Vanguard Magazine

K KNOWLEDGE www.vanguardcanada.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 41 most is your value proposition. Under- standing what the Prime Contractor does in terms of its lines of business and what it is looking for, be it cost reduction, qual- ity improvements, or innovation is critical. We have heard from Primes that potential suppliers have shown up to the table not even having done basic research to under- stand who does what and where within the organization. It is one thing to have a great pitch, but it is even better to be pitching to the right team. You'll need to have compelling answers to what your company has to offer that sets it apart from the competition. Is it a niche prod- uct or service, new processes or competi- tive pricing? Remember that the lowest price doesn't always win. Some winning bids will be based on "best value" with the exact criteria as set out in the Request for Proposal (RFP) documentation. Security clearances for defence contractors Public Works and Government Services Canada's (PWGSC) Industrial Security Program (ISP) is responsible for assisting Canadian companies that want to work on Government of Canada or foreign gov- ernment contracts, including NATO. It handles the security screening that con- tractors require before employees can have access to Protected and Classified information or assets. There are different levels of security clearances that companies may need to obtain. The lowest level clearance re- quired to enable you to bid on a defence contract is "Reliability Status." The Office of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (OSME) at PWGSC can assist you in ob- taining your Reliability Status. Most defence contracts have much high- er security requirements. For this reason, it is important that a company understand the requirements prior to bidding on any contract. These levels are Protected A, Protected B, and Protected C for desig- nated or commercially sensitive informa- tion. For information that impacts the na- tional interest, the levels are Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. For work involv- ing NATO, the levels are NATO Restrict- ed, NATO Confidential, NATO Secret, and COSMIC (NATO Top Secret). Your company must obtain a security clearance first, including the Designated Official who is responsible for guiding your company through the clearance pro- cess. Depending on what level of clear- ance your company requires, this process could take up to two years, so plan ahead. Generally, the higher the clearance level, the more time consuming and costly the process. A company clearance is valid for a maximum of four and a half years. Once your company clearance is ob- tained, individual security checks must be completed for those employees whose contributions are pertinent to the defence contract. Each employee who will work on the bid or project must obtain a security clearance, which is valid for 10 years for all levels except Top Secret, which is valid for five years. The clearance for individu- als at a Secret or Top Secret level can take over a year to process if they have spent long periods of time abroad, particularly in countries where Canada does not have intelligence sharing arrangements. Some Prime Contractors will ask for proof of these clearances prior to providing access to your employees onto their premises. Ad- ditional details and the required forms can be found on PWGSC's website at: http:// iss-ssi.pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca/index-eng.html. How to obtain a security clearance Your company must be sponsored by mak- ing a Request for a Private Sector Organi- zation Screening (DSOS). Only one of the following can make that request on behalf of your company, regardless of the level of the security clearance: • Government procurement official, secu- rity officer or project manager involved in a project that you wish to bid on; • Prime contractors already registered with PWGSC's ISP with which your company is an approved subcontractor; • National and Designated Security Au- thorities, on behalf of a foreign govern- ment or company who has a contract with your company. A few key individuals in your organiza- tion could be cleared in tandem with your company clearance. Typically, this would be the President or owner of the company, the senior executive within the organiza- tion with overall responsibility for security and a few other key senior members of the management team. A Document Safeguarding Capability (DSC) is required for companies with a valid Designated Organization Screen- ing (DOS) or Facility Security Clearance (FSC) for when cleared employees need to work on Protected or Classified informa- tion at their facilities. This may result in additional costs for the company. Once your company and employees are cleared, remember the relevant expiry dates and plan ahead for a smoother re- newal. Retain and properly store a photo- copy of relevant forms to expedite renewal as some of the historical information will need to be resubmitted. Canadian Controlled Goods Clearances If you are looking to bid or work on tech- nology that has either military or national security significance, it is likely subject to PWGSC's Controlled Goods Program (CGP). This program regulates access to certain controlled goods through a system of registration and compliance. This re- quires not only your company but also your employees to be cleared as specified by the Canadian Controlled Goods Directorate. Be aware that the company clearance is usually a lengthy process. Depending on information supplied, the completeness of application, your security plan and the Di- rectorate's backlog of application, it could take months to process. More information on the CGP is available at: http://ssi-iss. tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/dmc-cgd/nouvelle- new-eng.html. Industry Canada's Industrial Technology Benefits (ITB) There have been new and exciting policy changes of the ITB program. In the past, the vast majority of Canadian content was identified after contract award. Recently, in defence contracts over 100 million dollars, the Government has moved to include Ca- nadian Content as a part of the bid evalu- ation criteria. This is what is known as the Value Proposition. For SMEs, this means that Prime Contractors will be looking for Canadian Content during the proposal phase and that what you bring to the table could increase the likelihood the Prime Contractor wins. This means that being out there and actively signaling what you bring to the table is critical. In addition, when the Government of

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