Media Placement Services

Trade Agreements: No
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Attachment: Yes (buyandsell.gc.ca)
Competitive Procurement Strategy: Best overall Proposal
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: Yes 
Nature of Requirement: Media Relations Services
Estimated Cost of proposed Contract, including the options, approximately $33,900,000.00 CDN (applicable taxes excluded)

Elections Canada File No:
ECST-RFP-13-0153

SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH GETS.

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 Request for Proposal (RFP) document for a full description of the requirements 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.

In accordance with section 18 (2) of the CEA, the CEOC may, using any media or other means that he or she considers appropriate, provide the public, both inside and outside of Canada, with information relating to Canada’s electoral process, the democratic right to vote and how to be a candidate.

Elections Canada has developed a multi-media communications and information campaign strategy referred to as the “Electoral Reminder Program” or “ERP,” which is implemented during a federal general election to provide Canadian electors with key information on when, where and how to register to vote, and on the eligibility requirements.

Description:
EC requires the services of one professional firm, specializing in media placement services, to provide media placements to deliver national, provincial or regional Campaigns in Canada. 
The SOW attached as Annex A to the Contract outlines the services that will be required by EC. The objective of advertising campaigns for Electoral Events is to inform and educate electors, through a variety of mediums, about registration and voting procedures and the right to vote and to support the introduction of service enhancements offered by EC to the electorate as a whole or to specific segments of the population, be it target groups or geographic regions. EC’s outreach target groups include youth, Aboriginal and ethnocultural electors, persons with disabilities, new Canadians and Canadians temporarily living outside of Canada.

Period of the Contract:
The term of the contract will be from the effective date of the contract to March 31, 2020. In addition, EC has the irrevocable option to extend the Term of the Contract by two additional periods of up to one year each under the same terms and conditions.

Evaluation Methodology:
Bids will be evaluated in the following progressive stages: 
- Phase 1: Mandatory Technical Requirements; 
- Phase 2: Rated Technical Requirements;
- Phase 3: Reference Checks, if applicable;
- Phase 4: Financial Evaluation; and
- Phase 5: Determination of Highest Ranked Bidder.

Proposals which fail to achieve the requirements specified in the RFP for Phases 1, 2, 3, or 4 will be deemed non-responsive and given no further consideration.

Neither the responsive proposal obtaining the highest technical score nor the one with the lowest evaluated price will necessarily be accepted.  The Proposal deemed responsive in Phases 1, 2 and 4, taking into consideration any adjustments required as a result of the reference checks in Phase 3 if the evaluation team has decided to conduct reference checks, with the lowest evaluated price per point, will be considered for award of a contract	

International Trade Agreements:
This procurement is exempt from the provisions of:
-	the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA), and the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCOFTA) under exempt services category T – Communications, Photographic, Mapping, Printing and Publication Services; and

-	the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) under excluded services Annex 502.1B, Article 1.g – Advertising and Public Relations; and

-	the World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) since it does not cover this type of service

Comprehensive Land Claim Agreements:
This procurement is subject to the Comprehensive Land Claim Agreements.  A letter and a copy of this NPP were sent by fax and/or e-mail to all applicable claimant groups.

Submission of Bids:
It is requested that bids be provided directly to the Contracting Authority. Bids must be delivered to the following address, sealed, on or before Friday, January 24th, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. (EST).

Mailing Address:
Elections Canada
30 Victoria Street -1st Floor (Business Centre)
Gatineau, QC 
K1A 0M6
Attn: Pascal Bouchard-Phillips, Procurement and Contracting Services
Elections Canada File No: ECST-RFP-13-0153

For sending packages by courier or for dropping off, please note that the Business Centre hours are Mondays to Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00p.m. (EST).

Bids received after the stipulated closing date and time will not be accepted and will be returned unopened to the bidder. If a late bid must be opened to determine the name and/or address of the bidder or the nature of the enclosure, a covering letter will be sent to explain the necessity of opening the bid. 

Faxed or bids sent via electronic mail will not be accepted.

All enquiries and other communication with Elections Canada officials are to be directed ONLY to the Contracting Authority. The Contracting Authority will be the bidder’s primary contact. All requests for information must be directed to this contact. Bidders who contact anyone other than the Contracting Authority may be disqualified.  All enquiries must be submitted in writing to proposal-proposition@elections.ca no later than fifteen (15) calendar days before the RFP closing date.  Enquiries received after that time may not be answered.

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

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.

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

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