Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) Services

Notice of Proposed Procurement (NPP)

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) Services

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 requirement and the full bid instructions.

1. Elections Canada File No: ECAT-RFP-17-0001
2. Applicability of Trade Agreements: Yes
3. Tendering Procedure: Open Competitive (Buy & Sell.gc.ca)
4. Tendering Procedure: Attachment: Yes (Buy & Sell.gc.ca)
5. Competitive Procurement Strategy: Lowest Price Responsive Proposal
6. Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No

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.

Elections Canada’s current Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) services are provisioned through various EC and Shared Services Canada contracts. EC has high speed MAN services between EC facilities in the National Capital Area. The current topology consists of a star topology with the EC King Edward Datacentre (KED) acting as the hub and other locations, listed below, as edge nodes in a Layer 2 unmanaged MAN:

1. 30 Victoria St., Gatineau
2. 150 Tunney’s Pasture Ave., Ottawa
3. 440 Coventry Rd, Ottawa

Requirement

Elections Canada requires a contractor to provide on-going unmanaged Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) services between EC facilities in the National Capital Area. The provision of services includes VPLS Layer 2 network services, Ethernet network services, as well as service management, monitoring and operations in accordance with Annex A, Statement of Work.

In addition to the MAN configuration requirement described above, Elections Canada anticipates additional office locations in the NCR requiring Remote Layer 2 connectivity. Although the full extent of the requirement cannot be fully assessed at this time, EC hereby reserves the right at its sole discretion, to obtain these additional connections through an amendment to the contract resulting from this RFP.

Period of the Contract

The Contract period is for three years from the Effective Date of the Contract (the “Initial Term”). The Contractor will grant to Elections Canada irrevocable options to extend the period of the Contract by two additional periods of up to twelve months each under the same terms and conditions.

Trade Agreements

The requirement is subject to the provisions of the Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).

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: Ashley Tran, Senior Advisor, Procurement and Contracting Services

Elections Canada File No: ECAT-RFP-17-0001

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.