Industry leaders discuss needed change to federal procurement at annual meeting with government
Senior leaders from the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) met with the Government of Canada on May 5 for their 55th annual joint meeting to discuss key public policy files affecting the industry.
Officials from Public Services and Procurement, Infrastructure, the Treasury Board, National Defence and Defence Construction Canada were in attendance.
The results from a study on federal procurement were presented, revealing that restrictive RFP requirements are creating barriers to participation. The report maintains that the government can increase participation, fairness and transparency by adopting alternative contracting models and moving away from the lowest cost bid. Contractors also cited security requirements as one of the top reasons why they are choosing private over federal contracts. The conditions work against the industry’s ability to hire the workforce needed to complete a project.
Other topics discussed included social procurement and the government’s greening strategy.
CCA has been seeking more input into the federal government’s security program and a working group on procurement modernization and contract security clearances will be established after this meeting.
CCA is looking forward to collaborating on these key files.