The Office
Our mandate
In April 2006, the Government introduced the ARCHIVED - Federal Accountability Act (2006) and its associated action plan, which included the appointment of a Procurement Ombudsman. The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman was created through an amendment to the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act (1996). The Office 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.
Regarding contracting between Canadian businesses and the federal government, the Procurement Ombudsman's mandate is to:
- Review any complaint with respect to the award of a contract for the acquisition of goods below $33,400 and services below $133,800
- Review any complaint with respect to the administration of a contract, regardless of dollar value
- Review the practices of departments for acquiring goods and services to assess their fairness, openness and transparency and make recommendations to improve those practices
- Ensure that an alternative dispute resolution process is provided, if requested and agreed to by both parties
Video: Your solution to contracting disputes
Transcript of Your solution to contracting disputes
Start of video
[Music plays]
[Blue screen]
[Geometric shape transition revealing a man standing in the hallway of an office addressing the camera.]
The Office of the Procurement Ombud is neutral and independent.
We investigate complaints from Canadian businesses like you and offer dispute resolution services free of charge if you encounter issues during contract performance.
[Geometric shape transition revealing boardroom with people sitting around a long table and a man on a large television screen addressing the camera.]
Have a contracting issue with the federal government?
The Office of the Procurement Ombud is here to help.
[Geometric shape transition revealing a woman sitting on a couch with a laptop in front of her addressing the camera.]
Every day, we work to ensure the fairness of the federal procurement system.
[Geometric shape transition revealing a woman talking to a man colleague seated in a cubicle. The woman turns to address the camera.]
We want to help all parties involved get back to business as soon as possible after an issue arises.
[Geometric shape transition revealing a woman in the foreground with her back to the camera another woman with a laptop addressing the camera.]
We also conduct broader systemic reviews of how the federal government does its contracting, to improve fairness, openness, and transparency.
[Geometric shape transition to a man standing in front of a blue wall addressing the camera.]
(Text on screen: Mr. Alexander Jeglic, Procurement Ombud)
If you have any issues relating to a federal contract – Call my office. The Office of the Procurement Ombud.
We are here to help!
[Screen fades to an image of yellow and blue lines with the icons featuring a smartphone, a telephone and the “at sign” symbol]
(Text on screen: Office of the Procurement Ombud, Contact us, We are here to help, opo-boa.gc.ca)
[Screen fades to white background with a yellow Twitter icon and a yellow LinkedIn icon.]
(Text on screen: @OPO_Canada, The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman)
[Music stops]
(Canada Wordmark)
End of video
Our commitment
The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman is committed to being:
- Independent: Autonomous and operating at arm's-length from other federal organizations
- Neutral: Approaching all issues that are brought to our attention objectively while acting as neither a lobbyist for suppliers nor an apologist for federal organizations
- Knowledgeable: Developing and maintaining a high level of understanding and expertise of procurement policies, procedures, trends, and good practices
- Responsive: Reacting appropriately and promptly to supplier and federal procurement issues
- Helpful: sharing best practices and demystifying the federal procurement process
- Part of the solution: identifying systemic concerns, and making recommendations to strengthen federal procurement activities
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