Interpretation Services for Offenders

Nature of Requirements:

The following is a summary of the statement of work for this requirement.

The Correctional Service Canada has a requirement to provide interpretation services for offenders to facilitate communication in their Official Language of choice for various meetings including but not limited to Parole Board Canada (PBC) hearings, medical or mental health assessments, Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM) sessions, as well as non-specific meetings between offenders and CSC staff or contractors.

Objectives: To provide high quality oral interpretation on an as-requested basis for: offender during meetings that include but are not limited to case management meetings, PBC hearings, reports, and ICPM sessions.

Based on previous utilization, the majority of the work will entail interpretation from English to: French, Spanish, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi, Creole, Haitian, Sudanese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Arabic, Farsi, Tagalog, Italian, Korean, Laotian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Tamil, Pashto, Dari, Thai, Urdu, Cree, Dutch, and Karen. CSC may ask the Contractor to provide services in other languages not expressly listed on an as-requested basis.

Tasks: The Contractor must provide consecutive oral (spoken) interpretation services in a wide variety of languages for meetings between offenders and the CSC and PBC, as well as other meetings.

The Contractor must be aware that CSC may require interpretation of explicit material up to and including Protected Level B.

The Contractor must ensure that the Interpreter performs the duties of their profession impartially, since the role of the interpreter is to facilitate communication, not to provide counsel.

At CSC’s request, the Contractor’s personnel must perform the work off-site from the Contractor’s place of business or in-person at the location or site the meeting or hearing is being held.

The Contractor’s personnel must provide offsite interpretation via teleconference from the Contractor’s place of business, where confidentiality can be guaranteed; such as an enclosed boardroom or office. The Contractor or their personnel must not make any recording of any kind and must not hold or retain any information related to the service is to be held or retained.

Prior to booking onsite services, the CSC site will consider whether the contractor can provide the service by teleconference. Where this is not feasible due to the nature of the meeting or unique needs of the offender, the Contractor’s personnel must provide services in person at the location CSC determines. If applicable, the Contractor may request reimbursement for travel expenses for on-site services.

The CSC site will provide the estimated time period required when requesting interpretation services.

CSC’s business days are Monday to Friday, from 0800 to 1600 hours.

The CSC site requesting interpretation services will provide a minimum of two business days’ notice to the Contractor for cancellations. If CSC provides less than two business days’ notice, CSC will pay the Contractor for the time period the interpreter was reserved plus non-refundable travel costs (e.g.: hotel cancellation fee -- the contractor must provide written proof from hotel). The Contractor cannot request reimbursement of hours over and above the number of hours of simultaneous interpretation the CSC site requested.

The Contractor must acknowledge receipt of request for regular interpretation services within one business day of receipt from the requesting site. Regular interpretation services are defined as interpretation services the contractor must provide within four business days from the date the CSC site submits a request.

The Contractor must acknowledge receipt of request for urgent interpretation services within four business hours of receipt from the requesting site. Urgent interpretation services are defined as interpretation services the Contractor must provide within less than four business days from the date the CSC site submits a request.

For meetings that require onsite presence, the Contractor must be able to provide interpreters locations within the timeframes outlined in regular and urgent requests.

Depending on the urgency of a requirement and at the project authority’s request, the Contractor must reschedule and adjust timeframes from previous CSC regular interpretation service requests and advise the sites of the changes.

The Contractor must ensure that the interpretation is complete, accurate and faithful to the original message with respect to meaning, free of omissions, additions or distortions.

The Contractor must ensure that the simultaneous interpretation includes the meaning conveyed by gestures, body language and tone of voice.

Any conditions for participation of suppliers not specified in solicitation documentation: none.

Estimated quantity of commodity: see solicitation document statement of work and basis of payment.

Duration of Contract and Time Frame for Delivery:

Period of the Contract: The Work is to be performed during the period of August 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025. with the option to renew for 3 additional one-year periods.

File Number: 21801-23-0112

Contracting Authority: Judy Scherbey
Telephone number: (number on the official notice)
Facsimile number: (number on the official notice)
E-mail: (email on the official notice)

NOTE TO BIDDERS: Bidders can obtain the complete statement of work and evaluation criteria by downloading the solicitation document and associated documents from the Canada buys / tender opportunities website.

The Crown reserves the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada (English or French).

After contract award, bidders may request a debriefing on the results of the bid solicitation process. Bidders should make the request to the Contracting Authority within fifteen (15) business days of receipt of the results of the bid solicitation process. The debriefing may be in writing, by telephone or in person.

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