Service de cartes prépayée

Trade Agreement: NONE
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Attachment: None
Competitive Procurement Strategy: N/A - P&A/LOI Only
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Nature of Requirements:
THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION DOCUMENT
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR COMMENTS (RFC) FROM INDUSTRY
PREPAID CARD SERVICES

The intent of this Request for Comments (RFC) is to solicit
feedback on all aspects detailed herein and the draft Annex A,
Statement of Work, draft Annex A, Appendix 1, Definitions and
the draft Annex C Security Requirements Checklist (SRCL) and its
associated attachment so as to enable Canada to evaluate the
strategy to be taken, if any, regarding further related
activities.

More specifically, feedback is sought regarding:

The potential level of interest in providing services to address
the requirements of the attached Draft Statement of Work;
The processes and procedures involved with issuing an electronic
form of payment for various government programs;
To obtain information and suggestions on other ways of
performing similar functionality or improving on what is being
presented; and
With respect to draft Annex C Information Technology Security
Requirements Technical Document, indicate if your organization's
implementation of the capability is the same as described for
that specific requirement. If it is not, provide a description
of how your organization addressed the specific requirement.

SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

The Receiver General for Canada may require the issuance of
prepaid cards for the delivery of government entitlements such
as Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old
Age Security (OAS) as an alternative to manual paper-based
issuance. Acquisitions Branch of PWGSC on behalf of the
Accounting, Banking and Compensation Branch (ABCB) would like to
examine the feasibility of ABCB providing a more cost-effective
solution for various forms of payments or benefits to Canadian
citizens.

These services may be required for a period of four (4) years
commencing from date of Contract with an irrevocable option on
the part of Canada to extend the period of any resulting
Contract by one (1) additional year and one (1) additional six
(6) month transition period.

There is a security requirement associated with this
requirement. Please refer to the draft Annex C, Security
Requirements Checklist (SRCL) and its associated attachments,
including the following clause which will form part of any
resulting Contract:

DRAFT SECURITY REQUIREMENT CLAUSE

1. The Contractor must, at all times during the performance of
the Contract, hold a valid Designated Organization Screening
(DOS) with approved Document Safeguarding at the level of
PROTECTED B, issued by the Canadian Industrial Security
Directorate, Public Works and Government Services Canada.

2. The Contractor personnel requiring access to PROTECTED
information, assets or work site(s) must EACH hold a valid
RELIABILITY STATUS, granted or approved by the Canadian
Industrial Security Directorate (CISD), Public Works and
Government Services Canada (PWGSC).

3. The Contractor MUST NOT utilize its Information Technology
systems to electronically process, produce or store PROTECTED
information until the CISD/PWGSC has issued written approval.
After approval has been granted or approved, these tasks may be
performed at the level of PROTECTED B and an IT Link at the
level of PROTECTED B.

4. Subcontracts which contain security requirements are NOT to
be awarded without the prior written permission of CISD/PWGSC.

5. The Contractor must comply with the provisions of the:

(a) Security Requirements Check List and security guide (if
applicable), attached at Annex C;
(b) Industrial Security Manual (Latest Edition)

Potential service providers who currently DO NOT MEET the
facility security cleareance requirements and (or) personnel
security clearance should initiate the security clearance
process by requesting sponsorship from the Contracting
Authority. For any inquiries concerning any security
requirements, suppliers should contact CISD at 1-866-368-4646,
or (613) 948-4176 in the Natioanl Capital Region (NCR), CISD
Website: http://ssi-iss.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/.

NOTE TO POTENTIAL RESPONDENTS

Responses

The material in this RFC package is for the solicitation of
feedback only. Responding to this RFC is not a prerequisite to
receiving any Request for Proposal for the ABCB requirement.
However, all Respondents are encouraged to indicate their level
of interest by responding to this RFC with its comments in order
to facilitate a better understanding of requirements and
Industry perspectives.

The publication of this RFC must not be construed as a
commitment on Canada's part to issue a subsequent "Request for
Proposal" for ABCB's requirement and no contract or other form
of commitment will be entered into with any Respondent based on
responses to this RFC. This RFC must in no way be considered as
authorization by Canada for Respondents to undertake any work,
which would result in costs to Canada.

Canada will not be liable for, nor will it reimburse any
Respondents for any costs, fees or expenses which any Respondent
incurs in the preparation or submission of its response to this
RFC. Canada will not be bound by anything stated herein. Canada
reserves the right to change, at any time, any or all parts of
the requirement as it renders necessary.

Respondents are advised that any information submitted to PWGSC
in response to this RFC may be used in the development of a
subsequent RFP. Respondents will not be bound by any aspect of
their response to this RFC. All responses to this RFC will be
held by Canada on a confidential basis (subject to applicable
legislation), and remain the property of Canada once they have
been received and may be used to support further development of
internal planning documents and decisions, and possibly an RFP.
Note that responses to the RFC will not be returned.

Participation

The RFC is inclusive and flexible and is not intended to
pre-qualify Respondents for any stages of the project. An
interested Respondent who does not participate in the RFC
process is not precluded from participating in any subsequent
RFP process.

CLOSING DATE

Responses to this RFC will be accepted until 02:00 PM Eastern
Daylight Savings Time (EDT) on July 19, 2012.
Responses are to be submitted by fax or electronically to the
Contracting Authority stated below. The information received
after that date will be considered only to the extent
reasonable, in the sole opinion of Canada, given the progress of
the Work at the time of receipt of the said information.

ENQUIRIES

Any questions from Respondents concerning this RFC must be made
in writing to the Contracting Authority stated below, via e-mail
on or before the closing date of this RFC.

Respondents are to assume all responsibility for the successful
delivery and receipt of all questions to the Contracting
Authority stated below. Questions submitted to any other person
but the Contracting Authority, or in any other form, will not be
answered. Responses given in any other manner than that which is
outlined above will not be binding upon any party.

Canada reserves the right not to respond to questions received
after the closing date of this RFC, or to any question not
related to this RFC. Enquiries that are of a proprietary nature
must be clearly marked "proprietary" at each relevant item.
Items identified as "proprietary" will be treated as such except
where Canada determines that the enquiry is not of a proprietary
nature. Canada may edit the questions or may request that the
respondent do so, so that the proprietary nature of the question
is eliminated, and the responses will be made publicly available
through MERX. Enquiries not submitted in a form that can be
distributed to alll Respondents may not be answered by Canada.
If a question is determined to be proprietary, in Canada's sole
discretion, Canada reserves the right to respond only to that
party.

CLARIFICATION

PWGSC may require clarification of written responses and/or
comments received as a result of the responses to this RFC. If
required, any clarification will be requested by the Contracting
Authority after the closing date of the RFC. Requests for
clarification will be submitted in writing (by email only) and a
response will be requested within two (2) working days of
transmission of the clarification questions.
Canada will not provide any guidance on how to prepare the
responses or of any acceptable response strategy.

FORMAT OF RESPONSE

Respondents should review the attached draft documents, respond
to the questions in Table 1 and provide comments on the Annexes
in Table 2, in the attached solicitation document.

RESPONSES REGARDING THIS REQUIREMENT ARE TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE
FOLLOWING PWGSC CONTRACTING AUTHORITY:

Ingrid Harrington, Supply Specialist
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Acquisitions Branch
Professional Services Procurement Directorate
Place du Portage, Phase III, 10C1
11 Laurier Street
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0S5

Tel: (819) 956-3201
Fax: (819) 956-2675
Email: i••••••••@••••••••.••.ca
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.