Shellfish water classification program - Quebec

The Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP) contract for Quebec, issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), is a sole-source procurement awarded to Microbio LCA Inc. to ensure the bacteriological integrity of shellfish harvesting areas along the North Shore. The work involves collecting seawater samples from commercial, recreational, and food, social, and ceremonial (FSC) shellfish sites and performing accredited laboratory analyses using the APHA 9221 E.2 method with A-1 medium to detect thermotolerant coliforms, strictly adhering to ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation standards. All samples must be transported and incubated within 30 hours of collection at the ECCC laboratory in Forestville, Quebec, to preserve sample validity, and the contractor is responsible for maintaining a field notebook, registering microbiological samples, measuring physical and meteorological conditions during sampling, and entering all data into the Regional Shellfish Sanitation Information Platform (PRISM). The contract includes a one-year base period with two one-year option periods, totaling up to 36 months, with an estimated value of $3,490,828.00 plus tax, and performance is limited to Quebec’s North Shore region outside the National Capital Region. The procurement was justified as sole-source under Paragraph 6(d) of the Government Contracts Regulations due to the unique combination of technical, geographic, and operational constraints: only one contractor possesses the required ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for the specific testing method, has demonstrated proven experience conducting field and lab operations on the North Shore within the last five years, and can reliably meet the stringent 30-hour sample handling window required by CSSP protocols. No competitive bidding was permitted or considered, as the criteria effectively limit qualified responders to a single entity. The contract imposes no formal packaging specifications beyond the logistics of timely transport, no military or standardized labeling requirements, and no itemized pricing structure, but compliance is strictly enforced through verification of accreditation status, documented past performance, and audit-ready data trails via PRISM. The contracting officer point of contact is Moufid Samri, and all proposals must be submitted by email to his office by the deadline, with no page limits on the required Statement of Capabilities, ensuring that technical compliance is assessed holistically rather than by form or volume.