Notice of Proposed Procurement
constituting (i) a Notice of Intended Procurement and Summary of Notice under CETA, and (ii) a Tender Notice under CFTA
1.0 Introduction
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (“CATSA”) is a Crown corporation with headquarters at 99 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1P 6B9. CATSA is responsible for the delivery of consistent, effective and efficient screening of passengers and non-passengers in designated airports. Further information about CATSA can be obtained at www.catsa.gc.ca.
1.1 Estimated Contract Value
$775,000 CAD
2.0 Description
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (“CATSA”) has a requirement to procure an integrated Human Resources Information System (“HRIS”) and payroll Software as a Service (“SaaS”) solution, including, but not limited to, implementation, licenses, training, and maintenance and support services, as further described in Schedule “A” (Statement of Work) of this RFP.
3.0 Procurement Method
This RFP establishes an Open Tendering to enter into a non-exclusive Contract. It is intended that this procurement will involve negotiations and that the scope of negotiations and the process of negotiations will be determined by CATSA and will be identified in a document provided to the top ranked bidder.
4.0 Term of Resulting Contract
It is anticipated that the term of any resulting Contract will be for an initial term of five years from the go-live date, renewable for an additional period of five years, or five additional periods of one year each, at CATSA’s sole and absolute option.
As this is anticipated to be a recurring Contract, it is CATSA’s intention to issue a notice of intended procurement in respect of a new RFP prior to the expiry of the term of the resulting Contract.
5.0 Address for Submission of Questions and Proposals/Responses; Question Acceptance Deadline and Closing Date
The question acceptance deadline and the closing date are set out in the “Dates” section of the RFP. CATSA may extend either or both of such dates.
Questions and proposals/responses must be submitted through the MERX Electronic Bid Submission system at www.MERX.com.
6.0 Pre-Conditions of Award
CATSA will, for the bidder selected from Step 5 (Ranking of Bidders), assess that bidder’s ability to meet the Security Requirements specified in Appendix “A-1” of the Terms and Conditions of this RFP, in accordance with Schedule “G” (Security Requirements Assessments).
7.0 Mandatory Requirements
M1.
The bidder must certify that the bidder’s proposed solution or a previously released version of the proposed solution:
- is functionally equivalent in both Official Languages;
- complies with any and all applicable federal and provincial income tax and other statutory legislation in each Canadian province; and
- is successfully implemented and has been operating in a live environment for at least one of the bidder’s clients, for a minimum of two consecutive calendar years, during which time the bidder’s proposed solution has not required any major changes and/or adaptations to perform as required for that client.
M2.
The bidder must certify and provide instructions to identify the steps required, and/or supporting documentation to demonstrate that the bidder’s proposed solution is able to export data to CATSA’s data warehouse.
M3.
The bidder must certify and provide instructions to demonstrate that the bidder’s proposed solution is able to interoperate with CATSA’s IT Environment, as outlined in Schedule “A-2” of this RFP.
8.0 Rated Requirements
The RFP contains details of the rated requirements.
9.0 Contractor Selection
All proposals will be examined in accordance with the following process:
Step 1: Confirmation of Compliance to the Mandatory Requirements
Technical Offers will be reviewed for compliance with the Mandatory Requirements described in Schedule “C” (Technical Offer Requirements and Evaluation) of the RFP to confirm that the information, statements and supporting material in the bidder’s Technical Offer substantiate a compliant response. Mandatory Requirements will be confirmed on a simple pass or fail basis.
If a proposal fails to satisfy any of the Mandatory Requirements, CATSA will issue the bidder a rectification notice identifying the deficiencies and providing the bidder an opportunity to rectify the deficiencies. If the bidder fails to satisfy the Mandatory Requirements within the Rectification Period, its proposal will be rejected and will receive no further consideration. The Rectification Period will begin to run from the date and time that CATSA issues a rectification notice to the bidder. The Mandatory Requirements are set out in Schedule “C” (Technical Offer Requirements and Evaluation).
Step 2: Evaluation of Rated Requirements (1000 Points)
Technical Offers will be evaluated against the Rated Requirements, as outlined in Schedule “C” (Technical Offer Requirements and Evaluation). Technical Offers will be assigned a score for each rated requirement to establish a Step 2 “Technical Score”. The maximum Technical Score is one thousand (1000) points.
At the end of this Step 2 (Evaluation of Rated Requirements), CATSA will establish a shortlist of up to the top three bidders with the highest total Technical Scores that are within a twenty percent (20%) range of the highest Technical Score. Only the bidders meeting these criteria will be eligible to proceed to the next step of the evaluation and selection process.
Step 3: Demonstration
The shortlisted bidders from Step 2 will proceed to Step 3 (Demonstration).
The bidders’ Demonstration will be evaluated against the Rated Demonstration Requirements, as outlined in Section 5 (Rated Demonstration Requirements) of Schedule “C” (Technical Offer Requirements and Evaluation), and will require the bidder to deliver a live, on-line demonstration of its proposed solution, to tangibly demonstrate its compliance to CATSA’s requirements, as described in Schedule “A” (Statement of Work), as well as address any questions regarding the technical portion of its Proposal.
Step 4: Evaluation of Financial Offer
Financial Offers will be evaluated and assigned an “Evaluated Price” in accordance with Schedule “D”, (Financial Offer Requirements and Evaluation).
Step 5: Ranking of Bidders
Bidders will be ranked in order of lowest Evaluated Price Per Point (an example follows). The top-ranked bidder will receive a written invitation to enter into direct contract negotiations to finalize the Contract with CATSA, subject to Schedule “G” (Security Requirements Assessments) and without limitation to any other provision in this RFP, including but not limited to Section 11 (CATSA’s Reserved Rights).
THE TOP RANKED BIDDER WILL BE IDENTIFIED BY CATSA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ABOVE AT WHICH POINT THE RFP WILL BE AT AN END.
THE EVALUATIONS UNDER THIS RFP AND THE PRECEDING STEPS IN THIS RFP, AND ANY SCHEDULE UNDER THIS RFP ARE SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSES OF ESTABLISHING A TOP RANKED BIDDER WITH WHOM TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS AND NOTHING SHALL LIMIT CATSA'S ABILITY TO NEGOTIATE AND TO CONCLUDE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE TOP RANKED BIDDER 9OR SUCCESSIVE RANKED BIDDERS0 ON TERMS, COMMITMENTS OR PRICES DIFFERENT FROM THOSE IDENTIFIED IN THIS RFP, ANY SCHEDULE UNDER THIS RFP OR THE TOP RANKED BIDDER'S PROPOSAL.
Step 6: Negotiations
1. Negotiations will be subject to the process rules contained in this RFP, including Section 19 of the Instructions to Bidders and will not constitute a legally binding offer to enter into a contract on the part of CATSA or the bidder and there will be no legally binding relationship created with any bidder prior to the execution of a written agreement. The terms and conditions attached as Appendix “A” to Schedule “F” (Contract) are to form the basis for commencing negotiations between CATSA and the top ranked bidder. The scope of negotiations and the process of negotiations will be determined by CATSA and will be identified in a document provided to the top ranked bidder. Without limiting the foregoing, negotiations may include requests by CATSA for supplementary information from the bidder to verify, clarify or supplement the information provided in its proposal or to confirm the conclusions reached in the evaluation, and may include requests by CATSA for improved pricing or performance terms from the bidder.
The RFP contains additional details for Step 6 (Negotiations).
Step 7: Security Requirements Assessments
Prior to award, pre-condition to award of a contract, CATSA will, for the bidder selected from Step 6 (Negotiations), assess that bidder’s ability to meet the Security Requirements specified in Appendix “A-1” of the Terms and Conditions in accordance with Schedule “G” (Security Requirements Assessments).
10.0 Trade Agreement
This procurement is subject to:
- Chapter Nineteen (Government Procurement) of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA); and
- Chapter Five (Government Procurement) of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).
11.0 Use of MERX
CATSA will only use MERX as its web-based forum to post solicitations. As such, the attached procurement document has only been posted on MERX, and all related documents, notices, addendums, and questions and responses thereto will only be posted on MERX.
See MERX at http://www.merx.com for details respecting how to access the solicitation documents and any costs related thereto.
CATSA does not authorize, or make any representations or warranties in respect of, any postings relating to its procurements found on any other web-based forum.
12.0 Language
Proposals may be submitted in either the English or French language.
13.0 General
In the event of any discrepancy, inconsistency or conflicts between the wording of this Notice of Proposed Procurement or any related documents and the wording in the MERX EBS system in respect of this RFP, the wording of the RFP shall prevail.
