1.1 These guidelines take effect on October 31, 2012.
2.1 To provide guidance to managers and functional specialists on the identification, collection and publication of contract information that is to be proactively disclosed.
3.1 The government proactively discloses information on contracts over $10,000, founded wrongdoing, grants and contributions over $25,000, position reclassification and travel and hospitality expenses. The proactive disclosure of contracts reflects broader government commitments to transparency and strengthened accountability within the public sector originally announced in Budget 2004.
3.2 These guidelines support the Treasury Board Contracting Policy. Section 5.1.6 of the Treasury Board Contracting Policy states that "Deputy heads are required to publicly disclose quarterly, within one month after the close of each quarter, contracts entered into or amendments valued at over $10,000."
4.1.1 In the interests of transparency, it is recommended that departments publish information about their approach and practices related to the proactive disclosure of contracts, options, other amendments, standing offers, supply arrangements, task authorizations, disclosure exceptions and data elements on their departmental proactive disclosure websites.
4.1.2 Treasury Board Contracting Policy requires disclosure of the following:
4.1.3 When a series of amendments to a contract clearly exceeds $10,000, the series of amendments may be disclosed as one amendment. When a series of amendments occurs over more than one reporting period when the threshold of $10,000 is clearly exceeded only during the last reporting period, the series of amendments may be disclosed as one amendment in one reporting period. Alternatively, an amendment may be reported separately if this is the standard practice in the department.
4.1.4 Non-financial and negative amendments do not need to be disclosed, except when it is in the public interest to do so (for example, the cancellation of a large military procurement).
4.1.5 When a contract is awarded and subsequently terminated, the original contract information reported should not be modified.
4.1.6 A contract option, when exercised, may be disclosed as an amendment. Alternatively, the full value of a contract, including options, may be disclosed at the time of contract award.
4.1.7 A call-up against a standing offer or supply arrangement should be disclosed as a contract.
4.1.8 A standing offer agreement and a supply arrangement agreement are not procurement contracts but are to be disclosed for the purpose of transparency. When a department publicly discloses information about a standing offer agreement or a supply arrangement agreement on a website, the department may omit this agreement from its proactive disclosure report.
4.1.9 For contracts with task authorizations, [1] the full potential value of the contract may be disclosed upon contract award unless the full value is not expected to be used. In the latter situation, each task authorization may be disclosed individually. When a contract includes a fixed deliverable and another deliverable that requires a task authorization, the department may disclose the contract and task authorizations in any manner that is transparent.
4.1.10 The government commitment is to disclose contracts or amendments valued at over $10,000 with only very limited exceptions, such as national security. A department may withhold information regarding the following:
4.1.11 When a department determines that information about a contract is exempt from proactive disclosure under Section 4.1.10(c) of these guidelines, the department is encouraged to disclose information that is unclassified. If all of the information about a contract is exempted but can be disclosed at a later date, the department may include the contract in the next report.
4.2.1 The following data elements were developed to provide consistency to the public. Specific information regarding each of the data elements is provided in the following subsections with a summary table provided in Appendix A. As a best practice, departments are encouraged to follow the recommended approach for each data element if possible. If use of the recommended approach is not possible, a department may use a standard practice in the department for disclosure. To provide consistency to the public, it is recommended that departments move away from departmental standards and move towards the recommended reporting standard over time.
4.3.1 Departments may report their contracting data on their departmental websites. When PWGSC or another department or Crown corporation issues a contract on a department's behalf, the client department should report the contract.
4.3.2 When more than one department is funding the contract, the department signing the contract may report the contract. However, if PWGSC is signing the contract for more than one department, one client department may report the full value of the contract. For a standing offer agreement or supply arrangement agreement, it is recommended that the agreement be reported by the department that authorizes the agreement.
4.3.3 Reporting is to occur on a quarterly basis, corresponding to the government fiscal year quarters. Contract information is to be posted online within 30 days of the end of each reporting period.
4.3.4 When the above dates for posting fall on a weekend or statutory holiday, departments may post information by the last business day before the weekend or holiday in question.
4.3.5 A contract or amendment not reported in the reporting period in which it was awarded may be reported in the subsequent reporting period, or as soon as practicable.
4.3.6 Information posted in one reporting period can be modified in a subsequent reporting period only when a material error was made in the data originally reported. Any modified information is recommended to be clearly indicated as such within the previous report's comments data element and notice of the modification is to be provided within the comments data element of the current report (refer to Appendix B).
4.3.7 Contract information on departmental websites should be consistent with the Standard on Web Accessibility. A Proactive Disclosure intranet site exists to facilitate navigation and ensure consistency.
4.4.1 In accordance with Section 4.1.8 of the Treasury Board Contracting Policy, departments are responsible for ensuring that the contracting authority (the minister) is acting and seen to be acting within the letter and the spirit of the Treasury Board Contracting Policy. The department runs the risk of non-compliance if it does not ensure that contract information is accurate, up to date and posted in accordance with these guidelines. It is recommended that the department's chief financial officer (CFO) or equivalent be responsible for ensuring that data reported is appropriately validated, complete and reported in a timely manner. It is a best practice for departments to clearly indicate any limitations associated with the data on the departmental website.
Relevant legislation:
Treasury Board policies:
Treasury Board standards:
Other publications:
6.1 For questions on this policy instrument, please contact TBS Public Enquiries
Data Element | Description |
---|---|
Vendor Name | Recommended:
Alternatives:
|
Reference Number | Recommended:
Alternatives:
|
Contract Date | Recommended:
Alternatives:
|
Description of Work | Recommended:
Alternatives:
|
Contract Period or Delivery Date |
|
Contract Value |
|
Comments | Recommended:
Non-compulsory:
|
Note: Departmental standard practices may deviate from the data elements listed above.
The comments data element is to identify when the contract contains the following characteristic | Standardized Comment |
---|---|
Advance Contract Award Notice | This contract is a result of an advance contract award notice. |
Amendment(s) | This contract includes one or more amendments. |
Call-Up Against a PWGSC Procurement Tool (including departmental individual standing offers) | This contract is a call-up against a Public Works and Government Services Canada procurement tool. |
Competitively Sourced Contract | This contract was competitively sourced. |
Contract Involving More Than One Department | This contract involved the procurement of [insert deliverable] between Department X and Department Y. |
Contract Previously not Reported | This is a notice of the restatement of Contract [reference number] dated [contract period/delivery date]. The contract was misstated for [misstated contract information] and has been corrected. |
Contract with Task Authorizations | For a contract with task authorizations, the realized amount of the contract is contingent on the number of task authorizations issued and may be less than the amount proactively disclosed, dependent on the operational requirements of the department. |
Multi-Year Contract | This contract is a multi-year contract. |
Sole-Sourced Contract | This contract was sole-sourced. |
Former Public Servant in receipt of a pension under the Public Service Superannuation Act. | This contract is with a former public servant in receipt of a pension under the Public Service Superannuation Act. |
Note: Departments are encouraged to develop additional standardized comments that meet their unique operational requirements.