Department of Public Works and Government Services Act (S.C. 1996, c. 16)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

appropriate minister

appropriate minister has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; (ministre compétent)

Crown corporation

Crown corporation has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; (société d’État)

department

department has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; (ministère)

federal immovable

federal immovable has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act; (immeuble fédéral)

federal real property

federal real property has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act; (bien réel fédéral)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Public Works and Government Services; (Version anglaise seulement)

public work

public work means any work or property under the management or control of the Minister. (ouvrage public ou travaux publics)

Establishment of the Department

Marginal note:Department established

• 3 (1) There is hereby established a department of the Government of Canada called the Department of Public Works and Government Services over which the Minister of Public Works and Government Services appointed by commission under the Great Seal shall preside.

• Marginal note:Minister

  (2) The Minister holds office during pleasure and has the management and direction of the Department.

• Marginal note:Receiver General

  (3) The Minister is the Receiver General for Canada.

Marginal note:Deputy head

• 4 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint an officer called the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services to hold office during pleasure and to be the deputy head of the Department.

• Marginal note:Deputy Receiver General

  (2) The Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services is the Deputy Receiver General.

Activities of the Department

Marginal note:Common service agency

5 The Department shall operate as a common service agency for the Government of Canada, and its activities as a common service agency shall be directed mainly toward providing the departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada with services in support of their programs.

Powers, Duties and Functions of the Minister

Marginal note:Minister’s powers, duties and functions

6 The powers, duties and functions of the Minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction, not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, relating to

• (a) the acquisition and provision of articles, supplies, machinery, equipment and other materiel for departments;

• (b) the acquisition and provision of services for departments;

• (c) the planning and organizing of the provision of materiel and services required by departments;

• (d) the acquisition and provision of printing and publishing services for departments;

• (e) the construction, maintenance and repair of public works, federal real property and federal immovables;

• (f) the provision of accommodation and other facilities for departments;

• (g) the planning and coordination of telecommunications services for departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada;

• (h) the provision to departments of advice on or services related to architectural or engineering matters affecting any public work, federal real property or federal immovable; and

• (i) the provision to departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada of translation and related services.

Marginal note:Exercise of powers, etc.

• 7 (1) In exercising the powers or performing the duties or functions assigned to the Minister under this or any other Act of Parliament, the Minister shall

  • (a) investigate and develop services for increasing the efficiency and economy of the federal public administration and for enhancing integrity and efficiency in the contracting process;

  • (b) acquire materiel and services in accordance with any applicable regulations relating to government contracts;

  • (c) plan and organize the provision of materiel and related services to departments including the preparation of specifications and standards, the cataloguing of materiel, the determination of aggregate requirements for materiel, the assuring of quality of materiel, and the maintenance, distribution, storage and disposal of materiel and other activities associated with the management of materiel; and

  • (d) provide such other services as the Governor in Council may direct.

• Marginal note:Use of wood

  (1.1) In developing requirements with respect to the construction, maintenance and repair of public works, federal real property and federal immovables, the Minister shall consider any potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and any other environmental benefits and may allow the use of wood or any other thing — including a material, product or sustainable resource — that achieves such benefits.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(c), the Minister’s power to manage materiel, as distinct from its acquisition, does not extend to the management, in an exclusively military supply system, of materiel essential for the conduct of military missions.

Marginal note:Delegation

• 8 (1) The Minister may delegate any of the Minister’s powers, duties or functions under this Act to an appropriate minister for any period and under any terms and conditions that the Minister considers suitable.

• Marginal note:Delegation

  (2) The Minister may, with respect to a department over which the Minister does not preside but for which the Minister is the appropriate minister, delegate any of the Minister’s powers, duties or functions under this Act, for any period and under any terms and conditions that the Minister considers suitable, to the chief executive of that department.

• Marginal note:Subdelegation

  (3) The appropriate minister for a department may, subject to and in accordance with the delegation under subsection (1), subdelegate to the chief executive of that department, for any period and under any terms and conditions that the appropriate minister considers suitable, any of the powers, duties or functions that were delegated to the appropriate minister under that subsection.

• Marginal note:Subdelegation

  (4) The chief executive of a department may, subject to and in accordance with the delegation under subsection (2) or the subdelegation under subsection (3), subdelegate to any person under his or her jurisdiction, for any period and under any terms and conditions that the chief executive considers suitable, any of the powers, duties or functions that were delegated or subdelegated to him or her under that subsection.

