Supporting Documentation - Number of alternative dispute resolution processes that result in settlement agreements agreed to by both parties

The Office of the Procurement Ombud (OPO) receives complaints related to procurement activity with the Government of Canada. The information in this dataset records how often these complaints can be resolved via an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process.

These are the possible results of the ADR process (dataset column Dispute-Status_Statut-de-différend-eng):

• ADR declined by Department: The department involved in the dispute declined participation in an ADR process offered by the OPO. These records are therefore excluded from the related DRR calculation.
• ADR declined by Supplier: The department involved in the dispute originally agreed to participation in an ADR process offered by the OPO; however, they later withdrew from the process. These records are therefore excluded from the related DRR calculation.
• ADR resolved formally: The complaint followed an ADR process offered by the OPO, and a successful resolution was reached via a formal settlement agreement signed by both/all parties.
• ADR resolved informally: The complaint followed an ADR process offered by the OPO, and a successful resolution was reached via an in formal settlement agreement signed by both/all parties.
• ADR was not successful: The complaint followed an ADR process offered by the OPO; however, the process did not result in a settlement agreement that was signed by both/all parties.
• Complaint did not qualify for ADR process: The complaint did not fully meet the criteria required to qualify for an ADR process offered by the OPO. These records are therefore excluded from the related DRR calculation.
• Department withdrew from ADR process: The department involved in the dispute originally agreed to participation in an ADR process offered by the OPO; however, they later withdrew from the process. These records are therefore excluded from the related DRR calculation.
• Supplier withdrew from ADR process: The supplier involved in the dispute originally agreed to participation in an ADR process offered by the OPO; however, they later withdrew from the process. These records are therefore excluded from the related DRR calculation.

NOTE: Only records with a Dispute-Status_Statut-de-différend-eng of one of the following three values are included in the calculations:

• ADR resolved formally
• ADR resolved informally
• ADR did not result in a signed settlement

All records with other values in the Dispute-Status_Statut-de-différend-eng field are not applicable for the calculation of this indicator, as either the complaint was not suitable for the use of an ADR process, either the department or supplier involved in the complaint did not wish to follow an ADR process, or either party elected to withdraw from the ADR process before it was completed.

To calculate the DRR indicator “Percentage of alternative dispute resolution processes that result in settlement agreements agreed to by both parties”:

1. Sum the values given in the Number-of-Disputes_Nombre-de-différends column for records with a Dispute-Status_Statut-de-différend-eng of “ADR resolved formally” and “ADR resolved informally” and with the appropriate fiscal year specified in the Fiscal-Year-Année-Fiscale column. This is the total number of successful ADR processes for that fiscal year.
2. Divide this total by the sum of the Number-of-Disputes_Nombre-de-différends for all records with a Dispute-Status_Statut-de-différend-eng of “ADR resolved formally” and “ADR resolved informally” and “ADR did not result in a signed settlement” and with the appropriate fiscal year specified in the Fiscal-Year-Année-Fiscale column.
3. Multiply the resulting decimal value by 100 to turn it into a percentage.

Related Links

• Open Government Portal
• The Office of the Procurement Ombud
• Departmental Results Report
• Infographic for Public Services and Procurement Canada