District of Squamish

Request for Proposal

Local Open-Level Data Program

Squamish, BC

May 30, 2018

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

Local Open-Level Data Program

A. INTRODUCTION The District of Squamish is seeking proposals from experienced and qualified consultants for the purpose of developing an evergreen, local, open data framework for the collection of primary and secondary data, analysis and insights. Proponents shall base their proposal on furnishing everything, including all labour, materials, tools, equipment and all necessary supplies and incidentals required to fulfill the scope of work. The proponent, in their proposal, must state any deviation from these requirements. Proposals are due by 2:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time on 21, June, 2018. B. BACKGROUND Located at the northern tip of a glacially etched fjord on the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by a spectacular mountain backdrop and nestled within a temperate rainforest, Squamish is recognized worldwide for its culture, recreation and incredible mountain lifestyle. Today Squamish is on the forefront of considerable change and is well positioned to share in BC’s leading economic and job growth for Canada. Squamish is now leveraging its enviable geographic and recreational assets and quality of life amenities to help diversify the local economy. It has experienced employment growth in several emerging sectors, including: hospitality and tourism; knowledge and education; alternative and renewable energy technology; high tech start-ups; film production; and light manufacturing. The community is one of the fastest-growing in Canada, and by 2036, the population is projected to nearly double from just under 20,000 to 36,000. A primary mandate of the District Economic Development department is to support the wellbeing of the local business community with business intelligence, including research and data insights. Presently the District collects business data through its permitting and licensing requirements as well by administering surveys to local residents and business owners. Additionally, the District purchases or collects data, where possible, from secondary sources including Statistics Canada, internet scraping services, and partner organizations where permitted.

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Squamish businesses and local economic development partners have identified the need for access to a system of timely and relevant local data and insights, with greater frequency to support planning, program development and decision making. In the fall of 2017, the District with its partners (Tourism Squamish and the Squamish Chamber of Commerce) were the recipients of funding through the B.C. Rural Dividend to execute an Open Local-Level Data Program. Partners have now established a draft Community Economic Dashboard and reviewed potential data collection sources to inform data collection and analysis. C. SCOPE OF WORK Objectives To develop a framework and data design for ongoing open local-level economic-related data

collection methodology with guidance from the District and its partners. Following the

successful completion of this phase, there will be an opportunity to tender for the subsequent

phase, involving data collection and web-based data visualization.

Desired outcomes:

- Measure local economic health (e.g. local GDP, Jobs, Revenue, Exports, Tax Generated)

- Measure economic impact associated with local sectors (e.g. Direct, Indirect and Induced

Impact, Jobs, Wages, Revenue, Exports, Tax Generated, input costs)

- Evaluate conditions that impact economic health (i.e. affordability, transportation, access

to talent, workforce housing, employment space demand, etc.)

Deliverables The District anticipates the following project deliverables:

Data Framework: Establishing variables, sources, collection methods, collection frequency and comparability for a selection of 25 leading indicators, and 36 supporting indicators, as described in Appendix A.

Specifications for Secondary Data: Defining a set of specifications for any secondary data sources, including source, specific variables, (hourly versus weekly variable for wage, etc.) time period, etc., to support the District in developing standard data specifications for reliably maintaining and updating the data in future years.

Primary Research Plan: To define the approach for any primary data collection,

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including necessary screening criteria, sampling, quotas, weighting, detailed methodology and primary collection instruments (i.e. online survey, pulse surveys, etc.)

Research Instruments: For any primary research methods specified in the data framework, the creation of any research instruments such as questionnaires, discussion guides, etc.

Ownership The District of Squamish and partners will retain use of all methodology, standards and research tools/instruments developed. Any approach must be designed such that the data can be collected independently, with any provider the District and partners choose in subsequent phases.

Data Collection Design Considerations The following considerations should be considered as part of the data framework development:

All data designs should conform to Canadian standards for research ethics.

Data collection methods and frequency should strive to balance the value of timely updates against the constraints of limited budget, and limited staff time to collect. In particular, the framework should consider a methodology that can be maintained, and funded, annually, with no planned increases to staff time or budget.

