BACKGROUND
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) are separate federal granting agencies that support scholarly endeavours in Canadian universities. More specifically NSERC promotes and supports university-based research and training in natural sciences and engineering and SSHRC promotes and supports university-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences.
Standard research grant applications are adjudicated annually, in February-March and August using the peer review process. These annual competitions require catering services for morning and afternoon breaks and the occasional lunch for the adjudication committee members and the referees. Varied menus are required because adjudication meetings can take place over 1 to 5 day periods with the same attendees participating.
Additionally, throughout the course of any given year both NSERC and SSHRC have reasons to convene meetings where catering is required.
OBJECTIVE
NSERC and SSHRC are seeking to qualify professional catering firms to provide a variety of catering services, offering: food and/or refreshment service for various meetings; a variety of menu selections; guaranteed quality and freshness of food; and having the ability to accommodate ethnic and specific dietary requirements.
