875 Heron Road Rehabilitation Project

In this section

• Request for qualifications posting
• Request for qualifications close
• Request for qualifications evaluation instructions
• Request for qualifications evaluation
• Request for proposal planning/pre-issue stage
• Request for proposal posting
• Request for proposal close
• Evaluation phase

Request for qualifications posting

An RFQ was issued to pre-qualify interested vendors in accordance with terms and conditions of the RFQ to become shortlisted proponents eligible to participate in any later phase of the 875 Heron Road Rehabilitation Project procurement process.

In preparation for the RFQ posting, the FM reviewed the RFQ to provide assurance as to the:

• neutrality of the requirements
• objectivity of requirements and process
• the clarity of the documentation to support understandability by interested vendors

The RFQ was issued on December 3, 2021, via CanadaBuys, with a final closing date on April 19, 2022, at 14:00 pm Eastern time.

An information session was held virtually on December 15, 2021, to provide vendors with information about the project and the procurement process, including a project video and virtual visit. The FM reviewed the presentation materials including presentation deck and video transcripts in advance and observed the conduct of the information session. The video, virtual visit and transcripts were also issued to vendors following the information session.

A site visit was held on February 23 and 24, 2022 at the facility and was attended by representatives from 3 consortia. The site visit consisted of a scripted tour of the facility. Due to COVID-19 measures in effect at the time, participants were divided into 2 concurrent tour groups, each over the 2 days, with each accompanied by members of the project team delivering the scripted tour, representatives of CRA security, BGIS facility management and the PWGSC PA. Due to the format of the site visit, each tour group recorded video footage of their scripted tours. The FM accompanied 1 of the tour groups on each day and reviewed the video footage of the other concurrent tour groups following the site visit.

Eight amendments to the RFQ were issued to respond to 10 vendor questions, to provide vendors with information about the site visit plan and supplementary project information, and to make changes to the closing date. A notice was also issued to vendors by e-mail on April 14, 2022, to provide vendors with clarification on the interface of SAP Ariba through which responses were to be submitted. The FM reviewed the amendments and notice before they were issued.

In reviewing the RFQ, amendments and notice and observing the information session and site visit, the FM did not observe any fairness issues.

Request for qualifications close

The RFQ closed on April 19, 2022, at 14:00 pm Eastern time.

The FM reviewed the manner in which the RFQ responses were received with the PA. Three responses were received and handled in accordance with the deadline and instructions stated in the RFQ.

In reviewing the receipt and handling of the RFQ responses, the FM did not observe any fairness issues.

Request for qualifications evaluation instructions

Prior to response evaluations, an evaluation plan was prepared to provide instructions for the evaluators and evaluation workbooks were prepared for use by the evaluators in completing their independent evaluations. The FM reviewed the evaluation guidelines, including:

• evaluator responsibilities
• code of conduct
• security
• confidentiality and conflict of interest requirements
• evaluation methodology
• evaluation workbooks

An evaluation kick-off meeting for all evaluators was held on April 6, 2022, to review the evaluation plan. The meeting was conducted via web conference (Microsoft Teams). The FM was present to observe the proceedings.

No fairness issues were observed in reviewing the evaluation instructions and workbooks or during the evaluation kick-off meeting.

Request for qualifications evaluation

The evaluation of the 3 responses received was conducted be a series of evaluation teams, as per the evaluation plan, supported by subject matter experts. Prior to each evaluation team's consensus meeting, each evaluator conducted an individual evaluation of their respective portion of each response. The consensus evaluations were then conducted over the period of May 9 to May 26, 2022, by web conference (Microsoft Teams). The FM observed each evaluation team's consensus deliberations.

Following the completion of the consensus evaluations, the evaluation review committee (ERC) was presented with each team's consensus results to review and validated that the scoring was undertaken consistent with the established scoring matrix and the scores were supported by the evaluation comments. While feedback was provided by the ERC which was independently addressed by the evaluation teams, this feedback did not impact the scoring. The FM observed the ERC meetings which took place on May 30 and 31, and June 1 and 8, 2022, and follow up based on ERC feedback.

Following completion of the consensus evaluation, the 3 respondents were notified that each had qualified to move forward to the next stage of the process. The FM had the opportunity to review the notifications beforehand. One respondent requested a debrief on their RFQ submission which occurred on September 13, 2022.

The FM did not observe any fairness issues during the evaluation of the responses and subsequent notification of respondents (pre-qualified proponents), and the requested debriefing.

Request for proposal planning and pre-issue stage

Following the RFQ, in support of developing and refining the RFP, Canada undertook consultations, including one-on-one meetings with the pre-qualified proponents to support affordability and value engineering of the project, prior to finalizing and issuing the RFP. An RFI and subsequent notices were issued to the pre-qualified proponents to support consultations. An all-proponents' meeting was held on August 26, 2022, and one-on-one meetings were held with each proponent team on September 7 and 8, October 12 and 13, and finally on November 10, 2022. The pre-qualified proponents had to provide submissions in support of these meetings as detailed in the RFI. A site visit was also conducted on October 14, 2022.

The FM reviewed the RFI and notices before they were issued. The FM attended the all-proponent and one-on-one meetings. While the FM was not able to attend the site visit, the PA confirmed in advance it would follow the scripted format used during the RFQ process. The FM followed up with the PA after the site visit.

The FM was also provided the opportunity to review the final RFP prior to posting.

