Data Coherence and Responsiveness initiative

This contract, solicited under number CIC-160402, is reserved exclusively for holders of the Government of Canada’s Software as a Service (SaaS) Supply Arrangement #EN578-191593 and is issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to acquire a secure, cloud-based data analytics and artificial intelligence platform supporting the Data Coherence and Responsiveness initiative. The solution must deliver integrated data access, high-performance analytics, near real-time reporting, AI-assisted insights, and robust data governance to replace legacy systems and manual processes that currently hinder scalability and decision-making confidence. The contract, which begins on the date of award and ends on March 31, 2027, provides IRCC with an irrevocable option to extend the term for up to four additional one-year periods, each requiring written notice at least 30 days prior to expiration, with no auto-renewal provisions. The scope of work includes the provision of SaaS-based analytics and AI services, encompassing implementation and migration, ATO approval support, end-user training, ongoing maintenance and upgrades, incident management, and infrastructure support, all governed by detailed requirements in Annex A and the Service Level Agreement in Annex D. The solution must operate within strict security and privacy frameworks, including compliance with PROTECTED B classification standards under the Contract Security Program, mandatory SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, adherence to ISO/IEC 27018 for PII protection in public clouds, flow-down of security obligations to sub-processors, implementation of non-disclosure agreements for personnel, and full alignment with Canada’s Privacy Act and Code of Conduct for Procurement. Pricing is structured as a hybrid model combining fixed-price professional services with consumption-based platform costs, where bidders must propose unit prices for compute credits (1,500/month), data storage (4TB), AI tokens (1 million/user/month), data transfer (ingress and egress at 4TB each), private connectivity, and additional platform fees—all detailed in Annex C. The award will follow a mandatory technical pass/fail evaluation, where failure to meet all technical criteria renders a bid non-responsive, followed by selection based on the lowest evaluated price among compliant offers. All bids must be submitted electronically in three separately bound sections—technical, financial, and certifications—and must not exceed 2,500 words in the technical proposal. Contractors must ensure complete compliance with