To reduce administration and human error for future data collection, the framework should consider sources that can provide evergreen, and automated data updates when possible. In cases when evergreen data is not available, quarterly updates are the preferred data refresh cadence. For sources that rely on the Statistics Canada Census, interim data collection sources should be suggested to provide interim data in between Census years.

When relevant, data should seek to incorporate a geographic aspect, such as a property, coordinate, or neighbourhood, for use in the District’s GIS tools and resources.

Open Data Guidelines and Standards While the data collection, visualization, and display is beyond scope for this RFP, the

methodology design should consider the data’s eventual use as part of an open data portal. The

data produced through this project may be used in the District of Squamish Open Data Portal,

at data.squamish.ca. The following guidelines will support the ability to use the framework and

its future outputs within the Open Data portal:

To conform with the Open Data portal, the eventual data must:

o Be stored in open, non-proprietary formats, such as CSV, XML, and/or JSON files.

o Follow the terms of Version 2 of Open Government Licence- Squamish.

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o Include metadata describing important information about the data set, such as

title, license, publication body, update frequency, etc., with potential for custom

metadata fields.

o Follow web service standards to transfer data via the web, or be accessed

remotely, for data stored on a web server (e.g. WMS, WFS).

o External links for datasets must be stored on separate, publicly accessible

servers.

o For convenience of specialized users, may also provide data in proprietary

formats (e.g. Excel, KML, shape files).

Project Management Overall project management for the Local Open Data Program will reside with the District’s Economic Development department, with the consultant in a supporting role. The consultant will be responsible for the development of the data framework and development and execution of the research plan in consultation with the District’s Project Manager, District of Squamish GIS Manager, and the Open Data Working Group. For primary research, the consultant will lead the collection of data and be responsible for all aspects of survey design, sampling, collection, data analysis, and reporting. For secondary data, the consultant will work with the District to determine the most cost effective, efficient and effective method of collecting or purchasing data. The consultant will be responsible for the analysis and reporting of secondary data. The project support role will include but not necessarily be limited to the following: - Leading regular project meetings between District project lead and consultant with respect

to deliverables. Preparation of meeting agendas/minutes. - Participating in select Squamish Open Data Working Group meetings to present plans or

findings as part of deliverables. D. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Work Plan The proposal is to include a detailed methodology for the proposed work plan, including key deliverables, and milestones. Personnel and Related Experience

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The proposal is to include a detailed description of the key individuals that will be assigned to this project, and in particular, the specific roles and responsibilities assigned to each member of the project team. The District is looking for qualified individuals that have extensive experience in the areas related to this RFP, and it is essential for the proposal to describe the Project Team’s qualifications. Please note, to encourage a range of skills and expertise, the project team may be formed through partnerships between firms. If the project team is formed through partnership, please indicate the relationship in the proposal. Project Background A brief, no more than one (1) page outline of the Proponent’s understanding of the issues and the background materials. References Proposals should also include a reference list of three (3) past clients for similar or related projects that involved Project Team members. Estimate of Costs The District is constrained by a limited budget; therefore proponents are encouraged to present a best value for cost when submitting all pricing requests, while taking into consideration all of the requirements in this RFP and as demonstrated through their response. When evaluating proposed pricing, the District may consider the total cost of ownership (TCO) associated with the product or service over its lifetime including, but not limited to, acquisition cost, staffing resources, training, installation, support, maintenance, transportation and logistics, operating costs, and disposal costs. This may also include transition, migration or integration costs which the District would be expected to pay. There shall be no hidden costs which the District discovers at the end of the term. The District does not make a commitment or guarantee of any dollar value or volume of business for any proponent. All pricing should be quoted in Canadian Dollars (CAD), with applicable taxes and expenses shown on a separate line item. Project Schedule Ideally, the deliverables would be completed by August 26, 2018. The District wishes to adopt the tools and framework and begin a tender process for the next phase, data collection and data visualization, in September 2018. Inquiries All questions must be submitted by no later than 4:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, 14, June,

