Basic Information

Reference Number

0000204643

Issuing Organization

ECO Canada

Owner Organization

ECO Canada

Solicitation Type

RFP - Request for Proposal (Formal)

Solicitation Number

Not applicable

Title

PUBLIC RELATIONS & COMMUNICATIONS - BUILDING ENVIRONMENTAL WORKFORCE CAPACITY

Source ID

PU.OTH.AB.418575.C49068

Agreement Type

Open Bidding (OB)

Details

Location

Canada, All of Canada, All of Canada

Delivery Point

Calgary

Description

PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
The purpose of this RFP is to hire a qualified public relations agency that will drive brand and program visibility to meet the following objectives:

Increase brand credibility as an authority in environmental workforce solutions
Syndicate employment program successes and impact on Canada’s green economy movement
Develop long-lasting content that can be used to generate program participation and environmental leaders in natural resource management, cleantech and sustainability.

This RFP is open to contractors with national experience and proven expertise in media relations, storytelling and video production.

BACKGROUND
Environmental Careers Organizations (ECO) Canada is the steward for the Canadian environmental workforce across all industries. From job creation and wage funding, to training and labour market research, we champion the end-to-end career of an environmental professional. As a strategic partner to academia, Indigenous communities, industry, and practitioners, it is our mandate and job to excel in providing tailored HR solutions for environmental workers – departments that are part of all industry companies today.

For nearly 30 years, we have studied the evolving environmental labour market to identify job trends, HR and professional development solutions that help to address the employment and skill gaps present in regions across Canada. Our mission is to ensure an adequate supply of people with the demonstrated skills and knowledge required to meet the environmental human resource needs of the public and private sectors.

CURRENT LABOUR MARKET CHALLENGES
Our recent research findings indicate that while other markets face long recoveries ahead, forecasts for environmental employment demand are positive with job openings anticipated to approach a quarter million by 2029:

The environmental sector is expected to grow 8%
Close to 30% of the current workforce is poised to retire within the next decade
The combination of new jobs and replacement demand may contribute as many as 233,500 net openings by 2029
These labour market demographics experience barriers to employment: Indigenous youth, women, newcomers to Canada and visible minorities.

This presents an excellent opportunity for young professionals to excel within the environmental sector and for employers to consider as they shift their business operations to be sustainable, green and supportive of the movement to a skills-based economy in Canada.
Two big challenges: 1) new practitioners face numerous barriers that can prevent them from gaining meaningful employment. Lack of essential skills knowledge, demographic factors or career preparedness are major factors in their ability to get hired and gain employment in a meaningful role. 2) employers are expecting talent to take on broader roles and step into senior roles more quickly, that will be left vacant due to retirements.
In addition, the impacts of the pandemic have had a significant impact on women, those in rural areas with limited infrastructure and employment resources, transitioning workers from declining industries. Now, more than ever, meaningful skills and job creation programs are essential to the success of Canada’s workforce.

By onboarding young talent now, employers will be able to nurture and grow their team to meet the future succession planning and business operational challenges these trends will impact.

OUR SOLUTIONS
ECO Canada has several functions that can help address these labour market challenges:

We are a delivery partner of the Federal Government in facilitating job creation for youth with barriers by administering several wage funding programs that incentivize employers to hire new graduates. The two programs most relevant to this RFP:
- Science Horizons Internship Program through Environmental and Climate Change Canada
- Science and Technology Internship Program – Green Jobs, through Natural Resources Canada
Our in-house labour market research team stays up to date on the latest supply, demand and competency requirements necessary to grow a qualified environmental workforce in Canada.
We offer proprietary solutions for individuals, employers and educators that address HR challenges within the environmental sector. This includes:
- EP Designation which is a national professional certification for individuals and businesses, which provides a range of HR and PD resources
- Training Courses on a range of technical and soft skill development topics
- Post-Secondary Accreditation for institutions that are looking to strengthen linkages between education and career success
- BEAHR (Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources) workforce development program for Indigenous communities
- Custom Recruiting and People Management services to support small business owners with HR needs

We are looking for a service provider that can create awareness and buy-in for the above job creation and professional development solutions by sharing stories of success, key labour market challenges that must be addressed, and increase the long-term adoption of meaningful work experience programs that support economic recovery and sustainable job growth.