• Definition of chief executive

  (5) In this section, chief executive

  • (a) with respect to a department named in Part I of Schedule VI to the Financial Administration Act, means its deputy minister;

  • (b) with respect to a department named in Part II or III of that Schedule, means the person occupying the position set out opposite that name; and

  • (c) with respect to a department that is not named in that Schedule, means the chief executive officer, deputy head or the person who occupies any other similar position, however called, in that department.

Marginal note:Other authorities

9 The Minister shall exercise the powers in relation to the acquisition and provision of materiel for the use of any department that are conferred on any minister or other authority under any Act of Parliament, except to the extent that those powers have been delegated by the Minister.

Marginal note:Exception

9.1 Section 9 does not apply to

• (a) a department within the meaning of paragraph (c) of the definition department in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; or

• (b) the department that is established under section 4 of the Shared Services Canada Act.

Marginal note:Exemption

9.2 The Minister may, by order, exempt the following from the application of section 9:

• (a) a department that is not named in Schedule VI to the Financial Administration Act; and

• (b) a department over which the Minister does not preside but for which the Minister is the appropriate minister.

Marginal note:Federal real property and federal immovables

• 10 (1) The Minister has the administration of all federal real property and federal immovables not situated in Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut except those under the administration of any other minister, board or agency of the Government of Canada or any corporation.

• Marginal note:Other properties

  (2) The Minister may incur expenditures or perform, or have performed, services or work in relation to

  • (a) any federal real property or federal immovable;

  • (b) any work or other property belonging to Her Majesty in right of Canada; and

  • (c) any real or immovable property, any work or any other property not belonging to Her Majesty in right of Canada, with the consent of its owner.

• Marginal note:Seized Property Management Act

  (3) Nothing in paragraph (2)(c) affects the operation of the Seized Property Management Act.

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions as Receiver General

11 In the Minister’s capacity as Receiver General, the Minister shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties and functions assigned to the Receiver General by law.

Marginal note:Disbursement of pay

12 The Minister shall provide such administrative and other services required for the disbursement of pay to persons employed in or by any department, and to persons employed in or by other portions of the federal public administration, as the Governor in Council may direct.

Marginal note:Employee benefits

13 The Minister shall provide such administrative and other services in relation to employee benefit plans and superannuation or pension plans as the Governor in Council may direct.

Marginal note:Production, processing and distribution of films, etc.

• 14 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister may provide departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada with production, processing and distribution services for film, within the meaning of the National Film Act, videos and any other cinematographic works that the Governor in Council may designate.

• Marginal note:Production, processing and distribution of films, etc.

  (2) Except with the approval of the Governor in Council, no department shall initiate the production or processing of a motion picture film without the authority of the Minister, and the production and processing, by or for departments, of all motion picture films shall be undertaken by the Minister unless the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest that it be otherwise undertaken and authorizes it to be so undertaken.

Marginal note:Administrative and other services

15 The Minister may, on request of a department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, provide it with

• (a) management consulting services;

• (b) information management and information technology systems and services;

• (c) accounting services;

• (d) auditing services;

• (e) financial services;

• (f) services and advice in relation to the acquisition, management or disposition of real or immovable property;

• (g) architectural and engineering services, including services in respect of the adoption and application of related codes, standards, procedures, guidelines and technologies; and

• (h) services of any other kind that are within the ambit of the Minister’s powers, duties and functions.

Marginal note:Services to governments and other bodies

16 If the Minister is authorized to do a thing under this or any other Act of Parliament for or on behalf of any department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, the Minister may do that thing for or on behalf of

• (a) any department, board or agency of the Government of Canada or Crown corporation, or

• (b) with the Governor in Council’s approval — given on a general or a specific basis — any government, body or person in Canada or elsewhere.

Marginal note:Fees and charges in respect of products, services, etc.

17 The Minister may, subject to any regulations that the Treasury Board may make for the purposes of this section, charge for services provided by the Department pursuant to this Act or any other Act in force at the time this section comes into force.

Marginal note:Use of electronic and other media

• 18 (1) The Minister may use any electronic or other means to create, collect, store, transfer, receive or otherwise handle documents or information.

• Marginal note:Standards

  (2) The Minister may fix the terms and conditions, formats and other requirements for the use of any electronic or other means that must be met by persons who use that means in their dealings with the Minister.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The Minister may, by regulation, prescribe the electronic or other means by which a requirement referred to in subsection (2) shall be published.

Queen’s Printer

Marginal note:Queen’s Printer

• 19 (1) The Minister may, by order, appoint an officer of the Department to be the Queen’s Printer for Canada.

• Marginal note:Queen’s Printer

  (2) The Queen’s Printer shall, under the supervision of the Minister, exercise the printing and publishing functions for the Government of Canada that are assigned to the Queen’s Printer by law or by the Minister.

