Certifications and Attestations

Certifications and attestations are statements or formally issued documents used to confirm that a bidder, supplier, person, product or organization meets a specified requirement. They cover compliance with procurement conditions, policies, standards, eligibility rules, Canadian-content requirements, pricing and security.

In Canadian federal procurement, a certification is a declaration that the solicitation requires from the supplier. CanadaBuys guidance states that suppliers must provide the certifications specified in the solicitation, and that a missing certification can make an offer non-compliant. An attestation is usually a formal confirmation of a status, qualification, clearance or fact, and the term is common in security contexts.

Where certifications sit in a federal solicitation

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) describes Part 5 of a solicitation as the section containing the certifications required to bid. Its guidance on bidding lists examples: employment equity, former federal public servants, conflict of interest and the Integrity Regime.

Certifications can be required for a contract, a standing offer or a supply arrangement. They may be required at bid submission, and they may be verified before and throughout the life of the instrument. The exact requirement depends on the solicitation, the contract, the security classification and the applicable policy or standard.

Specific certifications named by CanadaBuys

CanadaBuys identifies several certifications that a solicitation may include:

• Federal Contractors Program: bidders may have to certify compliance with the program administered by the Labour Program of Employment and Social Development Canada.
• Canadian Content Policy: where the policy applies, the solicitation may require certifications concerning Canadian content.
• Ineligibility and Suspension Policy: procurement instruments include clauses under which the offeror certifies compliance. An offeror that cannot provide a required certification must submit a completed Integrity Declaration Form with its offer.
• Price or rate certification: this is required for negotiated firm-price and fixed-time-rate contracts valued at $50,000 or more, for commercial or non-commercial goods or services, according to the CanadaBuys certifications page.

PSPC's professional-services bid-solicitation process also lists certifications among the minimum contents of a bid solicitation. The others are security requirements, bid instructions, evaluation procedures and resulting contract clauses.

Attestations in NATO security requirements

Defence and NATO-related work uses attestations and certificates to prove personnel security clearance. The NATO directive on classified project and industrial security describes two distinct documents:

• Attestation of Personnel Security Clearance (APSC): an approved format confirming an individual's NATO personnel-security-clearance level.
• Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (PSCC): an approved format used by national security authorities to confirm the level and validity of a personnel security clearance.

NATO-related security requirements may call for evidence of clearance through one of these documents. NATO's official terminology resource is NATOTerm, maintained by the NATO Terminology Office within the NATO Standardization Office.

What this means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Read the certifications section of every solicitation before you prepare the technical and financial response. In federal solicitations, check Part 5 first and list each certification the bid requires. A missing certification can make your offer non-compliant, whatever the strength of the rest of the bid.

Confirm early whether you can provide each certification. If you cannot provide an Integrity Regime certification, the Integrity Declaration Form must go in with the offer. Keep in mind that certifications may be verified before and during the contract, so every statement you sign must remain accurate for the full term. For security-cleared work, line up clearance documents such as a PSCC or APSC before the bid closes.