Model regret letter for use with the Temporary Help Services Supply Arrangement

This model letter is suggested for use with low complexity or single resource solicitations. For higher complexity contracting, client departments are encouraged to develop regret letters that best match their basis of selection. The text below should be copied and pasted on to your department's letterhead.

All text that is red and surrounded by square brackets are either instructions or fields for data input.

RE: Request for proposal (RFP) [enter client reference number]

Dear [enter the name of the client representative],

Thank you for the bid submitted in response to the above referenced solicitation. This is to inform you that a contract will not be issued to your firm for this requirement. A contract was issued to [enter winning bidder’s legal name] for a total value of [enter contract amount]

[Use the following texts as applicable]

[Did not meet mandatory requirements] As indicated in the RFP, the resource(s) bid was/were required to meet each and every mandatory requirement. Unfortunately, the evaluation team determined that your resource(s) bid did not comply with the following requirements:

[Did not meet lowest price responsive] As indicated in the RFP, the responsive bid with the lowest total evaluated price will be selected for award. Your bid was responsive but did not provide the lowest total evaluated price.

[Three or more bids received, outside pricing band] As indicated in the RFP, in order to be considered responsive, a bid must include pricing that falls within a band between -20% and +20% of the median total hourly rate established from the rates provided by all otherwise responsive bids received. Your bid included pricing that fell outside of the responsive band and was therefore deemed non-compliant. The median total hourly rate was determined to be between [insert number] and [insert number] .

[Three of more bids, did not meet right-fit] As indicated in the RFP, the responsive bid that a) includes pricing that falls within a band between -20% and +20% of the median total hourly rate and b) provides a resource determined to best meet the right-fit justifications, will be accepted for award. Although your bid included responsive pricing, the resource provided in another pricing-responsive bid was deemed to best meet the following right-fit justification(s): [Enter one or more of the five justifications]

For informational purposed, based on the otherwise responsive bids received, the median total hourly rate was determined to be between [insert number] and [insert number] .

[Two bids received, did not meet right-fit] As indicated in the RFP, if Canada receives only two bids that are responsive to the mandatory technical criteria, the higher priced bid may be selected for contract award if its price is within 25% of the lowest priced bid. Of the two responsive bids received, the higher priced bid was within 25% of the lowest priced bid (in this case, yours was the higher/lower) but the resource provided in the other price-responsive bid was deemed to best meet the following right-fit justification(s): [Enter one or more of the five justifications]

Your participation is appreciated, and I hope you will continue to bid on procurement opportunities offered by [enter client reference number]

If you have any concerns relating to the procurement process, please consult the Recourse Mechanisms available on CanadaBuys. Please note that there are strict deadlines for filing complaints with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) or the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO).

Best regards,