The Government of Canada is committed to strengthening the management, oversight, and integrity of government procurement.
The Government of Canada is committed to spending Canadians' tax dollars wisely and responsibly. This includes ensuring that the government's procurement processes are effective and well-managed.
On March 20, 2024, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat released an update to the Manager's Guide: Key Considerations When Procuring Professional Services and signaled its intent to embed certain elements of the Guide within TBS Mandatory Procedures to strengthen the accountability of managers.
Today, the Honourable Anita Anand, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, provided an update on the commitment by announcing new mandatory procedures as part of the Directive on the Management of Procurement.
The procedures provide an additional check and balance for public service managers to ensure that they are clear about their responsibilities and accountabilities when undertaking professional services procurement activities related to oversight, conflict of interest and integrity provisions in the directive.
Some of the measures include validating that alternative approaches have been considered before deciding to contract for professional services. As well, in addition to ensuring statements of work are detailed and complete, managers must provide a signed confirmation acknowledging their responsibilities in managing the contract, confirming they do not have a conflict of interest, that they have not directed which resources should be working under the contract, and that the contractor did not assist in or have unfair access to the solicitation process.
The government has robust rules in place for the management of contracts. These mandatory procedures will further improve and strengthen procurement practices.
Departments are putting in place their own departmental procedures and reporting structures required to meet the new requirements before the mandatory procedures take full effect on September 30, 2024.