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2018. Closing Date and Time The closing time and date for submission of proposals is: 2:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time on 21 June, 2018. An electronic copy of the proposal may be submitted to economicdevelopment@squamish.ca. District of Squamish 37955 2nd Avenue Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 Attn: Alicia Woodside Economic Development Specialist E. EVALUATION AND AWARD This is an RFP and not a tender call, the lowest or any response will not automatically be awarded an agreement. The proposal submissions will be reviewed by an assigned team of District and partner organization employees. Award shall be made on the submission that in the District’s sole discretion gives the greatest value based on quality, capability, methodology, service, and price. The District reserves the unfettered right to:

Refuse award of a contract to a proponent the District judges to be fully or over committed on other projects;

Refuse award of a contract to a proponent where, in the District’s sole opinion, the proposal does not represent fair value;

Refuse award of a contract to a proponent where, in the District’s sole opinion, the proposal price is considered too low to properly perform the contract; and

In the case of a sole proposal being received, either:

Cancel the RFP, return the proposal to the proponent, and re-solicit proposals for a better response, with or without any change being made to the RFP document; or

Open the proposal without reference to the proponent, and if such proposal does not merit contract award under the terms and conditions of this RFP, cancel the RFP and re-solicit proposals for a better response, with or without any change being made to the RFP document.

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F. DISTRICT PROJECT MANAGER

The District’s main contact personnel for the work will be Alicia Woodside, Economic

Development Specialist, District of Squamish.

604-815-4963

economicdevelopment@squamish.ca

G. CONSULTING SERVICES AGREEMENT The successful proponent will enter into the standard consulting services agreement used by the District of Squamish.

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Appendix A

Squamish Community Economic Dashboard (Draft) The following draft framework of leading and supporting indicators would act as a starting point to guide the consultant’s framework design, development and execution. For each indicator, the geography of interest is the Squamish CA. Leading Indicators

People: o Local workforce (ratio of those working within CSD to total workforce including

commuters), o Workforce satisfaction rating, o Educated workforce (investment value in employee training and education), o Household income per capita, (average household income / population).

Business: o GDP per capita (real GDP at basic prices / population), o GDP per capita change (real GDP at basic prices / population change over set

time), o Key Sector Growth (firm concentration in priority sectors), o Business Climate (survey of CEO/business owners).

Place: o Affordability (average housing + transportation + housing costs / average

household income), o Input costs (operational cost of doing business locally), o Employment Space (assessment if supply/demand gap), o Ease of business (index of policy, transportation, access to employees, etc.), o Business Tax Rate (target tax rate), o Reputation (brand strength).

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Supporting Indicators

People: o Annual Squamish population, o Employment Rate (percentage of employed workforce), o Unemployment Rate (percentage of unemployed workforce), o New Firms (new business starts), o Business Exits (business closures / relocators), o Overall local Workforce Wages (average and median), o Local Wages by sector (average and median), o Job Vacancies (average time to fill), o Education Attainment (post-secondary attainment), o Stability Index, o Purchasing Power Parity, o Work Activity (ratio of part-time seasonal versus full-time employment), o Size of Local “Experienced Population Workforce” total and by sector, o Size of “Employed Population Workforce” total and by sector, o Size of local workforce (working within CSD) total and by sector, o Growth of the local workforce (working within CSD), o Growth of the Employed Population Workforce by sector (change over set period

of time), o Household net adjusted disposable income (household income after taxes and

transfers, money available for spending on goods and services), o Digital skills (human capital / digital skills).

Business: o Sector Composition (number of firms within all sectors and priority sectors), o Sector Composition Change (growth in number of firms within all sectors over a

set time period), o FDI and Venture Capital (total investment value), o Exports (total exports), o Retail Sales (measurement of disposable income value), o Building Permits Number (number of building permits), o Building Permits Value (value of building permits),

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Place: o Digital Connectivity (deployment of broadband infrastructure and quality), o Interaction of Digital Technology by businesses, o Average Employment Space rent rates (average office/retail/industrial lease

rates), o Employment Space Demand (vacancy rates, by office/retail/industrial), o Housing Costs (benchmark housing price), o Residential rent (average 2-bedroom rent), o Residential vacancy (vacancy rate), o Childcare access (number of childcare spaces / total children 0-14), o Employee Transportation Capacity Utilization Rate, o Employee Transportation Infrastructure Growth Rate, o Employee Transportation travel time (average time in minutes), o Commercial Transportation Share of GDP, o Commercial Transportation Capacity Utilization Rate

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