Veteran Outreach

Trade Agreement: Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)
Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited to bid
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
Royal Canadian Legion DominionCommand
86 Aird Place
Ottawa Ontario
Canada
K2L0A1
Nature of Requirements: 

Veteran Outreach

51019-158003/A
MacNeil, Blaine A.
Telephone No. - (902) 496-5180 
Fax No. - (902) 496-5016 

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilitiesthat meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier. 

Background Statement:
Veterans Affairs Canada currently supports just under 7,000 Veterans in approximately 1,450 facilities.  The Department does not have the available resources to conduct visits with Veterans in long term care.  
Outreach and Visitation Objectives:
The Outreach and Visitation Initiative will provide a mechanism by which the Department will maintain contact with Veterans in long term care.
Through a Contract for Service, the Department intends to contract with the Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) Dominion Command volunteer network to conduct up to 7,000 visits with Veterans who are receiving financial assistance from the Department for long term care. 
This initiative will facilitate face to face visits with Veterans, providing them with an opportunity to have a conversation and social visit with a volunteer and to raise concerns or identify needs that might be addressed by Veteran Affairs Canada. 
Target Audience:
This initiative is directed at:
• Veterans receiving departmental support for long term care in approximately 1450 nursing homes and long term care facilities across Canada. 
Requirement:

The Department of Veterans Affairs has a requirement to provide nation-wide visitation services with Veterans, providing them with an opportunity to have a conversation and social visit with a volunteer allowing them to raise concerns or identify needs that might be addressed by Veterans Affairs. 

Due to the nature of this requirement, the Contractor must have a Designated Organization Screening clearance.

The proposed Contractor will be responsible for the following activities:

Recruit, select, and maintain a supply of volunteers to visit up to 7,000 Veterans in facilities across Canada by the end of the first year of the contract.

Train qualified volunteers who have a driver's license and are willing to travel to long term care facilities to conduct face-to-face visits with Veterans in the Veteran's official language of choice. 

The Proposed Contractor is required to ensure volunteers with proper language requirements are available. 

Ensure volunteers complete the Veteran Outreach and Visitation Report for each Veteran visited.

Review Veteran Outreach and Visitation Reports from volunteers. 

Provide the Department with a monthly invoice identifying the number of Veteran visits performed by the volunteers.

Ensure all Veteran Outreach and Visitation Reports are returned to the Department for tracking.

Volunteers will be responsible for providing the Proposed Contractor with the following: 

Veteran Outreach and Visitation Reports for each Veteran visited.

The Proposed Contractor will be responsible for providing the volunteers with the following:

Payment according to receipts/travel expense reports received. 

Department will be responsible for providing the Proposed Contractor with the following:

Payment according to the invoices submitted by the Proposed Contractor.

Requirements (Security, Information Management, Privacy and Other):

Veterans' contact information provided for this initiative must not be used for any other projects 
or for adding names to the Proposed Contractor databases.

All volunteers are required to obtain Reliability Status in accordance with the Government 
Security Policy prior to conducting visits.

Handling of Personal Information:

Veterans Affairs Canada is bound by the Privacy Act with respect to the protection of personal information as defined in the Act. The Proposed Contractor must keep private and confidential any such personal information collected, created or handled by the Proposed Contractor under the contract, and must not collect, use, copy, disclose, dispose of or destroy such personal information except in accordance with the Privacy Act and the delivery provisions of the contract. 

All personal information is under the control of Veterans Affairs Canada, and the Proposed Contractor and volunteers have no right in or to that information. The Proposed Contractor must deliver to the Department all such personal information in whatever form, including all working papers, notes, memoranda, reports, data in machine-readable format or otherwise, and documentation which have been made or obtained in relation to the contract, within 30 days of the completion or termination of
the contract, or at such earlier time as the Department may request. Upon delivery of the personal information to the Department, the Proposed Contractor will have no right to retain that information in any form and must ensure that no record of the personal information remains in the Proposed Contractor's possession.  Volunteers will not record, collect, copy, disclose any Veteran personal information.  All reports will be prepared by hand.

Training:

The Proposed Contractor will be required to provide volunteers with training on how to conduct visits with Veterans and requirements as outlined in this contract.  

Justification for Intended Supplier: 

The Proposed Contractor is well qualified to meet the requirements of this outreach and visitation initiative with Veterans receiving departmental support for long term care.  The Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Command is well positioned as a national entity to administer a program of this size and scope
with reliable, screened and trained volunteers.  The existing and well established relationship between the Department and the Proposed Contractor, coupled with the Proposed Contractor's network of in excess of 100 volunteers with previous experience in visiting Veterans in long term care facilities, will ensure an efficient and cost effective approach to this one year contract.

Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities
(Minimum Essential Requirements):

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement
of capabilities that it meets the following requirements: 

1. Contractor must be able to demonstrate that they have at least 100 volunteers throughout Canada, able to perform visitation requirements at long term care facilities.

2. Contractor must demonstrate experience providing similar scope project with offering comparable services in the past (i.e. national administration of a program to thousands of clients). 

Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement:

 This procurement is subject to the following trade agreements:

     Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)

The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the (section of the trade agreement(s) specified):

Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)  Article 506 para 12(b) where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons and the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no alternative or substitute exists.

Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements:
This ACAN is to establish a Contract for the supply and service of the defined work on behalf of the Identified Users for locations throughout Canada not inclusive of areas subject to a Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements.
The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the (section of the trade agreement(s) specified):

Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)  Article 506 para 12(b) where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons and the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no alternative or substitute exists.

Period of the proposed contract or delivery date:

The proposed period of the contract is from 01 April 2016 to
31 March 2017 with a one year option period.

Estimated Contract Value:

The estimated value of the contract, including option year, is
$420,000.00 (GST/HST extra).

Name and address of the pre-identified supplier:

Royal Canadian Legion
86 Aird Place, Ottawa, ON K2L 0A1
Veteran Outreach and Visitation Report

Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities:

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Blaine MacNeil
Supply Specialist
Atlantic Region Acquisitions
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Telephone: 902.496.5180
Facsimile: 902.496.5016
blaine.macneil@pwgsc.gc.ca
1713 Bedford Row, Halifax, NS B3J 3C9
Government ofCanada
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.