Procurement Ombudsman Mandate

"I think one of the things they (the Public servant) would really like from this committee is some appreciation for the effort these public servants do put in. There are so many transactions now and so few people, and they've come through such a tough time."
– Shahid Minto, To the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates

The specific mandate of the Ombudsman set out in subsections 22.1(3) of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, is to

1. review the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services to assess their fairness, openness and transparency and make any appropriate recommendations to the relevant department for the improvement of those practices;
2. review any complaint respecting the compliance with any regulations made under the Financial Administration Act of the award of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department to which the Agreement, as defined in section 2 of the Agreement on Internal Trade Implementation Act, would apply if the value of the contract were not less than the amount referred to in article 502 of that Agreement;
3. review any complaint respecting the administration of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department; and
4. ensure that an alternative dispute resolution process is provided, on request of each party to such a contract."

Sub-section 22.1(4) indicates:

The Procurement Ombudsman shall also perform any other duty or function respecting the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services that may be assigned to the Procurement Ombudsman by order of the Governor in Council or the Minister.

Fairness, Openness and Transparency

The Federal Accountability Act provided for the appointment of the Procurement Ombudsman, who operates at arm's length from government, to promote fairness, openness and transparency in federal procurement processes.

Fairness: Providing equal treatment to all current and potential suppliers

Openness: Providing all potential suppliers with the opportunity to submit bids for government procurement

Transparency: Providing information to Canadians in a timely manner that facilitates public scrutiny of the decisions made and actions undertaken

Key Stakeholders

We have defined three principal stakeholder groups, as follows:

Suppliers: Includes individual suppliers and supplier associations

Federal Government Departments: Includes central agencies, and may include other departmental structures such as special operating agencies

Parliamentarians: Includes Committees

Date modified:

2018-11-01