Canada US Agreement on Government Procurement (CUSPA) INTRODUCTION The Canada‐US Agreement on Government Procurement (CUSPA) is a government procurement trade agreement that was brought into effect February 2010 in reaction to “Buy American” provisions in the US The foundation of CUSPA is the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO‐GPA) COVERED ENTITIES All Departments and Offices of the Province established under the Public Service Act Does not apply to Emergency Health Services (division of the Department of Health) in respect to ambulance‐related procurement, including telecommunications for Emergency Health Care purposes Covered procurement means procurement for government purposes by any contractual means including purchase, lease; and rental or hire, with or without an option to buy. If something is not ‘covered’ it means there may be an opportunity to limit the suppliers who bid, or apply a Canadian preference. Please contact Procurement Governance before issuing any tender with preferences. THRESHOLDS The thresholds in this agreement are based on Special Drawing Rights (SDR). SDR’s are an international reserve asset, created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1969, and its value is based on a basket of four key international currencies. The value is set against Canadian dollars every two years. Currently: o conversion valid from Jan 1, 2016 to Dec 31, 2017 Goods and Services: 355,000 SDR $604,700 Canadian (including taxes) Construction: 5,000,000 SDR $8,500,000 Canadian (including taxes) PROCUREMENT PROCESS CONTRACT VALUE In estimating the value a covered entity will: Not divide a purchase into separate procurements with the intention to exclude Include the estimated total value of the purchase over its entire duration including options, premiums, fees, commissions and interest In the case of purchase by lease, rental or hire purchase of goods or services the basis for valuation will be: Fixed term contract o The total estimated maximum value Indefinite term contract o The estimated monthly installment multiplied by 48 There is additional guidance for purchases that result in the award of more than one contract, or in the award of contracts into separate parts. Please contact Procurement Governance for more information
Updated: February 2016
TENDER NOTICES Must include: A brief description of the procurement The place where a person may obtain information and tender documents The conditions for obtaining the tender documents The place where the tenders are to be sent The date and time limit for submitting tenders, which will not be less than 10 days (see below) The time and place of the opening of the tenders in the event of a public tender opening POSTING TIME LIMITS The agreement outlines 2 pages of posting time limits for various scenarios. For our standard public tender process the following applies: The final date for submission of tenders will not be less than 40 days from the date the tender notice is published. An entity may reduce the time period for tendering by five days for each one of the following circumstances: o The tender notice is published by electronic means (35 days) o Tender documents are made available by electronic means from the date of tender notice (30 days) o The entity accepts tenders by electronic means (25 days) When purchasing a commercial good or service (a good or service generally sold or offered for sale in the commercial marketplace to, and customarily purchased by, non‐governmental buyers for non‐governmental purposes), the time period for tendering may be reduced to no less than 13 days provided the notice and tender documents are published by electronic means. In addition, if an entity accepts bids by electronic means they may reduce the time period to not less than 10 days. In the case of an emergency the time period may be reduced to not less than 10 days, however the reason must be stated in the tender notice. The agreement contains other guidance dealing with “selective tendering” (e.g. pre‐qualified), and “notices of planned procurement”. Please contact Procurement Governance for more information. AWARDS Not later than 72 days after the award of the contract an entity will publish by electronic means the name of the successful supplier, the value of the successful tender, and the date of award WHAT GOODS, SERVICES and CONSTRUCTION ARE COVERED IN THIS AGREEMENT? OVERARCHING EXCLUSIONS This agreement does not apply to procurements in respect of: o Goods, Services or construction purchased for representational or promotional purposes o Goods, Services or construction purchased for the benefit of, or which is to be transferred to the authority of school boards, or their functional equivalents, publicly‐funded academic institutions, social services entities or hospitals. o Shipbuilding and repair
Updated: February 2016
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Urban rail and urban transportation equipment, systems, components and materials incorporated therein as well as all project related materials of iron or steel Contracts respecting detection and coherent radiation equipment Set‐asides for small and minority businesses Agricultural products made in furtherance of agricultural support programs or human feeding programs Items made with a view to commercial resale Any procurement made by a covered entity on behalf of a non‐covered entity
ALTP’s as developed in the Provincial policy also apply
