Elections Canada Telecommunications Provisioning Services

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.

During an Event, EC requires telecommunications services (both voice and data) over the internet to Field Offices within the shortest possible time following the issue of the writ commencing an Event.

Requirement

The objective of this project is to award a contract to provide telecommunications services, including all necessary equipment and configuration for the Field Offices (RO, AAROs and AARO-ESP) across Canada as more particularly set out herein (collectively, the “Telecommunications Provisioning Services”) during Events (a federal general election, by-election or a referendum) following a writ drop.

In addition, EC will extend the operations of field offices for up to three weeks after the polling day to decommission the field offices. EC requires contract-managed services and a contractor-delivered and supported solution for the Field Offices. These include billing, training (including material), reporting, system maintenance, administration, implementation, configuration, modification, incident and operational management, for the following:

• Internet access services as the foundation for telecommunications services. Internet access must include both wireline (DSL, Cable or Fiber) to each of the Field Offices (RO and AARO) and cellular high speed (4G/LTE/5G) Internet services to each of the Field Offices (RO, AARO and AARO-ESP site) to create network redundancy, increase network availability and reduce risks. AARO-ESP sites require only cellular high speed Internet services;
• Cellular voice and data services on Android smart phones for Field Offices (RO, AARO and AARO-ESP sites);
• Hosted VoIP telephony services for Field Offices (RO and AARO).

The objective of this RFP is to provision a fully managed Internet access and telephony services for Elections Canada Field Offices for the duration of an Event, providing:

• Wireline and Wireless Internet access services;
• Cellular voice and data services on mobile phones;
• Hosted VoIP telephony services;
• Scalable to support at least 600 Field Offices and 6,000 plus users;
• Service ready within 72 hours following an Event Notice;

Period of the Contract

Initial Term with Option to Extend

The Contract period will be from the Effective Date of the Contract until December 31, 2024 (the “Initial Term”). The Contractor will grant to Elections Canada the irrevocable option to extend the period of the Contract by one additional period of four years under the same terms and conditions.

International Trade Agreements

The requirement is subject to the provisions of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, the Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement, the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA), the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement and the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA).

Submission of Offers

It is requested that offers be addressed to the attention of the Contracting Authority and delivered to the Proposal Receiving Unit. Offers must be delivered to the following address, sealed, on or before the bid closing date indicated on the front page of the RFP at 2:00 p.m. (Gatineau, Quebec time).

Mailing Address:

Elections Canada

30 Victoria Street -1st Floor (Business Centre)

Gatineau, QC

K1A 0M6

Attn: Annie de Bellefuille , A/ Team Leader, Procurement and Contracting Services

Elections Canada File No: ECMB-RFP-17-0548

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 4:00 p.m. (Gatineau, Quebec time).

Bids sent via electronic mail or facsimile 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 Proposition-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.

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.

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.