Supplying to the Canadian Government

Canadian Government programs, be they large or small, typically have complex requirements and contracts, and they demand an extensive array of plans and reports from the supplier.

Normally, the project schedule is tight and the supplier finds that they carry significant risk, particularly when there is development work and a complex test program that collides with the production program. With many interrelated parallel activities and high expectations and demands from the Customer, most product and service programs feature a complex program management environment.

Deliverable Documentation

Generally, a large number of critical program plans are deliverable within 30 or 45 days of contract award.  In many cases, some of these are also deliverable in draft form with your proposal. Canada makes significant demands on suppliers for documentation and is highly proscriptive with regards to contents, and sometimes format.  These documents are difficult enough to produce if you are a Canadian supplier, and they can pose a significant challenge for a foreign supplier.

When it comes to program documentation, we have seen many factors combine to create real barriers for foreign bidders, including;

• Business Style and structure – It is frequently very difficult for well-established foreign suppliers to truly understand how Canadian programs are structured and how to organize a Canadian satellite program office.  This is reflected in a number of disconnects, subtle but important differences in organizational structures, staff titles and business processes.
• Culture – the often minor differences between us can be real landmines when you try to interpret Canada’s requirements and expectations. Everything looks the same, but it is not. When suppliers speak English, the cultural issues remain, even if the language is essentially the same.
• Language – highly technical translations are difficult.  We have seen some appalling translations that produce nearly unintelligible English. These are hard to fix, as the meaning gets lost in the poor translations, and this magnifies any other issues with the content.
• Offsets – Bidders generally have substantial offset obligations (called ITBs – previously called IRBs – in Canada) and these require you to develop deep and lasting relationships with Canadian companies.  It is absolutely critical that these are formulated correctly and start off smoothly. Additionally, understanding how the ITB program and associated scored “Value Proposition” work, and what is eligible, is difficult, even for Canadian Companies.
• Program Management Processes – You certainly will have mature processes, or you could not bid for a large Canadian Government program, but you will find that the processes in Canada will differ in unexpected ways.  Minor differences can have a big impact.
• Negotiating Styles – There is a generally held perception, one that we like to encourage, that Canadians are “nice”.  Negotiating with the Canadian Government is a non trivial affair, and you are dealing with entrenched processes and tough negotiators.  Your program can go off the rails quickly and early if you are not well prepared and well supported. While “nice”, Canadians can be tough.

If the Government starts to reject your fundamental program plans and documentation in month one, you will feel like you are going backwards and your entire program and margins will be at risk. This can be avoided.  Early detection and correction is possible, and it is not very expensive.

The critical problem with all of these issues is that they are present from the very first day of the contract.  At a time when you need to get the program up and running, when you are short of staff or bringing new staff up to speed, you can find yourself mired in frustrating misunderstandings.

Please contact us to learn more.