Office of the Procurement Ombudsman

In its 2009-2010 study, A Management Approach to Vendor Performance, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO) identified effective practices to assist organizations in implementing vendor performance programs. These include: performance clauses in contracts; tools and automated systems for monitoring; evaluation and reporting of performance results; and corrective measures for poorly performing vendors.

This study and other OPO reports are available at the Reports and Publications page.

Since OPO's creation in 2008:

• Businesses can have their complaints regarding contract award or administration reviewed by a neutral and independent organization; and,
• No-fee dispute resolution services are available to federal contract holders.

There is no fee for this service and any agreement stemming from the process is voluntary, confidential and legally binding. For more information on OPO's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services, please visit Resolving Contract Disputes.

• whether the complainant submitted a bid or was prevented from doing so;
• the likelihood that the complainant would have been awarded the contract if it were not for the actions of the department; and
• the degree to which the complainant was prejudiced during the bidding process.

Businesses may wonder: "Am I going to be wasting my time? Should I just "chalk it up" to the cost of doing business?"

Before you decide to simply walk away from a contractual dispute or chalk it up to the cost of doing business, give OPO a call and find out how we can help. You can reach us at 1-866-734-5169.

OPO helps stimulate dialogue and preserve business relationships between companies and federal departments. If you have a contracting question, concern or complaint, contact us – we are here to help.

OPO's dispute resolution service is confidential, quick, and inexpensive. The objective is to level the playing field, stimulate productive dialogue and develop a voluntary and legally binding agreement that is satisfactory to both parties. To read more, please visit Resolving Contract Disputes.

If you have an issue that the Ombudsman should be aware of, we invite you Share Your Thoughts on Federal Procurement. The information you provide may help us shed light on a systemic issue. For more information on the complaint process, please visit the Make a Complaint page.

• The complainant is a Canadian supplier
• The contract value is less than $25K for goods or $100K for services
• The complaint does not relate to the standing offer or supply arrangement contracting tool
• The good or service in the contract is covered by the Agreement on Internal Trade

If you think you have a complaint regarding the award of a contract, contact us.

Follow-up reviews provide an opportunity to share information on improvements being made in federal contracting, which other federal departments and agencies could emulate. These follow-up reviews also provide the Office with an indicator of the usefulness and relevance of its recommendations. To read more, please visit our Reports and Publications section.

In 2012/13, OPO participated in events from Vancouver to Moncton, meeting chambers of commerce, boards of trade and numerous Canadian companies, while doubling its outreach participation from the previous year. This trend will continue in 2013/14 with a priority on raising awareness of OPO's services and hearing from Canadian companies about federal contracting issues. Would you like to invite OPO to your event?

• Evaluation and Selection Plan (e.g. restrictive criteria or biased rating method)
• Evaluation of Bids (e.g. unfair evaluation process)
• Procurement Strategy (e.g. non-competitive)
• Statement of Work or Specifications (e.g. unclear or biased)
• Contract Execution (e.g. altering the contract)

• Raising awareness of procurement issues and exchanging information through education;
• De-escalating potential disputes and helping resolve issues whenever possible through facilitation; and
• Examining procurement issues through review and investigation.

An independent third-party contractor was engaged to carry out an evidence-based formative evaluation, which included obtaining the views of both Canadian companies and federal departments. An external advisory committee of senior officials was also consulted to ensure the evaluation approach was thorough. The report concluded that there is an ongoing strong need for OPO's services, and suggested the Office investigate whether departments should be able to decline participation in OPO's voluntary Alternative Dispute Resolution service. To read more on the results, visit the Formative Evaluation of the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman report and the Management Action Plan.