IN THE MATTER OF a complaint filed pursuant to subsection 30.11(1) of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act.

BY

GEOFIRMA ENGINEERING LTD.

AGAINST

THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

DECISION

Pursuant to subsection 30.13(1) of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal has decided not to conduct an inquiry into the complaint.

The Department of Natural Resources (NRCan) informed the prospective bidders by way of a question posed during the tender process that the mandatory requirement for prior experience had to be that of the bidding organization. As such, the 10-working-day period to make an objection to the government institution or to file a complaint with the Tribunal regarding the scope of that mandatory requirement began to run when that answer was provided by NRCan. As the complaint was filed well after the expiry of that 10‑working-day period, it is now out of time, because it was not filed within the time limits prescribed by section 6 of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations.

As for the ground of complaint asserting that the winning bidder is non-compliant with statutory licensing requirements of the engineering profession, this pertains to a matter of contract administration and is outside the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. Any applicable remedy for non-compliance with the requirements of the Professional Engineers Act, RSO 1990, c. P.28 is also outside the scope of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.

A more detailed statement of reasons will follow shortly.

The statement of reasons will be issued at a later date.