The information contained in this notice is a brief description of the requirement and is for information purposes only. Bidders must refer to the complete RFP document for a full description of the requirement and the full bid instructions.

Background

The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (“CEOC”), an agent of Parliament, exercises general direction and supervision over the conduct of elections and referendums at the federal level. The CEOC heads the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, commonly known as Elections Canada.

 Requirement

As of February 1, 2022, Elections Canada has an overall requirement for the printing, storage, and mail preparation of up to about 30,000,000 voter information cards (VICs), which are needed to support a general election or referendum (Initial VICs and Revision VICs). Elections Canada issued multiple contracts, each with a requirement to print a subset of the VIC total. The awarded contracts are also to be used for the purpose of by-elections. On average, there are less than 10 by-elections each year.

VICs for a general election or referendum are produced using a two-pass process. The first pass produces a “shell” that consists of the static colour components on the card. This shell—referred to as the “VIC Ready Stock”—is stored until a general election or referendum is called. The VIC variable data, consisting of elector and polling location information, is then added onto the VIC Ready Stock at a future date. In the unlikely event that a general election is called with insufficient time to produce the VIC Ready Stock, a contingency option where the VICs are produced in a single printing pass with no colour elements will be invoked.

The VICs required to support a by-election are fewer than those of a general election and are produced in a single printing pass that includes both static elements and the variable data; they do not use the VIC Ready Stock.

For efficiency purposes, the total VICs to be printed for a general election or referendum have been grouped into nine regions. An RFP process to cover the national VIC printing requirement was originally issued in the fall of 2020 to secure a printer for each region. However, EC has to launch a retender due to a lack of bidders in some regions at the time. The purpose of this subsequent RFP is therefore to secure Contractors for the regions of Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Security

Minimum corporate security required: DOS - Reliability

Minimum resource security required: Reliability status

Period of the Contract

The Contract period will be from the Effective Date of the Contract until March 31, 2023 (the “Initial Term”). The Contractor will grant to Elections Canada irrevocable options to extend the period of the Contract by two additional periods of 1-year each under the same terms and conditions.

Submission of Proposals

This RFP allows bidders to use the epost Connect service provided by Canada Post Corporation to transmit their proposals electronically. For further information, bidders must refer to Part 2 – Bidder Instructions, and Part 3 – Proposal Preparation Instructions of the RFP document.

Proposals are to be addressed to the attention of the Contracting Authority and delivered, sealed, to the Proposal Receiving Unit on or before the bid closing date and time indicated on the front page of the RFP.

For sending packages by courier or for dropping off, please note that the Proposal Receiving Unit at the Business Centre is open Mondays to Fridays from 8:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00 (Gatineau, Quebec time).

Bids sent via email or facsimile will not be accepted.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.

Elections Canada retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Selection Methodology

Competitive Procurement Strategy: Highest combined rating of technical merity and price

Enquiries

All enquiries and other communication with Elections Canada personnel are to be directed ONLY to the Contracting Authority. The Contracting Authority will be the bidder’s primary contact. Bidders who contact anyone other than the Contracting Authority may be disqualified.

All enquiries must be submitted in writing to proposal@elections.ca no later than the deadline indicated in the RFP. Enquiries received after that time may not be answered.

Interested parties wishing to obtain the solicitation documents for this RFP must do so through https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tenders. The documents downloaded through this site take precedence over any copies that may also be made available.

Further information about Elections Canada may be obtained at elections.ca.

Debriefings

Once the successful bidder has been announced, bidders may request a debriefing on the results of the RFP process. Bidders should make the request to the Contracting Authority as per the terms of the RFP. The debriefing may be in writing, by telephone or in person.