PROJECT GOALS

Increase audience awareness and understanding of ECO Canada’s programs and services, with emphasis on the delivery of job and skills funding.
Develop a library of participant stories of past wage funding program successes, career journeys and learnings.
Improve engagement with key audience segments including media influencers, government stakeholders, and green employers across industries.

Tactics implemented to achieve project goals must be measurable – traffic, video views, subscribers and program participants will be analyzed to determine campaign effectiveness.

REQUIRED DELIVERABLES
The following deliverables are required for this 9-month project and vendors must articulate an approach to completing these key milestones:

Statement of Work, project workplan and project management process.
On-going media relations campaign, targeting news outlets, influential publications and industry leaders, to promote employment and workforce solutions as well as brand credibility.
Video production and rich media assets that share past participant successes and highlight opportunities for barriered demographics such as Indigenous, women, etc.
Written case studies and interviews that can be syndicated in a range of digital and traditional communication channels.
The design, implementation and launch of one to two major press conference in partnership with the Federal Government.
A nation-wide digital campaign promoting program participation, labour market research and the notion of long-term investment in Canada’s environmental workforce.
Content development support for any relevant labour market studies that support the outcomes of the wage and training funding programs, available in both English and French languages.
Additional creative assets from video production and photo opportunities that can be used to develop current and future marketing collateral.
Media training for staff that may have direct interaction with members of the press or government officials.
Monthly reports and status meetings outlining progress of project and key metrics.

BUDGET
A total budget of $350,000 is available for consulting fees, campaign management, content development, video production and project management. $200,000 is available for media costs and advertising fees. Project start date is August 15, 2021 and all work must be completed and delivered by April 15, 2022, with the entire budget fulfilled by March 31. (Final two weeks will be for project wrap-up and evaluation activities)

Dates

Publication

2021/07/16 11:45:03 AM MDT

Bid Intent

Optional

Bid Intent Deadline

2021/07/19 08:00:00 PM MDT

Question Acceptance Deadline

2021/07/22 12:00:00 PM MDT

Questions are submitted online

Yes

Closing Date

2021/07/29 12:00:00 PM MDT

Contact Information

Claudine Vidallo

media@eco.ca

Buyer Preferences, Guidelines & Requirements

General Requirements

- Samples Required

Bid Submission Process

Bid Submission Type

Electronic Bid Submission

Pricing

In attached document

Bid Documents List

Item Name	Description	Mandatory	Limited to 1 file
Bid Documents	Documents defining the proposal	Yes	No
No entries

Additional Bidding Instructions

Proponents must submit their Proposal in electronic format by July 29, 2020, with the Proponents name, address, website, and signature of project lead(s). Submissions should be submitted to:
media@eco.ca
ECO Canada
Attention Angie Huk, VP of Marketing
Suite 400 – 105-12 Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2G 1A1

Minimum Requirements of a Bidder
The bidder must demonstrate that they:

Have recognized experience in the development and execution of media services.
Have experience working with b2b organizations that target multiple stakeholder groups.
Have superior storytelling and copywriting capabilities.
Have experience working with clients in the human resource/ services industry.
Have the ability to meet the scope /development criteria.
Have proven expertise in digital campaign management and video production.
Ability to work with industry in both official languages.
Experience working in the environmental sector would be an asset.

The Proposal shall include:

An executive summary
A summary of the Proponent’s understanding of the requirements
Information about the qualifications and experience of the proponent organization
A detailed summary of the Proponent’s proposed approach to meeting project goals and activities that will be implemented
List of current and past clients (i.e. within the last three years) in relevant HR/consulting/training or other related fields
References for three different clients for whom the Proponent has provided PR and brand marketing services with measurable results
List of proposed team members (name, title, biography, relevant qualifications, and experience)
An overview of the proposed team structure (i.e. reporting relationships) specific to this account and the role / expectations for each team member
Information about the Proponent Organization’s fees as they relate to this proposal, including a proposed media budget and production plan
A completed and signed Form of Offer

Expectations
At minimum, the contractor will be expected to:

Review the brand story and other relevant organizational materials.
Be familiar with the core solutions including BEAHR, Custom Training, HR
Services, Wage Funding, Research, and the EP Designation
Determine best course of action to complete the work consistent with the project time lines and the expected quality of work.
Consult with and report to the contracting authority throughout the duration of the project.

Any proposal that does not meet the mandatory requirements as listed above will be disqualified and will not be further evaluated.

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