No fairness issues were observed by the FM during the RFP planning and pre-issue stage.

Request for proposal posting

The RFP (solicitation number EP095-228099/C) was issued to the pre-qualified proponents via Firmex (a secure file sharing system) on March 15, 2023. The RFP had 2 volumes:

• volume 1: Instructions to proponents
• volume 2: Project agreement

The initial closing dates and times for the RFP submissions were:

• technical submission: October 31, 2023 (14:00 pm Eastern time)
• financial and innovation (optional) submissions: November 29, 2023 (14:00 pm Eastern time)

Each proponent was provided with specific Firmex access through which they would receive all related procurement documents, including addenda, notices, and responses to enquiries. Firmex would also be used to submit interim and final submittals as identified in the RFP.

Following the RFP posting, there was an introductory proponent meeting on March 22, 2023. An optional site visit was also held April 14, 2023. The FM attended the introductory meeting. However, the FM was unable to attend site visit, but PWGSC confirmed in advance it would follow a scripted format previously agreed to by the FM, and confirmed in a follow up by the FM. The presentation from the introductory meeting was subsequently shared with the proponents.

During the posting period, the PA issued 7 addenda and 21 notices to proponents, as well as responses to 521 questions from proponents including 86 responses to commercially confidential questions as set out in the RFP. The FM reviewed all addenda, notices, and responses before posting to Firmex. The PA also issued 5 updated versions to the RFP which were reviewed by the FM.

Through addenda, the final closing dates and time were:

• technical submission: November 15, 2023 (14:00 pm Eastern time)
• financial and innovation (optional) submissions: November 30, 2023 (14:00 pm Eastern time)

In addition, the PA conducted 19 sets of commercially confidential meetings (CCM) and 3 sets of design consultation sessions (DCS) with the proponents. The FM observed all CCMs and DCSs. These meetings were held between April 25 and October 31, 2023. During the posting of the RFP, the proponents were also provided the opportunity to access the facility to conduct independent due diligence assessments to support development of their submissions. The access was based on the proponents' due diligence plans submitted to and approved by the PA and did not afford the proponents with the opportunity to ask questions or obtain additional information about the requirements. Proponents were instructed to submit written enquiries if they had any related questions.

It should be noted that 2 of the proponents withdrew from the process; the first on April 1, 2023, and the other on October 13, 2023.

The FM did not observe any fairness issues during the RFP posting period.

Request for proposal close

At close, 1 technical submission was received by the prescribed date and time, and subsequently, the companion financial and innovation submission was also received by the prescribed date and time.

The FM reviewed the way the RFP submissions were received and handled with the PA.

In reviewing the receipt and handling of the submissions, the FM was satisfied that the closing was undertaken in accordance with the RFP and established procedures and no fairness issues were identified.

Evaluation phase

Prior to the start of the evaluation, the FM reviewed the:

• evaluation plan and guidelines, including evaluation workbooks and evaluator training
• material
• code of conduct
• security
• confidentiality
• conflict of interest requirements

Following the closing, the PA conducted a completeness review of the of the submission received to ensure all requested information was provided as per the RFP submittal requirements. This review confirmed that all required information was received, and this was confirmed with the FM.

It should be noted that the financial and innovation submissions were set aside pending the completion of the technical evaluation.

The PA conducted training for all evaluation participants on November 7, 9 and 22, 2023. The latter session was held to accommodate those evaluators who had been unable to attend earlier. The FM observed each of these sessions.

The technical evaluation was conducted by various evaluation teams with the support and input of subject matter experts. The technical evaluation was kicked off with a meeting on November 21, 2023, with each evaluation team to review the guidelines and process before commencing the review of the area of evaluation assigned to each team. The FM attended each of the kick off meetings.

The members of each evaluation team first conducted an individual evaluation prior to convening to reach consensus. Consensus meetings for each team were held between November 30 and December 13, 2023. The FM was available to respond to fairness considerations which arose during the individual evaluation and observed all consensus deliberations.

Following the completion of the consensus evaluations, the ERC was presented with each team's consensus results to review and validate that the scoring was undertaken consistent with the established scoring matrix and that the scores were supported by the evaluation comments. While the ERC provided some feedback to the evaluation teams, which was subsequently addressed independently by each of the teams, this did not result in any changes to scoring. The FM observed the ERC meetings on December 6, 8, and 15, 2023 and monitored any follow up as a result of the ERC's review.

All evaluation related training and meetings were conducted via web conference using Microsoft Teams.

At the completion of the technical evaluation, the PA reviewed and verified the scoring of the technical submission. The FM subsequently confirm the scoring. Based on the results, it was determined that the submission met the technical requirements set out in the RFP and was eligible to move to the financial evaluation stage.

The financial evaluation was initiated by the PA upon completion of the technical evaluation and followed the process disclosed in the solicitation documents. However, prior to the conclusion of the financial evaluation process, PWGSC decided to cancel the procurement following a review of various considerations, including recent changes in departmental priorities and initiatives regarding its real property portfolio.

The proponent was notified of the decision on February 15, 2024, and its eligibility to receive a cancellation break fee as per the RFP subject to submitting a waiver and release to Canada. The FM reviewed the notice beforehand. As well, a public notice was posted to CanadaBuys on the same date. The proponent submitted the waiver and release on February 22, 2024.

The evaluation and cancellation followed the parameters disclosed in the RFP and the FM did not observe any fairness issues.