*June 7 2019. This amendment No. 009 is raised to notify the industry of Canada’s decision to add follow-on one-on-one meetings with the industry to discuss and clarify certain technical issues and the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) policy.

These meetings will take place between June 10^th and 19^th, 2019 via teleconference and will last a maximum of one hour and a half.

If you wish to participate in a follow-on one-on-one meeting, please reserve your meeting directly with the Public services and Procurement Canada’s contracting authority.

May 31st 2019. This amendment No. 008 is raised to notify the industry of Canada’s decision to add follow-on one-on-one meetings with the industry to discuss and clarify certain technical issues and the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) policy.

These meetings will take place between June 10^th and 18^th, 2019 via teleconference and will last a maximum of one hour and a half.

If you wish to participate in a follow-on one-on-one meeting, please reserve your meeting directly with the Public services and Procurement Canada’s contracting authority.

Amendment 007

This is amendment is to confirm that Canada is expecting feedback, question, and comments on the draft RFP by Friday March 15^th 2019. However, if some information is missing, you can submit an amendment later.

In order to facilitate the feedback the industry could use the format used during the one-on-one meetings and address the clarity, achievability of the following:

• Technical portion (SOW, annexes, appendices etc.)
• Procurement (contract, length, evaluation criteria, methodology etc.)
• Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB specific or generic comment or feedback on the policy, etc.)

Any other format will be accepted.

As of March 14^th, the closing date of this RFI is hereby extended to September 27^th, 2019 for the purpose of posting further communications, if necessary.

Amendment 006 is being raised to extend the closing date to March 15th 2019 2:00 pm (EDT) and add a one-hour presentation exclusively geared toward the Industrial and Technological Benefits. The presentation will be held on Tuesday March 12, 2019 at 1:00 pm (EDT). If you want to participate, please contact the Contracting officer. 

the Amendment 005 is raised to publish the question and answer from the one-on-one meeting.

Amendment 004 is raised to extend the closing date to March 8th 2019.

Amendment 003 is raised to include the latest version of Volume 2 (January 16). The change is in the Contract Data Requirement List (CDRL)- Appendix AB of Annex A in the Volume 2. Please use the January 16 version for Volume 2.

Amendment 002 raised to publish the document to be revised by the industry and clarify the one-on-one meetings.

A) DOCUMENTS

The documents are now available. You can view them and see Government of Canada questions and make additions in track changing mode.***

B) One-on-One Meetings

The Procurement Team expects to conduct One-on-One Meetings to communicate the goals of the requirements and to provide an opportunity for a fluid discussion with the supplier community.

These meetings will be scheduled at the end of January or beginning of February based on availability of the industry members and the procurement team. Meetings are going to be held in the NCR or via teleconference.

If your company which to participate please contact the contracting officer with the required information as described below. If you have submitted your information and have not been invited to a meeting, please notify the contracting officer as soon as possible.

***IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

1. Please note that this RFP is still under development

2. This DRAFT RFP contains 3 Volumes and bidders must consider the elements indicated in the 3 Volumes. Bidders are requested to submit pricing for the 2 contracts: 

• Volume 2: W8476-145109 (Systems acquisition)

• Volume 3: W8476-165477 (In-Service Support)

3. The main objective is to get feedback from industry members on the elements contained in this document. Industry members can use this editable MS Word version to add their comments and/or to add any additional information through the “Track changes” feature.

4. Canada may use the information provided by industry members to improve the current requirement and/or to finalize the RFP document. The publication of this draft RFP does not commit Canada to release an official RFP, to award a contract and does not carry any legal or other obligations to Canada to enter into an agreement or accept suggestions from industry members.

5. Canada reserves the right to accept or reject, in whole or in part, any comments received. In addition, the Government of Canada will not reimburse the costs incurred by industry members to participate in the review of this RFP, nor any activity related to the consultation process.

Amendment 001 raised to extend the notice from closing and to announce that the files are going to be published in January.

Background

In recent months, Canada has conducted a review of its procurement strategy with respect to the requirements of the Area Detection and Identification System (ADIS). Comments and feedback received from industry members on the draft RFP and on the procurement strategy have led Canada to revise its current strategy. The new strategy will be disclosed to the industry during this Request for Information (RFI) process.

The intent of this pre-RFI notice is to notify the industry that an opportunity to review/comment the new procurement strategy and the updated draft RFP, which include the resulting contract clauses, revised technical requirements, revised evaluation criteria, and the Industrial and Technological Benefits/Value Proposition requirements, will be provided in the upcoming weeks.

Requirements:

The Department of National Defence (DND) has a requirement for the supply of a chemical Area Detection and Identification System (ADIS). The ADIS will provide an early warning to Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) which will allow them to survive and operate under a chemical threat by adopting protective measures.

It is Canada intention to issue two (2) contracts to the winning bidder, one (1) for the acquisition of the ADIS systems and one (1) for the In-Service Support.

Objectives

The objectives of this RFI process is to:

• Provide information to industry on the new procurement strategy
• Seek feedback from industry on the new procurement strategy;
• Provide opportunity to industry member to meet with Canada¹.
• Receive feedback from industry to support the finalization of the RFP
• Seek cost and time estimates from industry for the acquisition and the in-service support contracts;
• Seek feedback from industry on the Industrial and Technological Benefits and Value proposition
• Confirm potential bidder compliance to the RFP requirements
• Provide a continuous communication channel with industry that will remain open until a formal RFP is released.

These information will allow PSPC to finalize the RFP and have a better understanding of:

• the industry capabilities and constraints
• Time and Cost estimates of the project 
• Required adjustments or changes to the strategy, if any, to confirm that the solicitation process will be fair, open and transparent.

¹One-on-One meeting:

One-on-one meetings² with representatives of Canada will be for a maximum duration of an hour and will be held on the date and at the time indicated by the Contracting Authority following respondent registration. Respondents are responsible for confirming the date and time of their meeting and to confirm their attendance.

These fixed-time meetings will allow respondents to seek clarification and/or present technical data for future requirements. As requested for the Industry Days, respondents are asked to kindly refrain from using one‑on‑one meetings as a forum for marketing purposes.

The number of authorized representatives is limited to four for each respondent. Once registration is complete, the one-on-one meeting times will be set for each registered respondent on a first come, first served basis. To register, please send the following information to the Contracting Officer:

Company name

Name of Representative

Phone

Email

 ² meetings could be conducted via teleconference.

Additional meetings as needed

Canada may request holding additional one-on-one meetings, in person or by teleconference, in order to invite respondents to present or clarify their responses. In-person meetings will be held at a government facility in the National Capital Region. The meetings could be organized at the respondent’s facilities, at the sole discretion of Canada. In addition, Canada reserves the right to hold such meetings after the closing date specified in this notice, or until further notice.

All substantive questions and answers that are discussed during these meetings could be documented and made available to the respondents participating in the engagement process.

Location of one-on-one meetings:

National Capital Region: Information will be posted on the RFI notice on this page. 

Potential Work Scope and constraints:

Following the RFI process, DND would aim to finalize both Statement of Work (SOW) to support an eventual RFP that would be released by PWGSC and available on www.buyandsell.gc.ca. The resulting contracts objectives would be to acquire fully operational ADIS systems, including In-Service Support.

Legislation, Trade Agreements, and Government Policies:

The following is indicative of some of the legislation, trade agreements and government policies applicable to this potential procurement that could impact any follow-on solicitation(s):

1. Canadian Free Trade Agreement
2. Defence Production Act
3. Federal Contractors Program for Employment Equity (FCP-EE)

Please note that RFI responses and documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada (French or English).

Previous Engagement Process

Canada has conducted Engagement processes for the ADIS Project. Key information disclosed during these Engagement processes may be relevant for any Bidders who want to submit a response under this RFI. We encourage Bidders to consult the following link for further information about the previous Engagement process and also to consult the Questions and Answers compendiums:

https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tender-notice/PW-SV-065-26698

and,

https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tender-notice/PW-18-00829424

***IMPORTANT

SECURITY REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO THE WORK

At the moment, DND is still reviewing the security aspect of the work. There is a strong possibility that the security level be at the Secret level for the In-Service Support contract.

PSPC is hereby encouraging all interested supplier to contact the Contracting Authority in order to initiate the security sponsorship, if required. This will allow some time to potential suppliers to begin the security assessment. This is strongly recommended to start the process now, if your organization doesn’t have the Secret Level in place. 

Communications

As part of this RFI, a summary of comments from potential bidders is going to be published on this page. The three volumes for the ADIS RFP are going to be published on this page in the upcoming weeks.

Volume 1: Bidders Instructions and Requirements 

Volume 2: Resulting Contract for the ADIS Acquisition

Volume 3: Resulting contract Clauses for the In-Service Support

Notes to Interested Suppliers

This RFI for the supply of a chemical Area Detection and Identification System (ADIS) is not a bid solicitation and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the Government of Canada will take procurement action in this matter. The issuance of this RFI is not to be considered in any way a commitment by the Government of Canada, nor as authority to potential respondents to undertake any work that could be charged to Canada. The issuance of the RFI does not create an obligation for Canada to issue a subsequent RFP, and does not bind Canada legally or otherwise, to enter into any agreement or to accept any suggestions from suppliers. Canada reserves the right to accept or reject any or all comments received.

Further, the Government of Canada will not be responsible for any cost incurred by suppliers in furnishing responses or attend one-on-one meetings during the RFI process.

A review team composed of representatives of PWGSC, DND, DRDC and ISED will review the responses on behalf of Canada. Not all members of the review team will necessarily review all responses.

There will be no short listing of suppliers for purposes of undertaking any future work, as a result of the RFI. Also, participation in the RFI is not a condition or prerequisite for participation in any RFP(s).

Confidentiality:

Suppliers are advised that any information submitted to Canada in response to this RFI may be used by Canada in the finalization of a competitive solicitation.

All industry consultations, including one-on-one meetings will be documented and this information is subject to the Access to Information Act. Suppliers should identify any submitted information that is to be considered as either company confidential or proprietary. Canada will not reveal any designated confidential or proprietary information to the public and/or third parties.