Fairness Monitoring Coverage Assessment

A Fairness Monitoring Coverage Assessment is a risk-based assessment that determines whether independent fairness-monitoring services are warranted for a departmental activity. It asks one question: does this activity need an impartial observer to give assurance that it is conducted fairly, openly and transparently?

The term belongs to the Fairness Monitoring Program run by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). Under that program, independent third-party fairness monitors observe all or part of an activity and give an impartial opinion on its fairness, openness and transparency. The assessment comes first. It decides whether monitoring coverage is needed, and the monitoring itself follows. See the PSPC Fairness Monitoring page for the program description.

How the assessment is documented

The assessment and its recommendation are recorded on the Fairness Monitoring Coverage Assessment and Recommendation form 587, which appears in the Library and Archives Canada acquisition services valuation tool. The form is a departmental record. It captures the decision on coverage and the reasoning behind it.

PSPC evaluation material names the risk considerations behind the decision: sensitivity, materiality and complexity. Branch heads must complete and submit the form where risk relates to these factors, and for other activities that require ministerial or Treasury Board approval. The 2019-2020 PSPC evaluation of fairness monitoring sets this out.

When an assessment is mandatory

An assessment is mandatory for departmental activities that are subject to ministerial or Treasury Board approval. The stated exceptions are non-competitive procurements and amendments to existing contracts.

For competitive procurements, the guidance adds specific triggers. An assessment is mandatory where:

• the procurement complexity assessment is level 4 or 5; or
• the procurement risk assessment is medium-high or high.

These triggers are published in the PSPC fairness monitoring guidance. Because they rest on the department's own complexity and risk ratings, the decision is made during procurement planning, before a solicitation is issued.

Optional use and activities beyond procurement

The assessment can also be done for activities that are not subject to a mandatory assessment. The department may choose to do so when it wants enhanced assurance of fairness, openness and transparency.

Fairness monitoring is not limited to competitive bidding. The program supports PSPC and departmental activities that include real-property transactions and other listed government activities. The 2019 minister transition book describes monitors as objective third parties who give impartial opinions on these activities.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

The assessment is a buyer-side decision. The federal guidance does not require suppliers to complete it, and it creates no separate supplier form, certification or bid obligation.

A supplier may still meet the result of the assessment. If a department decides monitoring is warranted, a fairness monitor can observe all or part of the solicitation, and the monitor's role is to give an impartial opinion on whether the process was fair, open and transparent. Bid teams should follow the solicitation documents as written. Procurements with high complexity or high risk are the ones most likely to be monitored, so suppliers pursuing large or sensitive requirements should expect closer scrutiny of process.

Questions about the program can be directed to the contact point on the PSPC Fairness Monitoring contact page.