Amendments to the Contracting Policy regarding the Federal Contractors Program for Employment Equity (FCP)

Summary

The purpose of this Contracting Policy Notice is to inform departments of amendments to paragraphs 4.2.5 and 8.3.1, and Appendix D of the Contracting Policy that:

• Raise the threshold for goods and services contracts covered by the program from $200,000 to $1,000,000 under the FCP;
• Remove the requirement that the contractor’s commitments meet standards set under the Employment Equity Act;
• Remove the requirement for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) – Labour Canada to conduct compliance reviews that follow up on the contractor’s commitments;
• Replace the requirement to conduct compliance reviews with the requirement for HRSDC-Labour to conduct compliance assessment based on the achievement of results (representation goals) that follow up on the contractor’s commitments;
• Remove the ability of companies to bid on goods or services contracts after they have been found to be non-compliant with any commitments made to implement employment equity (currently such contractors are only prevented from bidding on contracts above $25,000);
• Add a list of contractors found to be in non-compliance to be published by HRSDC-Labour;
• Remove the obligation on HRSDC – Labour Canada to conduct an Employment Equity Merit Awards Ceremony; and
• Make administrative changes that do not affect the substance of the policy (i.e. update the names of forms, update the name and acronym for HRSDC, update hyperlinks, correct formatting, remove internal inconsistencies, and correct grammatical and typographical errors).

Background

The amendments to the Contracting Policy reflect a 2012 Cabinet decision and amendments to the Employment Equity Act under the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act.

The policy amendments came into effect on May 9, 2013 and are available in the online version of the Contracting Policy.

Enquiries

For questions on this policy notice, please contact Treasury Board Secretariat Public Enquiries.

For any questions on the substance of the FCP and the amendments please contact the HRSDC Labour Program.

Marc O’Sullivan
Assistant Comptroller General, Acquired Services and Assets Sector
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Distribution: TB06, TB07, TB21, T22, TB23, T23, T24, T161