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Purpose
The purpose of Policy Notification 50R1 (PN-50R1) is to reflect changes to the Federal Contractors Program (FCP) for employment equity.
Effective date
Effective immediately, contracting officers are instructed to modify their solicitation documents to reflect the changes to the Standard Procurement Templates and follow the new instructions in the Supply Manual.
Background
The Federal Contractors Program is administered by Human Resources and Skills Development (HRSDC)-Labour and it is intended to address employment disadvantages for four designated groups: women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities. Its goal is to achieve equality so that no person is denied employment opportunities for reasons unrelated to ability.
The FCP was reviewed by HRSDC-Labour and the threshold for its application was increased from $200K to $1M. The ineligibility sanctions now apply to the acquisition of goods and services regardless of the value. Bidders deemed ineligible will no longer be eligible to receive any contracts. The ineligibility list is now called the "FCP Limited Eligibility to Bid" list.
Policy
The FCP applies to departments and agencies listed at Schedules I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act (FAA) and who are covered by the Treasury Board Contracting Policy.
The FCP applies to bidders/offerors with a combined workforce in Canada of 100 or more permanent full-time, permanent part-time and temporary employees who receive federal government contracts or standing offers with a call-up limitation for the acquisition of goods and services valued at $1,000,000 and above (including all applicable taxes and not including options).
A bidder/offeror who is subject to the FCP, must have an Agreement to Implement Employment Equity (AIEE) in place with HRSDC-Labour or must complete and sign an AIEE form and send to HRSDC-Labour before contract award or issuance of a standing offer.
Contracting/Standing Offer Authorities must verify that bidders/offerors are not on the “FCP Limited Eligibility to Bid” list, before awarding a contract estimated at $1,000,000 or more or issuing a standing offer with a call-up limitation of $1,000,000 or more and subject to the FCP.
A bidder/offeror will not be awarded a contract or issued a standing offer, regardless of the value of the procurement, if its name appears on the “FCP Limited Eligibility to Bid” list.
Once a contractor is awarded a contract or an offeror is issued a standing offer with a call up limitation of $1,000,000 or more (including all applicable taxes), he is required to honour the AIEE as an on-going obligation, and not simply during the period of the contract or standing offer. A new default provision has been added to the resulting contract clauses in the templates to address this contractual requirement.
An ineligible bidder/offeror should not be awarded a contract or issued a standing offer unless it is required to do so by law or legal proceedings or when Canada considers it necessary to the public interest. In such cases, the contracting/standing offer authority is to obtain prior approval from its Director General or its Regional Director General.
Revisions to the Supply Manual
In support of this PN, the Supply Manual has been updated. To view the modified sections, please refer to "Affected Supply Manual Section(s)" below.
Revisions to the Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) and to the Standard Procurement Templates
Changes have been made to the obligations of both the Contractors and Contracting/Standing Offer Authorities in the application of the Federal Contractors Program (FCP) for employment equity.
Therefore, the relevant SACC Clauses and all five standard procurement templates
(published on GCpedia) have been revised to reflect these changes:
- SACC Clauses A3030T and A3031T have been cancelled and replaced by a Mandatory Certification precedent to Contract Award in Part 5 of the Higher Complexity and Medium Complexity Bid Solicitation and Resulting Contract Templates and in Part 1 of the Low Dollar Value (Simple) Bid Solicitation and Resulting Contract Template, as applicable.
- SACC Clauses M2000T and M2002T have been cancelled and replaced by a Mandatory Certification precedent to the issuance of a Standing Offer in Part 5 of the Request for Standing Offer Template, as applicable.
- SACC Clauses S3030T and S3031T have been cancelled and replaced by a Notification to suppliers in the Request for Supply Arrangements Template that the bid solicitation and resulting contract templates would include such specific requirements in the event that the Supply Arrangement would lead to a contract subject to the FCP.
- In the "Resulting Contract Clauses" part of the Templates there is now a default provision in the contract and a set-aside provision in the Standing Offer if the Contractor/Offeror does not comply with the FCP certifications.
- SACC Clauses R1110T and R1410T have been revised since the Federal Contractors Program Section was deleted as the requirements, if applicable, are stipulated elsewhere in the procurement document.
- SACC Clause R1210D has been revised since the Federal Contractors Program Section was deleted as the terms and conditions, if applicable, are stipulated elsewhere in the procurement document.
- The section titled "Subcontracts" in General Conditions 2010B, 2010C, 2030, 2035 and 2040 as well as in Supplemental General Conditions 4009 has been revised to exclude requirements under FCP since these requirements only apply to the Contractor and not to Subcontractors.
Contracting officers are to incorporate these changes into their procurement documents.
Refer to the Templates Synopsis for a summary of the changes to the templates.
To view the affected SACC, please refer to "Affected SACC Manual Section(s)" below.
Contact Information
Please direct any enquiries related to the changes to the standard procurement templates to the Procurement Process Tools Division by e-mail at outilsapprov.proctools@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca.
Questions related to the Federal Contractor Program for employment equity can be forwarded to the Policy, Risk, Integrity and Strategic Management (PRISM) Sector by email at dppapublications.appdpublications@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca.