Task and solutions professional services
How the methods of supply work
Information for both Government of Canada clients and suppliers to better understand the task and solutions professional services (TSPS) methods of supply.
The TSPS methods of supply provides federal departments across Canada access to pre-qualified suppliers who can provide non-information technology (IT) professional services through the use of supply arrangements (SAs): task-based and solution-based.
On this page
- Task-based supply arrangements
- Solution-based supply arrangements
- Information for suppliers
- Information for clients
Task-based supply arrangements
The task-based SAs are used for:
- specific work assignments that require 1 or more consultants to complete tasks that:
- involve a specific start and end date and focus on set deliverables
- are smaller projects, although they may be subsets of a larger project
- may require highly specialized work that requires a rare or unique skill or knowledge for a short period of time
Dollar value requirement
These SAs should be used for requirements valued above the Canada Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA) threshold. For any requirements valued below the CKFTA threshold, the ProServices method of supply (which covers the same professional services categories) must be used.
Streams and categories
Overall, the task-based method of supply covers 7 streams which include a total of 67 professional services categories, 8 of which are related to health services and are not considered mandatory. Refer the task-based streams and categories.
Supplier pre-qualification
Each supplier’s SA is unique and only includes the professional services the company has pre-qualified in.
Solution-based supply arrangements
The solution-based SAs are used:
- when requirements are not related to 1 or more specific tasks
- for services provided in response to situations where federal departments are unable to resolve a business problem and require a solution from a supplier as to how to resolve this business problem from start to finish. The supplier would be expected to:
- determine the team composition and provide a complete solution to this business problem
- manage the overall solution and accept responsibility for the outcome
Dollar value requirement
These SAs can be used for any dollar value requirement.
Streams
The solution-based method of supply covers a total of 5 streams for non-IT professional services. Refer the solution-based streams.
Supplier pre-qualification
Each supplier’s SA is unique and only includes the professional services the company has pre-qualified in.
Information for suppliers
Suppliers interested in becoming pre-qualified with TSPS must:
- download and respond to the request for supply arrangement (RFSA) for task-based requirements and/or the RFSA for solution-based requirements. Each RFSA:
- can be found on on the CanadaBuys site:
- contains a detailed step by step attachment on how to submit an electronic bid to pre-qualify
- ensure they meet all the mandatory requirements before submitting an online bid through the Centralized professional services system, suppliers are expected to read the RFSA document
- create an account in the Centralized professional services system (CPSS) by following the enrolment instructions for suppliers
Opportunities to qualify
Ongoing opportunities to qualify are available to suppliers every 3 months after which Public Services and Procurement Canada has 3 months to complete the evaluation of all submitted bids. These ongoing opportunities to qualify allow new bidders to pre-qualify or existing bidders to add additional professional services to their SA. Existing suppliers do not need to submit a bid in any ongoing opportunity to qualify to maintain any TSPS SA. At the end of the evaluation period, a SA will be issued to successful suppliers.
Information for government employees
Once clients have determined that their requirement falls under TSPS (either task-based or solution-based), they must conduct a search in the CPSS ePortal.
Search for pre-qualified suppliers
An account is required in the CPSS ePortal in order to be able to generate a search result list.
The search results will list all pre-qualified suppliers in alphabetical order by legal name, who meet the search parameters entered in by the client. These search parameters include:
- streams
- categories
- security
- region/metropolitan area
- level of expertise
- tier and Indigenous indicator
Client departments must print off all search result lists and include it in their procurement file.
Bid solicitation process
When using TSPS, client departments must follow the bid solicitation process indicated in the applicable SA:
- Part B: Task-based supply arrangement – Bid Solicitation
- Part B: Solution-based supply arrangement – Bid Solicitation
A sample request for proposal (RFP) template is available for client departments to use. The TSPS procurement team does not maintain detailed examples of category-specific RFPs. Access all CPSS Templates (available on Government of Canada network only)
A task-based RFP must include the applicable flexible grid for any and all categories being sought as part of the mandatory criteria.