Procurement Practice Reviews

According to the Lastewka Task Force (2004 Government-Wide Review of Procurement), "Procurement" is the process of acquiring goods, services and construction from third parties. The activities involve four phases:

• the pre-contractual phase, which includes activities related to requirement definition and procurement planning;
• the contracting phase, which includes all activities from bid solicitation to contract award;
• the contract administration phase, which includes activities such as issuing contract amendments, monitoring progress, following up on delivery, payment action; and
• the post-contractual phase, which includes file final action (e.g. client satisfaction, contractor agreement to final claim, final contract amendment, completion of financial audits, proof of delivery, return of performance bonds) and close-out (e.g. completeness and accuracy of file documentation and adherence to file presentation standards).

With this definition in mind, our Procurement Practices Review team uses a systematic, evidence-based approach to carry out independent, objective reviews of federal government procurement practices, including the application of procurement policies and the processes, tools and activities related to acquiring goods and services.

Selecting the topics for review is a complex task.

The issues raised by suppliers and government constituted our starting point for our first year of full operation. We carried out a scan of issues raised in or by the media, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal's determinations, reports of the Auditor General and internal audit reports of various departments. We also sought advice from a number of government departments and supplier associations.

Under the leadership of the Deputy Ombudsman we listed and set possible priorities for a broad spectrum of issues, in categories such as:

• legislation, regulations and policy;
• delegated authorities;
• departmental governance / strategic planning;
• communications;
• contracting processes;
• contract auditing and reporting; and
• procurement / contracting staff.

We then assessed our list to identify:

• the issues identified by our office as posing the greatest risk to the fairness, openness and transparency of the federal procurement system; and
• the issues that would be of most common interest to suppliers, departments and parliamentarians.

Finally, recognizing that we are a new office, we examined some very pragmatic factors:

• the availability and experience of internal and external resources;
• our ability to complete reviews in a timely fashion; and
• the complexity of possible review topics.

This multi-layered process led us in our first year to undertake reviews in four areas:

• Procurement Challenge and Oversight
• Supplier Debriefings
• Advance Contract Award Notices (ACANs) and
• Mandatory Standing Offers (MSOs)

Procurement practice reviews may also be initiated during the course of the year based on emerging issues and concerns that were not known at the time of the yearly planning exercise. For example, in May 2008, the Office was contacted by a supplier who made several allegations about the Correctional Service Canada's (CSC) CORCAN Construction program.

Further to discussions with CSC senior management, it was agreed that CSC would engage a private firm to review the allegations and report findings.

By clicking on the link at the bottom of this page you will have direct access to the different Chapters.

• Practice Reviews - Frequently Asked Questions
• Procurement Practice Reviews - Chapters 2008-2009