Complaint Form

Filing a Procurement Complaint

Introduction

Procurement complaints may be filed with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) by potential suppliers concerning alleged breaches by the Government of Canada of the prescribed procedural requirements applicable to any aspects of the procurement process for contracts covered by the trade agreements i.e. the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Agreement on Internal Trade (the AIT), the Agreement on Government Procurement (the AGP) of the World Trade Organization, and the Canada-Korea Agreement on the Procurement of Telecommunications Equipment. 

The CITT is an independent administrative tribunal that, among other things, receives, inquires into, decides and makes recommendations in respect of procurement complaints. 

The following procurement complaint form has been prepared as an aid to those who wish to file a complaint. It is designed as a logical step by step checklist of what complainants should include in their complaints as a minimum. As such, the form is not designed to replace the requirements in the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act or the related Canadian International Trade Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations. To ensure that this form is completed fully, complainants should consult sections 30.1 to 49 of the CITT Act, the Regulations and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules (CITT Rules). A copy of the Act, the Regulations, and the Rules can be found at: 

      CITT Act
      CITT Procurement Inquiry Regulations
      CITT Rules

Complainants should be aware that a complaint that is incomplete or not filed within the prescribed deadlines, might be rejected by the CITT. In order to be considered for inquiry, your complaint must be filed with the Tribunal within the statutory filing deadlines (see subsections 30.11(1) and (2) of the CITT Act, section 6 of the Regulations , Rule 96(1) and Frequently Asked Questions #2). 

Please send your completed procurement complaint form along with related documents to: 

      The Secretary
      Canadian International Trade Tribunal
      333 Laurier Avenue West,
      15th Floor
      Ottawa, Ontario
      K1A 0G7

Confidentiality

For all cases, a public record is compiled by the CITT and made available for viewing on the CITT's premises. Further, all parties to a proceeding can expect that copies of the public documentation that they submit to the CITT will be provided by the CITT to the other parties to the proceeding.

If a party submits documents containing information that the party wishes to keep confidential, the party must provide the CITT with: 

• a statement identifying the information that the party wants to keep confidential, together with an explanation as to why the information is confidential;

 
• a non-confidential summary of the confidential information, which should contain sufficient detail to convey a reasonable understanding of the substance of the confidential information (for example, a version of the information which blocks out the confidential information); and 

 
• one set of documents containing the confidential information and marked "confidential" or "confidentiel" and one set of documents from which the confidential information has been deleted. 

Filing of Documents

Each document to be filed shall be filed by sending by mail or by hand delivery to the Secretary the original and seven copies of the document. Parties to a proceeding may send documents by telecopier or by e-mail provided that the original of the document and the required number of copies are sent forthwith to the Secretary by mail or hand delivery. 

Further Information

For further information on the procurement complaint process, see the CITT's Procurement Review Process - A Descriptive Guide or call the Secretary at (613)993-3595.

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