Translation Services

Translation Services Elections Canada File No: ECLP-RFP-15-0594 Applicability of Trade Agreements: AIT Tendering Procedure: All interested suppliers may submit a bid Attachment: Yes (buyandsell.gc.ca) Competitive Procurement Strategy: Best Overall Proposal

SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH BUYANDSELL.GC.CA/TENDERS. The information contained in this notice is a brief description of the requirement and is for information purposes only. Bidders must refer to the complete Request for Proposal (RFP) document for a full description of the requirements and the full bid instructions. Background The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (“CEOC”), an agent of Parliament, exercises general direction and supervision over the conduct of elections and referendums at the federal level. The CEOC heads the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, commonly known as Elections Canada. Publication Services, which is part of the Communications Services Directorate in the Policy and Public Affairs Branch, provides linguistic and publishing services to EC to ensure clear and consistent messaging in both official languages. Publication Services requires the services of a translation company to meet demand for English to French and French to English translation services between and during elections. Requirement The Contractor shall perform translation from English into French with a minimum available translation capacity of 3,000 words per day at all times during the contract period. In addition, the Contractor may occasionally be required to perform translation from French into English. This capacity of 3,000 words per day must be reached without using machine translation. Texts that have obviously been translated using machine translation software will fail quality control and will be deemed unsatisfactory and counted as such. Services are to be delivered on an as-required basis. The workload varies depending on the needs of internal clients; therefore, the actual demand for services and volume of work cannot be predicted. Text size may also vary considerably. There is a wide variety of documents to translate, including communication products, surveys, research papers, meeting agendas, minutes and conference proceedings, subject matter presentations, information notes, policy and regulatory documents, work descriptions, letters, memoranda, reports, administrative and financial documents, and other documents related to EC’s activities and mandate. Some of these documents must be produced within fixed statutory deadlines. Two (2) resources are required to translate 1,500 words each per day. TASKS

Translating short texts from English to French and French to English (generally 500Words or one page or less);

Translating long texts from English to French and French to English;

Managing multiple requests simultaneously, and with varying levels of urgency; Reviewing translated texts for consistency of meaning as well as form and tone of the original

message between English and French versions;

Reviewing materials for ambiguities between English and French versions and assisting originatingauthor in their resolution;

Confirming with the Project Authority the order in which work must be completed when conflictingpriorities arise;

Contacting the Project Authority where clarification or interpretation of the text to be translated isrequired;

Returning documents electronically in the same format in which they are provided (and referenced

accordingly) unless specified otherwise, using EC-approved software such as MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, MS Visio, MS Project, among others; and Subjecting translated documents to a quality control process and ensuring consistency andreadability if more than one translator has performed the work.

Period of the Contract The Contract will be for one (1) year with the option to extend with five (5) additional one (1) year period(s) under the same conditions. International Trade Agreements This procurement process is subject to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT).

Submission of Bids It is requested that bids be provided directly to the Contracting Authority. Bids must be delivered to the following address, sealed, on or before March 2, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. (Gatineau time). Mailing Address:

Elections Canada 30 Victoria Street -1st Floor (Business Centre) Gatineau, QC K1A 0M6 Attn: Luc Potvin, Senior Advisor, Procurement and Contracting Services Elections Canada File No: ECLP-RFP-15-0594

For sending packages by courier or for dropping off, please note that the Business Centre hours are Mondays to Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Gatineau time). Bids received after the stipulated closing date and time will not be accepted and will be returned unopened to the bidder. If a late bid must be opened to determine the name and/or address of the bidder or the nature of the enclosure, a covering letter will be sent to explain the necessity of opening the bid. Faxed or bids sent via electronic mail will not be accepted. All enquiries and other communication with Elections Canada officials are to be directed ONLY to the Contracting Authority. The Contracting Authority will be the bidder’s primary contact. All requests for information must be directed to this contact. Bidders who contact anyone other than the Contracting Authority may be disqualified. All enquiries must be submitted in writing to Proposition-Proposal@elections.ca no later than 5 calendar days before the RFP closing date. Enquiries received after that time may not be answered. Interested parties wishing to order the solicitation documents for this RFP must do so through https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tenders. The documents downloaded through this site take precedence over any copies that may also be made available. Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada. Elections Canada retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement. Further information about Elections Canada may be obtained at www.elections.ca