Telephone Interpretation Services

Notice of Proposed Procurement

This requirement is for Employment and Social Development Canada/Service Canada.

Objective:

Service Canada is seeking professional interpretation services to be delivered via telephone to support staff when clients have language barriers.

The primary objective of the project is to ensure that clients who do not speak one of Canada’s official languages have access to the same level of service as those that do. The successful bidder will be capable of translating English or French to multiple different languages. At a minimum, the following translations would be required:

ENGLISH TO: French, Mandarin, Punjabi, Cantonese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Polish, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Farsi, Tamil, Hindi, Portuguese, Japanese, Cree, Inuktitut, Oji-Cree, Ojibway (TOTAL 20)

FRENCH TO: English, Mandarin, Spanish, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hungarian, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Vietnamese, Polish, Korean, Farsi, Tamil, Hindi, Portuguese, Japanese (TOTAL 16)

Background Statement:

Service Canada, an initiative of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), supports more than 13.5 million interactions with Canadians annually through a citizen-centered business model and an integrated multi-channel delivery network. This involves working with other federal departments to offer citizens a full spectrum of Government of Canada services and information, such as Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), Social Insurance Number (SIN), Passport, and various other programs.

In 2005, Service Canada made a commitment to improve opportunities for all Canadians, including newcomers that are at a disadvantage because they do not speak, or may not have sufficient understanding of, either of Canada’s two official languages. As a result, the department contracted with a company to offer a professional telephone interpretation service in various foreign languages. This service was introduced as a pilot in 2006 in select Service Canada Centres (SCCs) across the country. The objective of the Foreign Language Telephone Interpretation Pilot (FLTIP) was to help Service Canada staff identify and respond to the needs of allophone newcomers who require in-person services at SCCs.

This initiative is part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide excellent service to Canadians in both official languages and support Canadians residing in Official Language Minority Communities. The current Telephone Interpretation Services (TIS) contract is available in all Service Canada Centres (SCCs), as well as some Scheduled Outreach sites. The contract expires March 31, 2018, and the department is hereby inviting potential suppliers to present their proposals to continue the service for a minimum of three years.

Proposed period of contract:

The contract period is estimated to be 01 April 2018 to 31 March 2021 with up to two (2) additional one (1) year option periods.

File Number: 100008756

Contracting Authority: Linda Handregan

E-mail: nc-solicitations-gd@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca