Office of the Procurement Ombudsman's 2022-23 Accessibility Plan

On-boarding folder

In 2021-22, OPO revamped its onboarding procedures to include information and guidance to support employees and managers with accessibility needs and requirements. These procedures provide employees with information and guidance resources to empower them in identifying their individual requirements in order to perform their work in an accessible and barrier free manner, and provide managers with the tools and guidance required to better support their employees.

Diversity and Inclusion

In the Spring of 2020, OPO created a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee to support the Government of Canada’s goal of creating a space where diversity and inclusion are acknowledged, understood, and practiced.

To support its mandate and using the Call to Action as its guide, OPO’s D&I Committee established goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track its progress. D&I goals have been included in OPO’s overall strategic plan and in its annual D&I plan. The goals are:

• A diversity and inclusion lens is applied to all OPO’s business with third parties, including government departments, suppliers and the general public
• A more welcoming and inclusive work environment is fostered and maintained, where staff feel included and respected for what they bring in the workplace, and where differences enrich OPO’s workplace culture and maximize the success of its team
• Improved education and raised awareness around the benefits of diversity and inclusion programs in the workplace

Communication

OPO provides communication both internally and externally that is clear and concise. Our organization strives to publish plain language information on our website in both official languages without compromising the context and integrity of the information due to the complex nature of the work the office conducts.

OPO is committed to ensuring its communication products are easy to understand and made available in multiple formats where possible to employees, other government departments and the Canadian public so that all users have equal access. OPO takes into consideration the various barriers to accessing information, and provides opportunities for feedback.

OPO is committed to ensure that content posted on its website conforms with the Web Accessibility standards of the Government of Canada.

Hardware and Software

OPO became fully operational in May 2008 with the passing of the Procurement Ombudsman Regulations (2008), which provide specifics on how its authority is to be exercised. OPO receives its Information Technology (IT) services from Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) through a Service Agreement. These services include:

• IT Project management support
• Information Management (IM) and IT office solutions and support (which includes ergonomic or adaptive technology, tools or equipment related to functional limitations or restrictions)
• Application or web site development and support
• IT security
• IT connectivity

Since the start of the pandemic, OPO members have transitioned to working remotely. During this period, various software were utilized to support OPO members in their delivery of OPO’s mandate and to continue serving Canadians.

OPO is committed to seeking feedback from staff pertaining to their IT accessibility requirements on an annual basis through an employee survey.

Office of the Procurement Ombudsman’s departmental questionnaire on initiatives to diversify federal procurement

In 2020-21, OPO sent a questionnaire to 83 departments with the purpose of learning about their current diversity initiatives in federal procurement. We received 74 responses where 39 departments noted that they had diversity initiatives in procurement. Those with a diversity initiative in place reported having often more than one (average 2 programs per department) and when asked on the types of underrepresented groups addressed by the initiatives—over 95% noted initiatives targeting indigenous persons (38 departments), followed by initiatives targeting persons with disabilities (10 departments); and 8 departments reported diversity initiatives in procurement targeting women.

This information was reported on in the Procurement Ombudsman’s 2020-2021 Annual Report and shared with diverse suppliers seeking information on current programs and initiatives targeting underrepresented groups in the hopes that they will be able to bid on federal procurement contracts.

Internal Procurement

In 2021-22, OPO’s internal Procurement Guide was updated to ensure that the following criteria are key considerations for internal procurement:

• Accessibility
• Social Procurement
• GBA+
• Evaluators conflict of interest

OPO is committed to ensuring accessibility requirements are considered in internal procurement practices to ensure that all goods and services procured by the office are accessible.

Diversifying the Federal Supply Chain Summit

OPO’s annual Diversifying the Federal Supply Chain Summit is geared toward underrepresented suppliers—Indigenous Peoples, 2SLGBTQI+, racialized people, persons with disabilities, and other minority groups. It seeks to share the tools and programs that are available to support an understanding of the federal procurement process and help suppliers within these groups access federal contracting opportunities. This Summit also aims to connect underrepresented Canadian business owners with representatives from the Government of Canada, supplier councils and other organizations that can help them win federal contracts.

OPO is committed to ensuring that all in-person Summits meet accessibility requirements. Some accessibility requirements that OPO implemented at its last in-person Summit included:

• Using different colours for the carpet/floor than that of the chairs
• Requesting renovations to be completed prior to the Summit taking place at a conference hall in Toronto to ensure that the bathrooms become accessible (requested to have the doors widened to ensure wheelchair accessibility)
• Ensuring ASL and LSQ interpretation was made available
• Providing an accessible quiet room

Knowledge Deepening and Sharing

In 2018, OPO launched its Knowledge Deepening and Sharing (KDS) initiative to share information on procurement issues of interest to its Canadian businesses and federal organizations.

In 2019-2020, OPO completed its first study of Social Procurement, which is the practice of using procurement to achieve strategic social, economic, and workforce development objectives.

The follow-up study: Social Procurement and set-aside programs, explored the programs dedicated to increase procurement opportunities for underrepresented suppliers. The report explored the structures and implementation of the set-aside programs, both within Canada at the federal level with the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB), and internationally in Australia, the European Union and the United States. This study examined both the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to set-aside programs.

OPO is committed to sharing information obtained through its KDS initiative with suppliers and federal officials across the country at town halls, conferences, departmental meetings as well as on our website.