Request for Proposals - Artifical Intelligence and Social Work

Request for Proposals

Organization Background

Founded in 1926, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) is the national professional association for social workers in Canada with a mandate to support the profession and advance issues of social justice on its behalf. The CASW Federation is comprised of 10 provincial and territorial partner organizations and a national office located in Ottawa, ON.

CASW continues to support the evolving needs of social work by developing practice guidelines such as the Code of Ethics. CASW has received several requests for guidance from regulators, educators, and practitioners related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Canadian social work field. Currently, there is no comprehensive framework available to guide the ethical use of AI in social work at a national level. There are also no current regulatory frameworks in Canada.

Overview

In October 2025, the CASW Board of Directors approved investment of $20,000 to develop ethics-based AI and social work guidelines. With these guidelines, social workers will have access to current and relevant information about AI and ethical social work practices in Canada.

Purpose and Requirements

CASW is seeking a qualified company to develop practice-relevant tools, ethics, and professional judgment guidelines for Canadian social workers. As per CASW Governance, there are a minimum of three quotes required

Project Governance

The successful vendor will report to the Senior Advisor, Policy and Public Affairs. A small project advisory group will provide guidance and feedback at key milestones. Engagement with the Board of Directors will also be required before finalizing the products. Bi-weekly progress reports and meetings will be required.

Project Deliverables:

All deliverables should feed into a single, coherent guidance document and related tools for social workers. Deliverables are:

• An analysis of Canadian social work education to determine how AI is being used to train the next generation of social workers
• Detailed guidance related to data privacy, accountability practices, environmental impact, professional competence, practices that center social justice, anti-oppressive principles, equity, and human rights
• Environmental scan of other social work associations (federal, provincial, territorial, international) with position statements on AI and social work as well as any federal guidelines or frameworks relevant to the field of social work
• Literature review to identify the risks, policy, theoretical and practical tensions of AI and social work
• SWOT analysis that consolidates the environmental and literature review findings
• Gap analysis of leading practices identified in the environmental scan and literature review against CASW Code of Ethics
• Communication and engagement plan for the completed guidelines
• Community engagement and dialogue that will inform the guidelines
• A downloadable practitioner-facing guideline document (Word + PDF) that maps the gap analysis, literature review and environmental scan results against CASW Code of Ethics; this document will provide guidance related to ethical social work practice and AI
• A comprehensive report for the Board that includes an executive summary
• Key messages or FAQs for members

Time Frame and Budget

This is a one-year project. Goal launch date for the guidelines is March 2027. Proposals are due by 4:30 p.m. EST February 6, 2026.

The maximum budget for the project is $20,000 (CAD) inclusive of all professional fees, travel, and applicable taxes. Please itemize HST separately. Vendors should provide a firm, allinclusive price and list any optional or recurring fees (i.e. hosting and support) separately.

Vendor qualifications

• Experience completing similar projects involving social work’s ethical, practice and legal drivers.
• Experience with AI and emerging technologies in human services or related fields
• Experience with Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) imperatives
• Experience with social justice and anti-oppressive frameworks
• Ability to engage with community members in both French and English
• Demonstrated experience with Canadian privacy regulations and evidence of appropriate security controls.
• Capacity to meet project timeline and deliverables.
• Demonstrated ability to engage with communities to reach consensus
• Compliance with ethical engagement of community members including privacy laws and CASW Code of Ethics.

How to Submit

Submissions should not exceed 10 pages. Submit as a single PDF (and any additional files in a ZIP if necessary), including:

• Vendor profile and legal information.
• Relevant experience
• Proposed approach
• Project workplan and timeline with milestones and resource allocation
• Detailed pricing
• Proposed contract terms, warranties and exclusions.
• Project team, CVs/resumes, and roles
• Three references for similar project

CASW reserves the right not to accept the lowest or any bid proposal submitted through this process. CASW reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, to waive irregularities, and to cancel or reissue the RFP. CASW is not responsible for any costs incurred by vendors in preparing proposals. There will be no payments made to the consultants for the preparation and submission of proposals in response to this request. Late submission will not be accepted.

All products and intellectual property developed under this project will be the property of CASW.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Criteria

Weighting

Understanding of the project and the proposed approach

30%

Relevant experience and qualifications

25%

Quality and feasibility of workplan and timelines

15%

Community engagement strategy including EDIB

20%

Price and value for money

10%

Please submit all questions by January 12, 2026 and proposals by 4:30 p.m. EST February 6, 2026, to:

Sarah Pennisi

Senior Advisor, Policy and Public Affairs

sarah.pennisi@casw-acts.ca

CASW is committed to employment equity and encourages applications from equity-deserving groups; Black, First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples; people from culturally diverse backgrounds; people of all gender identities and sexual orientations; and persons with disabilities.

If you require accommodation for the RFP process, do not hesitate to contact casw@casw-acts.ca.