This Request for Proposal (RFP) is an invitation by the Government of Saskatchewan (GOS) to prospective Proponents to submit proposals for the provision of an Economic Forecasting Model, as further described in the RFP Particulars (Appendix A).

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) owns and operates a large-scale economic forecasting model (ERNIE) for medium-term economic forecasting, policy simulation and economic impact analysis largely for purposes of the provincial budget.  SaskPower also uses the model for long-term economic forecasts.

ERNIE is an essential tool for MoF and GOS. It is an integral part of the budget and mid-year forecasting process. It provides an economic model with analytical capability to assess the impact of policy changes and changes in external factors such as commodity prices, interest rates and exchange rates.

The objective of this procurement is to secure the use of a model that reflects current economic and statistical concepts, methods, definitions, measures as used in the Provincial Economic Accounts published by Statistics Canada as well as provides updates to underlying datasets on an ongoing basis.