Primary Worker Staffing Ratio Review

An advanced contract award notice (ACAN) is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date and time stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

1. Definition of the requirement:

The Correctional Service Canada has a requirement to complete an independent review of the targeted Primary Worker (PW) staffing ratio for women’s institutions and the healing lodge for women. The work will involve the following:

1.1 Objectives:

The objective of this project is to determine the operationally necessary ratio of male to female PWs, and the “ideal” ratio, referring to the ratio that meets the social, psychological, physical as well as operational needs of incarcerated people and front line workers.
1.2 Tasks:

The contractor must complete the tasks of each phase as follows:

Phase 1-Consultation and Exploration
• Design study including research instruments and questionnaires
• Ethics review of research design by Academic body
• Literature and Policy review
• Written summary of Literature Review
Phase 2-Investigation and Data Collection
• Conduct in-person structured interviews with Primary Workers (PW) at a minimum of two (2) federal women correctional facilities determined between the Project Authority and the contractor; at least one larger institution and a smaller one (per population size ).
• Conduct PW Interviews at the remaining women’s sites (virtually or in-person) until the point where enough data has been collected to draw necessary conclusions and any further data collection will not produce value-added insights as determined by the contractor.
• Conduct a minimum of 25 PW interviews or more, until saturation point is reached (no new information is coming forward)
• Conduct interviews with Correctional Managers (CMs), roster managers and senior managers to fully capture and understand the operational issues and impact of a gendered staffing ratio when assigning tasks. The Contractor must conduct these interviews virtually, except for those conducted during the in-person site visits.
• Conduct structured interviews with offenders. These interviews may be conducted in-person or virtual as agreed upon by the Project Authority.
• Observe PWs conduct tasks and duties during their shifts to better understand the nuances of the work tasks as well as the practical application of the tasks. Site will provide basic orientation to the day to day operations of correctional staff. This could include directly observing PWs perform key job tasks.
Phase 3- transcription, analysis, coding and report writing
• Transcription of all interviews completed in phase 2
• Coding and analysis of data and report writing
• Review of preliminary findings with the Project Authority
• Final report and presentation of the review. As a minimum, the report should include an Executive Summary, Literature review, Methodology and Analysis/conclusions/recommendations. The presentation will be conducted in-person or virtually as determined by the Project Authority .

1.3 Expected results:

The review of the female to male Primary Worker staffing ratio to validate and confirm an optimal ratio in order to ensure sufficient gender representation at women’s institutions and the healing lodge, to enable sound operational policy application that respects the provisions of CD 577 Staff Protocol in Women Offender Institutions, as well as other CSC policies.

1.4 Deliverables:

1.4.1 The contractor must submit a final report and present the completed review. The contractor must conduct the presentation in-person or virtually (to be determined by the Project Authority). The final comprehensive report must include findings of the review with recommendations on validation of existing practice of 25/75 male/female PWs ratio.

1.4.2 Paper consumption:

a. Should printed material be required, double sided printing in black and white format is the default unless otherwise specified by the Project Authority.

b. The Contractor must ensure printed material is on paper with a minimum recycled content of 30% and/or certified as originating from a sustainably managed forest.

c. The Contractor must recycle unneeded printed documents (in accordance with Security Requirements).

1.5 Constraints:

1.5.1 Location of work:

The Contractor must perform the work at their place of business. The contractor must also travel to a minimum of 2 federal women’s sites (locations to be determined) and CSC locations in the National Capital Region.

1.5.2 Language of Work:

The contractor must perform all work in English.

1.5.3 Security Requirements:

This contract includes the following security requirements:

1. The contractor/offeror must, at all times during the performance of the contract/standing
offer, hold a valid designated organization screening (DOS), issued by the Contract
Security Program (CSP), Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC)
2. The contractor/offeror personnel requiring access to protected information, assets or
sensitive work site(s) must each hold a valid reliability status, granted or approved by
the CSP, PWGSC
3. The contractor/offeror must not remove any protected information or assets from the
identified work site(s), and the contractor/offeror must ensure that its personnel are made
aware of and comply with this restriction
4. Subcontracts which contain security requirements are not to be awarded without the prior
written permission of the CSP, PWGSC

2. Criteria for assessment of the statement of capabilities (minimum essential requirements):

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements:

Experience: The supplier must have performed *extensive published, peer-reviewed research as the Primary Investigator in the field of public safety, specifically in at least 6 of the following areas:
• Understanding the impact of prison work on the well-being of correctional officers
• Occupational stress injuries in corrections
• Understanding organizational roles in corrections
• Women’s corrections in Canada
• Establishing gender in correctional work
• The experience of living and working in federal institutions
• Gendered roles in correctional officer work
• Gendered staffing ratios
*Extensive is defined as a minimum of 50 peer-reviewed and published journal articles in the last 5 years prior to the ACAN closing date in in at least 6 of the areas listed above.

The supplier must have the following experience:

• Must have applied for and obtained a minimum of 8 Research grants or fellowships as the primary investigator in the study of the work of Correctional Officers in the last 5 years prior to the ACAN closing date.
• Must have delivered a minimum of 30 conference presentations in the area of correctional officer work, or staffing gender ratios, or both in a correctional setting within the last 5 years prior to the ACAN closing date.
• Must have authored a minimum of 10 published books or chapters in the area of correctional officer workplace wellness in Canada, or gendered staffing in corrections, or both within the last 10 years prior to the ACAN closing date.

Academic qualifications:

The supplier must have a doctorate level of education in social science, in the field of sociology, criminology or public administration.

The degree must have been obtained from a recognized Canadian university, college or high school, or the equivalent as established by a recognized Canadian academic credentials assessment service, if obtained outside Canada.

The list of recognized organizations can be found under the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials web site.

Professional designation, accreditation and/or certification:

The supplier must have membership in good standing with at least one professional research association and academic institution.

3. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):
Canada Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA)

4. Set-aside under the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business

This procurement is not subject to any set-asides for Indigenous Suppliers.

5. Comprehensive Land Claims Agreement(s)

This procurement is not subject to a Comprehensive Land Claims Agreement.

6. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

The pre-identified supplier meets all of the minimum essential requirements described in this ACAN.

7. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)

The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection:

(d) only one person is capable of performing the contract.

8. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the section of the trade agreement(s) specified:

Canada Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA) - ArticleXIII

b. where the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons:

iii. due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;

9. Ownership of Intellectual Property

There are no intellectual property terms in the contract.

10. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date

The proposed contract is for a period of 8 months, from July 24th, 2023 to March 31st, 2024.

11. Cost estimate of the proposed contract

The estimated value of the contract is $100,000.00 (GST/HST extra).

12. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier

Name: Rosemary Czarnuch (Ricciardelli)
Address: Contractor’s place of Business

13. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date and time of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

14. Closing date and time for a submission of a statement of capabilities

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is July 19th, 2023 at 2:00pm EDT.

15. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities

Inquiries and statement of capabilities are to be directed to:

Danielle Blanchet, Senior Contract Officer
Telephone: 506-377-9624
E-mail: Danielle.blanchet@csc-scc.gc.ca