Contracts

Marginal note:Contracts

20 Subject to any regulations that the Governor in Council or the Treasury Board may make for the purposes of this section, the Minister may, on behalf of the Government of Canada, enter into contracts for the performance of any matter or thing that falls within the ambit of the Minister’s powers, duties or functions.

Marginal note:Terms and conditions

• 21 (1) The Minister may fix terms and conditions of contracts, and instructions and terms and conditions with respect to other documents relating to contracts and their formation.

• Marginal note:Designation

  (2) The terms and conditions and instructions may be identified by number or other designation and may be incorporated in a contract or other document by reference to their number or other designation.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (3) The Minister may, by regulation, prescribe the electronic or other means by which a term, condition or instruction, including its identification number or other designation, shall be published.

Marginal note:Construction of terms and conditions

22 Subject to its express terms and conditions, a contract, or any document relating to the contract or its formation, entered into by the Minister that provides that instructions or terms and conditions identified by number or other designation are applicable to or form part of the contract or other document shall be read and construed as if the instructions or terms and conditions to which the reference is made were expressly set out in the contract or other document.

Procurement Ombudsman

Marginal note:Appointment

• 22.1 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint a Procurement Ombudsman for a term of not more than five years.

• Marginal note:Remuneration and expenses

  (2) The Procurement Ombudsman shall be paid the remuneration and expenses that may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:General duties and functions

  (3) The Procurement Ombudsman shall, in accord­ance with the regulations,

  • (a) review the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services to assess their fairness, openness and transparency and make any appropriate recommendations to the relevant department for the improvement of those practices;

  • (b) review any complaint respecting the compliance with any regulations made under the Financial Administration Act of the award of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department to which the Agreement, as defined in section 2 of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, would apply if the value of the contract were not less than the amount referred to in Article 504 of that Agreement.

  • (c) review any complaint respecting the administration of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department; and

  • (d) ensure that an alternative dispute resolution process is provided, on request of each party to such a contract.

• Marginal note:Other duties and functions

  (4) The Procurement Ombudsman shall also perform any other duty or function respecting the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services that may be assigned to the Procurement Ombudsman by order of the Governor in Council or the Minister.

Marginal note:Person who may complain

• 22.2 (1) A person may only file a complaint referred to in paragraph 22.1(3)(b) or (c) if that person is a Canadian supplier within the meaning of article 521 of the agreement referred to in paragraph 22.1(3)(b) and meets any requirements prescribed by the regulations.

• Marginal note:Timing of complaint

  (2) The complaint may only be filed after the award of the contract to which the complaint relates.

• Marginal note:Findings and recommendations

  (3) The Procurement Ombudsman shall, within the period after the complaint is filed that may be established by the regulations, provide the complainant, the relevant minister and the Minister with the Procurement Ombudsman’s fin­dings and any recommendations.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (4) The Procurement Ombudsman may not recommend the cancellation of the contract to which the complaint relates.

Marginal note:Annual Report

• 22.3 (1) The Procurement Ombudsman shall, within four months after the end of each fiscal year, deliver a report respecting the activities of the Procurement Ombudsman in that year to the Minister.

• Marginal note:Annual report to be laid

  (2) The Minister shall cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives the report.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 23 (1) The Governor in Council may make any regulations that the Governor in Council deems necessary for the management, maintenance, proper use and protection of federal real property and federal immovables under the administration of the Minister and of public works and for the ascertaining and collection of tolls, dues and revenues with respect to them.

• Marginal note:Fines and enforcement

  (2) The Governor in Council may, by the regulations mentioned in subsection (1),

  • (a) impose such fines, in an amount not exceeding the amount referred to in subsection 787(1) of the Criminal Code, for any contravention of a regulation as the Governor in Council deems necessary for ensuring its observance and the payment of tolls and dues;

  • (b) provide for the non-passing or detention and seizure at the risk of the owner of any thing

    • (i) on which tolls or dues have accrued and have not been paid,

    • (ii) in respect of which a regulation has otherwise been contravened or any damage done to a public work or to any federal real property or federal immovable and not paid for, or

    • (iii) for or on account of which a fine remains unpaid; and

  • (c) provide for the sale of any thing detained or seized under a regulation pursuant to paragraph (b) if the tolls, dues, damages or fines are not paid by the time fixed for such payment, and for the payment of the amounts due out of the proceeds of the sale.

• Marginal note:Surplus proceeds

  (3) The surplus proceeds, if any, of a sale referred to in paragraph (2)(c) shall be returned to the owner or the owner’s agent.

• Marginal note:Crown rights not impaired

  (4) No regulation made under subsection (1) impairs the right of the Crown to recover in the ordinary course of law unpaid tolls, dues, damages or fines.