COVERED GOODS All goods are covered Does not include certain goods procured by provincial police forces (as listed separately in the agreement) COVERED SERVICES Urban planning and landscape architectural services Consultancy services related to the installation of computer hardware Software implementation services, including systems and software consulting services, systems analysis, design, programming and maintenance services Data processing services, including processing, tabulation and facilities management services Data base services Maintenance and repair services of office machinery and equipment including computers Other computer services Real estate services involving own or leased property Real estate services on a fee or contract basis Leasing or rental services concerning machinery and equipment without operator Leasing or rental services concerning personal and household goods General management consulting services Human resources management consulting services Production management consulting services Services related to management consulting (except Arbitration and conciliation services) Technical testing and analysis services including quality control and inspection (except with reference to FSC 58 and transportation equipment) Services incidental to forestry and logging, including forest management Services incidental to mining, including drilling and field services Repair services of personal and household goods Repair services incidental to metal products, machinery and equipment Building‐cleaning services Packaging services Commercial courier services (including multi‐modal) Electronic mail Voice mail On‐line information and data base retrieval Electronic data interchange (EDI) Enhanced/value‐added facsimile services, including store and forward, store and retrieve
Updated: February 2016
Code and protocol conversion On‐line information and/or data processing (including transaction processing) Sewage and refuse disposal, sanitation and similar services Hotel and similar accommodation services Food and beverage serving services Travel agency and tour operator services
Does not include: Management and operation contracts of certain government or privately owned facilities used for government purposes Public Utilities Architectural and engineering related to airfield, communications and missile facilities Shipbuilding and repair and related architectural and engineering services All services, with reference to those goods purchased by a provincial police force which are not identified as subject to coverage by this agreement Printing and publishing services Procurement of transportation services that form part of, or are incidental to, a procurement contract
COVERED CONSTRUCTION SERVICES Pre‐erection work at construction sites o Site investigation work o Demolition work o Site formation and clearance work o Excavating and earthmoving work o Site preparation work for mining o Scaffolding work Construction work for buildings o For one‐ and two‐dwelling buildings o For multi‐dwelling buildings o For warehouses and industrial buildings o For commercial buildings o For public entertainment buildings o For hotel, restaurant and similar buildings o For educational buildings o For health buildings o For other buildings Construction work for civil engineering o For highways (except elevated highways), streets, roads, railways and airfield runways o For bridges, elevated highways, tunnels and subways o For waterways, harbors, dams and other water works o For long distance pipelines, communication and power lines (cables) o For local pipelines and cables; ancillary works o For constructions for mining and manufacturing o For constructions for sport and recreation o For engineering works not elsewhere classified Assembly and erection of prefabricated constructions Special trade construction work o Foundation work, incl. pile driving o Water well drilling
Updated: February 2016
Roofing and water proofing Concrete work Steel bending and erection (incl. welding) Masonry work Other special trade construction work Installation work o Heating, ventilation and air conditioning work o Water plumbing and drain laying work o Gas fitting construction work o Electrical work o Insulation work (electrical wiring, water, heat, sound) o Fencing and railing construction work o Other installation work Building completion and finishing work o Glazing work and window glass installation work o Plastering work o Painting work o Floor and wall tiling work o Other floor laying, wall covering and wall papering work o Wood and metal joinery and carpentry work o Interior fitting decoration work o Ornamentation fitting work o Other building completion and finishing work Renting services related to equipment for construction or demolition of buildings or civil engineering works, with operator o o o o o
Does not include: Dredging FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION: Canada‐US Government Procurement Agreement: http://www.international.gc.ca/trade‐agreements‐accords‐commerciaux/topics‐domaines/gp‐ mp/agreement‐accord.aspx?lang=eng World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement GPA/113: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/negotiations_e.htm Disclaimer: This document has been developed as information only. It does not capture every scenario from the above mentioned trade agreement, and instead tries to capture the general essence and provide front line purchasing staff with some general direction. Complex matters should be directed to Procurement Governance for additional guidance.
Updated: February 2016
