# Canada Federal Procurement Strategy Playbook > **Guide Origin**: Community | **ArcKit Version**: [VERSION] `/arckit:ca-pspc` generates a federal Canadian procurement strategy under the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) *Supply Manual*. It scopes the procurement, applies the *Canadian Free Trade Agreement* (CFTA), CETA, CPTPP, and WTO-AGP threshold matrix, evaluates the Standing Offer / Supply Arrangement / AgileIQ / bespoke RFP / set-aside route landscape, captures the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSAB) contribution to the departmental 5% rolling target, builds the security-clearance lead-time picture, sets out the evaluation-framework dimensions, and lays a bid-solicitation schedule consistent with Supply Manual standstill and debriefing rules. PSPC is the federal contracting authority for most goods and services procurements above departmental delegations. Federal procurement operates under a layered set of trade-agreement obligations — CFTA domestically, CETA / CPTPP / WTO-AGP internationally — and a Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business that targets a 5% rolling departmental contribution to Indigenous-business procurement. Treat this artefact as a delivery gate: the route, the trade-agreement coverage, the PSAB posture, and the clearance-lead-time picture must be set before market engagement, because reversing them after a posting attracts CITT review and rework cost. --- ## Inputs | Artefact | Purpose | |----------|---------| | Requirements (`ARC--REQ-v1.0.md`) | Scope, value drivers, integration surface | | Strategic outline business case (`ARC--SOBC-v1.0.md`) | Affordability envelope, commercial case, route hypothesis | | ITSG-33 control profile (`ARC--ITSG-v1.0.md`) | Security control profile drives clearance posture and supplier security obligations | | Cloud residency assessment (`ARC--CACR-v1.0.md`) | Sub-processor analysis and CSP shortlist where cloud is in scope of the procurement | --- ## Command ```bash /arckit:ca-pspc ``` Output: `projects//ARC--PROC-v1.0.md` --- ## Assessment Structure | Section | Contents | |---------|----------| | Document Control | Canadian classification (UNCLASSIFIED / Protected A–C / CONFIDENTIAL / SECRET / TOP SECRET) | | Revision History | Version, date, author, changes, approvals | | Executive Summary | Recommended route, binding trade agreements, PSAB posture, longest clearance lead time, blocking open items | | Procurement Scope | Goods/services breakdown, estimated value, term, options | | Threshold Analysis | CFTA, CETA, CPTPP, WTO-AGP coverage and open-tendering obligations; set-aside carve-outs | | Route Selection | Standing Offer / Supply Arrangement / AgileIQ / RFP / set-aside fit, risk, timeline | | Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business | Set-aside decision, sub-contracting plan, departmental 5% contribution | | Security Clearance Requirements | Per-role clearance level, lead time, critical-path posture | | Evaluation Framework Outline | Mandatory / point-rated / financial dimensions and weight envelope | | Bid Solicitation Schedule | Milestones from market engagement to award, with standstill and debriefing | | Risks | Supplier-pool, clearance, threshold, instrument-shape, CITT, residency, OLA / accessibility risks | | Open Items | Outstanding decisions, instrument confirmations, owners, review dates | | External References | Document Register, Citations, Unreferenced | --- ## When to run - After SOBC — once the affordability envelope and commercial case are set, the route and instrument can be sized. Under the TBS *Directive on the Management of Projects and Programmes* the business case compares the options and the procurement strategy is set out for the recommended one, so run `/arckit:sobc` first. If the strategy then moves the cost or the route, revisit the business case at the next gate. - Before market engagement — the route, the trade-agreement coverage, and the PSAB posture must be set before any RFI / Industry Day to avoid contradictory market signals. - After a material scope or value change — a procurement designed against last quarter's scope can fall on the wrong side of a CFTA / CETA / CPTPP / WTO-AGP threshold when value moves. - Pre-posting refresh — re-verify thresholds at posting; thresholds adjust biennially and trade-agreement coverage evolves. - Before contract extension or option exercise — option years roll value past thresholds and may re-trigger trade-agreement obligations even when the base award sat below them. --- ## Route shortlist at a glance | Need | First-look instrument | Notes | |------|-----------------------|-------| | Outcome-based informatics solution | SBIPS | Confirm scope notice covers the deliverable shape | | Resource-based informatics task | TBIPS | Resource-classification stream and security clearance must match | | Multi-disciplinary professional services | ProServices | Useful when scope spans multiple professional categories | | AI / data professional services | SA-AIDP | Newer instrument; confirm currency and renewal status | | Cybersecurity services | SA-Cyber | Confirm clearance prerequisites in the supply arrangement | | Iterative scope, rapid award | AgileIQ / Agile Procurement Process | Requires scope expressible as iterative task statements | | No instrument fits | Bespoke RFP / RFSO / RFSA | Justify against the scope, value, and evaluation model in the route-selection table | | Indigenous-business participation | PSAB set-aside or sub-contracting plan | Validate supplier pool through Indigenous Services Canada directory | --- ## Common pitfalls - **Defaulting to a Standing Offer without CFTA analysis.** A Standing Offer is still subject to trade-agreement obligations and CITT review. Choose the instrument by fit to scope, value, and evaluation model, not by the convenience of an existing call-up mechanism. - **Missing PSAB consideration entirely.** Even where a set-aside is not used, the PSAB analysis must be documented — the supplier-pool assessment, the carve-out reasoning, and the contribution to the departmental rolling 5% target. Silence on PSAB reads as oversight. - **Under-budgeting clearance lead time.** Top Secret and SCI clearances commonly take 6 to 12 or more months for new applicants. A schedule that assumes weeks rather than months attracts a critical-path risk that can reset the whole award timeline. - **Conflating ITQ, ITT, and RFP shapes.** Each solicitation form has different evaluation rules, different bidder rights, and different challenge pathways. Choose the form against the route-selection table; do not mix vocabulary across the artefact. - **Treating PSAB 5% as a per-procurement target.** The 5% is a department-level rolling target. Any one procurement contributes to it; no single procurement is judged against 5% in isolation. Document the contribution explicitly so the departmental return rolls up correctly. --- ## Handoffs - **`evaluate`** — PSPC route selection feeds the vendor evaluation framework's scoring rubric. The high-level mandatory / point-rated / financial dimensions and weight envelope set here are inherited by the detailed evaluation rubric, where per-criterion scoring guidance and mandatory-evidence requirements live. --- ## Statutory currency CFTA thresholds adjust biennially and the international agreements (CETA, CPTPP, WTO-AGP) carry their own coverage schedules and threshold cycles. Re-verify the current thresholds at the verification date in the Document Register; a procurement designed against last year's thresholds can fall on the wrong side of an obligation when posted. PSPC Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements cycle through renewals — re-verify the current instrument numbers (SBIPS, TBIPS, ProServices, SA-AIDP, SA-Cyber, and others) at posting, since a lapsed instrument reference invalidates the call-up. The PSAB is administered by Indigenous Services Canada and the registered supplier directory evolves; check the directory before relying on supplier-pool sufficiency for a set-aside decision.