ITQ for Internet Interconnection Services (IIS)

NOTICE OF PROPOSED PROCUREMENT (NPP)Reference No.: R000101977Solicitation No.: BPM 014444Department: Shared Services Canada (SSC)Notification Period: Tuesday November 9, 2021 to Monday December 20, 2021, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)Delivery Destination Area:   Canada / NationalDETAILSGSIN D304A: Data Transmission Service

Region of delivery

Canada

End user entity

Shared Services Canada

Procurement entity

Shared Services Canada

Region of opportunity

Canada

Tendering procedure

Open

Trade agreement

Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) World Trade Organization-Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA) Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Canada-Ukraine Free Trade AgreementSuppliers can qualify for one or more of the four (4) regions below:

Region # 1: National Capital Region (NCR) Region # 2: Toronto, Ontario Region # 3: Montreal, Quebec Region # 4 : Vancouver, British Columbia

Description of RequirementThis Notice of Proposed Procurement is to invite Suppliers to prequalify their business through this Invitation to Qualify (ITQ). This ITQ is the first phase of the procurement process for Internet Interconnection Services (IIS) Initiative being conducted by Shared Services Canada (SSC).IIS is required by the Government of Canada (GC) to enable the overarching Enterprise Internet Service (EIS). Suppliers are invited to pre-qualify in accordance with the terms and conditions of this ITQ in order to become Qualified Respondents” for any later phases of the procurement process. Only Qualified Respondents will be permitted to bid on any subsequent Request for Proposal (RFP) issued as part of the IIS Procurement Process.This ITQ process is not a solicitation of bids or tenders. No contract will be awarded as a result of the activities during the ITQ phase. The issuance of this ITQ is not to be considered in any way a commitment by the GC or as authorization to potential suppliers to undertake any work, which could be charged to Canada. This ITQ is not to be considered as a commitment to issue an RFP or award any contract(s).As the GC’s centralized provider of network services, SSC has a requirement for suppliers to provide the GC with IIS. SSC currently uses multiple IIS circuits supplied by Bell Canada and Zayo to provide connectivity at two (2) redundant Service Interface Point (SIP) locations in the National Capital Region (NCR) The current contracts for these IIS circuits are expiring. Therefore, the scope of the IIS Procurement Process consists of competing the IIS circuits used at two (2) SIP locations in the NCR, as well as expanding the EIS.The EIS expansion will include three (3) additional geo-redundant IIS circuits for SIPs in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and could include growth in other location(s) in the future in order to meet the mandate for Digital Government.The IIS provides the connectivity over which all data traffic flows between the secure and private GC Network (GC.Net) and the public Internet.Procure to Pay (P2P) Portal: The Procure to Pay (P2P) is an integral part of SSC’s contracting processes where all SSC requirements and solicitations are posted and managed. Suppliers must be registered and logged into P2P in order to submit a response. Registering for an account will allow vendors to view, respond, bid, invoice, and manage opportunities with SSC. Resources are available to assist your business with account setup and support. Visit https://sscp2pspc.ssc-spc.gc.ca and click “New Supplier? / Register Now” to get started on creating your account.Associated Documents: The ITQ documents are available for download on this NPP listing and in P2P BPM014444 on the ITQ posting date. If you require help registering please contact the P2P helpdesk at SSCP2Psupport-soutiensSPCAPL@ivalua.com.Qualification Requirements and Recommendations: Suppliers are being requested to respond to various mandatory experience, capabilities requirements and optional recommendations, described in Annex A of the ITQ.Selection Methodology: Suppliers must meet all the requirements that are mandatory at ITQ closing. Suppliers failing to meet all the mandatory conditions will be considered non-compliant and will be given no further consideration. All suppliers who are compliant with all requirements that are mandatory at solicitation closing, will become Qualified Respondents of IIS under the ITQ and considered for all future solicitations.Security Clearance Requirement: A preliminary version of the Security Requirements Checklist (SRCL) has been included in Annex B of this ITQ which will be in scope of the resulting contract. These requirements are subject to change and are provided for information purposes. However, any supplier that does not have the security clearances described in the preliminary SRCL may wish to initiate the process to ensure they meet the requirements. Any delay in the award of a contract to allow the successful bidder to obtain the required clearance will be at the entire discretion of the Contracting Authority (CA).ITQ Response Submission: To respond to this ITQ, Suppliers must fill out ATTACHMENT 1 – RESPONSE SUBMISSION FORM and Annex A: Qualification Requirements and Recommendations, included in this ITQ, and submit their package in SSC’s P2P Portal.Comprehensive Land Claim Agreements (CLCA): This project may consider procurement obligations that exist in the Comprehensive Land Claim Agreements (CLCAs) across Canada. A small portion of this requirement may be delivered in areas subject to a CLCA.Socio-economic considerations: Incentives are applied to Socio-economic groups to encourage their participation in the ITQ. SSC encourages small and medium enterprises, as well as vendors from under-represented groups, to submit responses. Measures to enhance their participation may be considered in future phases of this solicitation.ITQ Debriefings: Unsuccessful Respondents may request a debriefing on the results of the ITQ. Unsuccessful Respondents shall make the request to the CA within 15 FGWDs of receipt of the results of the ITQ. The debriefing may be in writing, by telephone or virtually, at Canada’s discretion.Canada reserves the right to cancel the procurement process at any time. Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada. To better organize and facilitate communication, questions and comments about this notice may be submitted through the P2P Portal. Enquiries can also be addressed to ssc.iis-itq.spc@canada.ca, but Canada will only respond to your questions in P2P.Contact InformationContact name: Maureen ,BadelContact phone: (343) 550-8114Contact fax: (613) 999-9999SSC ITQ for Internet Interconnection Services (IIS) - Amendment 000