Marginal note:Regulations

23.1 The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

• (a) the performing of the duties and functions of the Procurement Ombudsman referred to in subsection 22.1(3), including the departments in respect of which those duties and functions shall not be performed;

• (b) the filing of complaints referred to in paragraphs 22.1(3)(b) and (c), including any conditions that must be met before a complaint may be filed and the manner in which it must be filed; and

• (c) the types of recommendations that the Procurement Ombudsman may make in response to the complaints and the time within which they must be made.

Beds of Navigable Waters

Marginal note:Power to dredge beds of navigable waters

24 Whenever the Governor in Council, or the minister charged with any work for the improvement of navigation, directs any work to be performed in any navigable water for the improvement of navigation, the officers or servants of Her Majesty or the contractors for the work, under the direction of the Governor in Council or of that minister, may

• (a) enter on, dig up, dredge and remove any part of the bed of that navigable water; or

• (b) build or erect any works on it that are directed or authorized by the Governor in Council or by that minister for the improvement of the navigation.

Evidence

Marginal note:Copies

25 A copy of any map, plan or other document in the custody of the Department, certified by a person designated by the Minister to be a true copy, shall be held to be authentic, and is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, of the same legal effect as the original.

Transitional Provisions

Marginal note:Positions

• 26 (1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the status of an employee who, immediately before the coming into force of this subsection, occupied a position in

  • (a) the Department of Supply and Services,

  • (b) the Department of Public Works,

  • (c) the portion of the public service known as the Government Telecommunications Agency in the Department of Communications, referred to in clause (a)(i)(A) of Order in Council P.C. 1993-1484 of June 25, 1993 registered as SI/93-138, or

  • (d) the portion of the public service known as the Translation Bureau, consisting of the portions of the Office of the Assistant Under-Secretary of State (Official Languages — Translation) and the Office of the Assistant Under-Secretary of State (Social Development and Regional Operations) in the Department of the Secretary of State of Canada relating to translation and related services referred to in clause (a)(i)(B) of Order in Council P.C. 1993-1484 of June 25, 1993 registered as SI/93-138

  except that the employee shall, on the coming into force of this subsection, occupy that position in the Department of Public Works and Government Services under the authority of the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services.

• Marginal note:Definition of employee

  (2) In this section, employee has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Transfer of appropriations

27 Any amount appropriated, for the fiscal year in which this section comes into force, by an appropriation Act based on the Estimates for that year for defraying the charges and expenses of the public service of Canada within the Department of Public Works or the Department of Supply and Services and that, on the day on which this section comes into force, is unexpended is deemed, on that day, to be an amount appropriated for defraying the charges and expenses of the Department of Public Works and Government Services.

Marginal note:Transfer of powers, duties and functions

28 Wherever under any Act, order, rule or regulation, or any contract, lease, licence or other document, any power, duty or function is vested in or exercisable by

• (a) the Minister of Public Works or the Minister of Supply and Services,

• (b) the Deputy Minister of Public Works or the Deputy Minister of Supply and Services, or

• (c) any officer of the Department of Public Works or the Department of Supply and Services,

the power, duty or function is vested in and shall be exercised by

• (d) the Minister of Public Works and Government Services,

• (e) the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services, or

• (f) the appropriate officer of the Department of Public Works and Government Services,

as the case may be, unless the Governor in Council by order designates another minister, deputy minister or officer of the public service of Canada to exercise that power, duty or function.

Related Amendments

29 to 59 [Amendments]

References

• 60 (1) [Amendments]

• Marginal note:References to Minister of Public Works and Minister of Supply and Services

  (2) Every reference to the Minister of Public Works or the Minister of Supply and Services in any other Act of Parliament or in any order, regulation or other instrument made under an Act of Parliament shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be read as a reference to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services.

• 61 (1) [Amendments]

• Marginal note:References to Department of Public Works and Department of Supply and Services

  (2) Every reference to the Department of Public Works or the Department of Supply and Services in any other Act of Parliament or in any order, regulation or other instrument made under an Act of Parliament shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be read as a reference to the Department of Public Works and Government Services.

Conditional Amendment

62 [Amendments]

Repeals

63 to 66 [Repeals]

Coming into Force

Marginal note:Coming into force

Footnote ^*67 This Act or any of its provisions or any provision of an Act of Parliament enacted by this Act comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.

• Return to footnote ^*[Note: Act, except sections 32, 54 and 55, in force July 12, 1996, see SI/96-67; sections 54 and 55 in force October 8, 1996, see SI/96-91; section 32 repealed before coming into force, see 2008, c. 20, s. 3.]