Canadian government procurement glossary

Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS)

A Public Services and Procurement Canada supply arrangement and standing offer method for procuring federal non-IT professional services, such as business consulting and project management, on a task basis.

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Definition

Task and Solutions Professional Services, abbreviated TSPS, is the federal procurement method Public Services and Procurement Canada uses to buy non-information-technology professional services. TSPS organizes services into categories such as business consulting, change management, project and program management, and human resources support, and pre-qualifies vendors and their proposed resources to deliver work on a task basis. TSPS is the non-IT counterpart to TBIPS, and both run on PSPC's supply-arrangement model for professional services.

How it works in Canadian procurement

Vendors qualify onto the TSPS supply arrangement by responding to refresh solicitations and demonstrating that they and their proposed personnel meet the criteria for the relevant service categories and resource levels. Once qualified, a vendor competes for individual task-based requirements that departments issue against TSPS, with award producing a task authorization that serves as the contract for that engagement. Like TBIPS, TSPS is most relevant to vendors in consulting and professional-services verticals. It is a high-frequency search term among Canadian suppliers trying to understand how to access federal professional-services work, which is why a clear plain-language explainer is valuable.

Common confusions

The main confusion is between TSPS and TBIPS. TSPS is for non-IT professional services; TBIPS is for informatics and IT. A second confusion: qualifying onto TSPS is not the same as winning work. Qualification is the entry ticket, and revenue comes from competing successfully on individual task authorizations. Finally, the service categories and resource levels are specific, so vendors must map their offering to the correct TSPS stream rather than assuming broad eligibility.

Frequently asked questions

What is TSPS used for?

Procuring federal non-IT professional services such as business consulting, change management, and project management on a task basis, through a PSPC supply arrangement.

How is TSPS different from TBIPS?

TSPS covers non-IT professional services. TBIPS covers informatics and IT professional services. Both use the same supply-arrangement and task-authorization model.

Does TSPS qualification guarantee work?

No. Qualification makes a vendor eligible to bid on task requirements. Each awarded task authorization is the actual contract.

Related terms

See Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS) terms in real Canadian government contracts

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