Field Service Supply Solution (FSSS)

As a result of this Invitation to Qualify (ITQ), Elections Canada has identified the following suppliers as Qualified Respondents:

Bell Canada;
Compugen Inc.;
Kyndryl Canada Limited; and
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and MSP Corp. in Joint Venture.

The information contained in this notice is a brief description of the requirement and is for information purposes only. Respondents must refer to the complete Invitation to Qualify (ITQ) document for a full description of the requirement and the full bid instructions.

This Invitation to Qualify (ITQ) is related to the Request for Information and Advance Procurement Notice for the Field Service Supply Solution (FSSS).

Request for Information:
Solicitation No. ECBH-RFI-2022-1638 (https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/tender-notice/pw-2…)

Advance Procurement Notice:
Solicitation No. ECBH-APN-2022-1638 (https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/tender-notice/cb-6…)

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

Elections Canada has approximately 500 people working at its offices located in Gatineau, Quebec (Elections Canada headquarters) to perform on-going planning and administrative functions required by the Canada Elections Act. During a general election, Elections Canada headquarters increases by approximately 1500 additional temporary staff, Elections Canada establishes approximately 500 field offices of varying types and sizes across Canada for the duration of the election period. The logistics and support involved in commissioning, operating, and decommissioning the field offices is significant and is mission-critical since a general election is a no-fail national event. Once established, election administrators responsible for these offices must plan and coordinate the opening of approximately 20,000 voting service points.

Elections Canada is launching this ITQ to engage and seek responses from suppliers for Elections Canada requirements for a solution or multiple solutions. The current field technological services contract is expiring and Elections Canada through this ITQ is in the process of seeking Respondents to pre-qualify in accordance with the terms and conditions of this ITQ in order to become Qualified Respondents for any later phases of the procurement process. Elections Canada is seeking opportunities to improve its supply of field technology and services for two streams:

Stream 1 – field offices and Elections Canada headquarters
Stream 2 – in-person voting service points (advance polls and election day polls, post-secondary institutions, etc.)

To this end, Elections Canada has created the Field Service Supply Solution (FSSS) project.

Requirement
Elections Canada envisions an agile and flexible services and technology supply offering that leverages technological advances and innovations to continuously evolve and improve election services by taking advantage of IT industry trends such as technology consumerization, Internet-of-Things, wireless and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and analytics, while ensuring that information and data is protected and secure at all times.

Elections Canada is seeking the following outcomes:

1. A technology ecosystem that is continuously changing and evolving, never becoming out-of-date or obsolete;
2. Solutions, including end-to-end logistics, are flexible - an election kit can be assembled for each service point, easily adding and removing components needed for the type of service, including consumables;
3. Hardware is a commodity - devices are relatively inexpensive, widely available, can function on a plug and play basis, and are interchangeable with other open hardware of its type;
4. Solutions are scalable, configurable, and reconfigurable - solutions can rapidly adapt to increase or decrease the configuration/number/type of equipment in response to demand, even during the election period (through the provisioning of local reserve marketplaces and/or same-day direct to office deliveries);
5. Rapid Deployment – solutions can be rapidly and efficiently tracked, deployed and recovered, with minimal notice;
6. Open digital standards, possibly including consumer devices, cloud services, IP telephony services and Internet services;
7. Usability – an average Canadian with some experience in using computers, tablets, or mobile devices can take the kit to a Polling Place or service point or Field Office, set it up themselves and open for service in under an hour or two, with limited training and no technical IT experience necessary;
8. Accessibility – solutions support Canada’s two official languages and are accessible;
9. Low carbon footprint – continuous reduction of the carbon footprint and the use of paper in the field and at Polling Places and service points;
10. Operational efficiencies improved use of staff time and effort, flexibility in reusing equipment and materials, while still producing a high-quality service/product; and
11. Technology to improve administration of Polling Places – by fall 2025, ability to deploy technology in some 250 urban and semi-urban electoral districts, where 6,000-7,000 Polling Places would provide technology to 18,000 to 25,000 poll workers.

Incumbent
The work is currently being performed by Kyndryl Canada Limited under contract (value $25,695,969.22).

Security
The eventual solicitation and contract will include detailed security and supply chain integrity requirements.

A Respondent is not required to have security clearance in order to become a Qualified Respondent. Elections Canada reserves the right to incorporate additional security requirements identified during subsequent phases of the procurement.

Submission of Proposals
This ITQ allows Respondents to use the Connect service provided by Canada Post Corporation to transmit their responses electronically. For further information, Respondents must refer to Part 2 – Respondent Instructions, and Part 3 – Response Preparation Instructions of the ITQ document.

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

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).

Responses 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.

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 Respondent’s primary contact. Respondents 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 ITQ. Enquiries received after that time may not be answered.

Interested parties wishing to obtain the documents for this ITQ must do so through https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities. 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 Qualified Respondents have been announced, Respondents may request a debriefing on the results of the ITQ process. Respondents should make the request to the Contracting Authority as per the terms of the ITQ. The debriefing may be in writing, by telephone, virtual or in person.