of SMEs
xxii. Require departments to provide a monthly
update of information on all contracts awarded for posting a single
website
|
| 3. Complexity and Cost |
F. RFP process is long and costly |
xxiii. Reduce the number and scale of requirements
for RFPs
xxiv. Lower the requirement for SOs for smaller
suppliers for projects that exceed the sole-source limit but are still
not large scale (example: under $100K)
|
| G. There is confusion both within and outside the government about procurement |
xxv. Create one stop shop for SME procurement
advice and training
xxvi. Humanize the process of interaction
between bidders and government department managers requesting the service
|
| H. MERX |
xxvii. Simplify the system, make it user
friendly
xxviii. Reduce the cost affiliated with preparing
and submitting a bid through MERX and the
cost of monitoring MERX
|
| I. Cost of writing and submitting proposals |
xxix. Reduce time it takes to complete RFPs
xxx. Reduce size of proposals required
|
| 4. Communication |
J. Lack of dialogue between specific industry sectors and government |
xxxi. Continue to hold workshops and engage
SMEs
|
| K. Changes not understood by or communicated to SME community |
xxxii. Communicate frequently both internally
and externally
xxxiii. Provide training to ensure a better
understanding of requirements and changes
xxxiv. Prepare Stakeholders in advance for
orderly and informed implementation of any new initiatives
xxxv. Communicate the rules of procurement
to government departments
xxxvi. Clarify the cases in which sole sourcing
for up to $25 000 is still permitted
|
