Printed products and related services for the T1 Tax Program

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

OVERVIEW

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) wishes to establish a contract to deliver the CRA’s T1 Income Tax Program (the “Program”) print and related service requirements, in an efficient manner through the application of industry best practices.

The Contractor will be responsible for meeting CRA’s requirements on an as-and-when-requested basis, and to ensure timely, accurate service delivery.

The Program, which is the largest program that the CRA manages, requires a variety of printed products that are used by millions of Canadians to file their individual income tax returns. Some of these products are generic in nature, while others contain variable information that changes according to specific provincial and territorial requirements. Canadian residents who require paper versions of the T1 Guide/Forms book will be able to obtain one online or by contacting the CRA forms distribution centre.

The resulting contract will include a minimum guarantee of $1,000,000.00 (applicable taxes included), for the period of the Contract, including options.

Sustainable Development

It is the Agency’s objective to promote sustainable development initiatives by purchasing environmentally preferable products, where possible, as well as encouraging vendors to use best practices in packaging and delivery to reduce environmental impacts.

The Contractor is required to assist the CRA with achieving these objectives and is responsible for the following:

All paper products must be certified under the Environmental Choice Program (ECP) or equivalent, or contain virgin fiber originating from a sustainably-managed forest certified to a third-party verified forest certification standard such as or equivalent to the Canadian Standards Association Sustainable Forest Management Standard (CSA/SFMS), the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). Canada reserves the right to request proof of such qualifications, at its sole discretion, throughout the life of the Contract.

Products that are equivalent in certification to the certifications specified herein will be considered where the Contractor:

(a) designates the certification(s) name of the product;
(b) states that the substitute certification is fully interchangeable with one of the certifications specified herein;
(c) provides complete specifications and descriptive literature for each substitute certification;
(d) provides compliance statements that include technical specifics showing the substitute certification meets all mandatory performance criteria that are specified in one of the certifications specified herein; and
(e) clearly identifies those areas in the specifications and provides descriptive literature that support the substitute product's compliance with any mandatory performance criteria.

Certification(s) offered as equivalent in form, fit, function and quality will not be considered if:

(a) the Contractor fails to provide all the information requested to allow the CRA to fully evaluate the equivalency of each substitute certification; or
(b) the substitute certification fails to meet or exceed the mandatory performance criteria of one of the specified certifications identified herein.

The CRA may, but will have no obligation to, request the Contractor demonstrate, that the substitute certification is equivalent to the certifications specified herein. The cost to demonstrate the equivalency shall be borne by the Contractor.

All paper products must be manufactured such that if a whitening process is used, the fibre must not have
been whitened with elemental chlorine.

All envelopes must have a minimum of 50% recycled content with 10% post-consumer waste.

Packaging

The Contractor is responsible for:

• Packing all items to minimize the use of packing materials and be made of recycled and/or recyclable material, where feasible.
• Using packaging and shipping materials that are designed to minimize the waste.
• Using corrugated cardboard that contain a minimum 30% post-consumer recycled-fibre content.
• Using reusable, returnable and recyclable packaging and shipping materials whenever feasible.
Conditional Set-Aside Under the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business

• This procurement may be conditionally set aside under the federal government Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business.
• In order to be considered for the set-aside, the Bidder must certify that it qualifies as an Indigenous business as defined under PSIB and that it will comply with all requirements of PSIB. If bids from two (2) or more Indigenous businesses are compliant with the terms of the Request for Proposal, the contracting authority will limit the competition to those Indigenous businesses and will not consider bids from any non-Indigenous businesses that may have been submitted.
• For more information on Indigenous business requirements of the Set-aside Program for Indigenous Business, refer to Eligibility for Indigenous procurement set aside and Procurement information for Indigenous business owners

Price Escalation/De-escalation

Prices for the second year of the contract and all subsequent contract years including any optional periods exercised, will be negotiated in accordance with the following:

a) For printed T1 products: The firm all-inclusive lot prices per 1000 copies will be increased or decreased once a year based on:

i. the Statistics Canada Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) for pulp and paper products for the preceding 12-month period; and
ii. Contractor provided notices indicating the increase or decrease in the base transaction cost of the paper used to perform the Work. Such notice must contain the price publicly announced by paper suppliers who supply the grade specified in the Contract and the date the price came into effect.

b) For services: The firm rates will be increased or decreased once a year based on Table 1 Consumer Price Index and major components, Canada - Not seasonally adjusted for Services.

c) For transportation costs: The firm rates will be increased or decreased once a year based on Table 1 Consumer Price Index and major components, Canada - Not seasonally adjusted for Transportation.

Release dates for major economic indicators can be accessed via https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/dai-quo/cal1-eng.htm

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Only CFTA is applicable to this requirement.

CONTRACT AND OPTIONS PERIODS

The Services will be required from date of Contract to 31 October 2026 inclusive, with five irrevocable options to extend the contract period for up to five additional years, to be exercised in 1-year increments.

CONTRACTOR SELECTION METHODOLOGY

The Bidder must meet all mandatory criteria applicable to this solicitation. Only the bids meeting the mandatory criteria will be evaluated and scored in accordance with the point rated evaluation criteria. Any proposal that does not achieve the minimum score of 273 points out of 390 will be considered non-compliant and will receive no further consideration.

To determine an overall score for each proposal, technical and price will each be given a rating value; in this case, 60% for technical and 40% for price, and then combined to derive a total combined rating.

The Bidder recommended for award of the Contract will be the compliant Bidder achieving the highest combined rating.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

When responding, the proposal MUST be delivered to the Bid Receiving Unit address indicated below by the time and date indicated on Page 1.

BIDDERS ARE TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS TO:

Canada Revenue Agency
Bid Receiving Unit
BRUg@cra-arc.gc.ca

Bids will not be accepted if emailed directly to this email address. This email address must be used to request that CRA open a Connect conversation, as detailed in Standard Instructions 2003. Bidders must not use their own licensing agreement for Connect to initiate a Connect conversation with CRA.
Bidders are hereby advised that the Bid Receiving Unit of CRA is available Monday to Friday inclusive, between the hours of 0830 and 1500 EDT, excluding those days that the federal government observes as a holiday.
Due to the nature of this solicitation, electronic transmissions of a proposal by facsimile is not considered to be practical and therefore will not be accepted.

All enquiries regarding this Request for Proposal must be directed in WRITING (see email address below) to:

CONTRACTING Authority:

Michael Yaehne
Senior Supply/Business Analyst
Contracting Division
Canada Revenue Agency
Tel. Number : (613) 291-3146
Email Address : Michael.Yaehne@cra-arc.gc.ca