Seminar notes: Introduction to federal procurement

Getting started

Procurement Assistance Canada

• Supports smaller and diverse businesses through the federal procurement process
• Engages, assists and informs businesses on how to sell goods and services to the Government of Canada
• Works to reduce barriers to ensure fairness and inclusion in the process
• Looks for opportunities to advance supplier diversity through targeted outreach and advocacy

Opportunities for smaller and diverse businesses

• Government of Canada is one of the largest buyers of goods and services in Canada
• Buys a wide range of goods and services each year, with contract values ranging from hundreds to billions of dollars
• On average, smaller businesses in Canada win the majority of the total value of contracts awarded each year

How much does the government buy

• Government of Canada is one of the largest buyers of goods and services in Canada
• In 2024 to 2025, the Government of Canada awarded $66.9 billion in contracts for goods, services, and construction. Of this total, $55.6 billion was awarded by Public Services and Procurement Canada
• Awards over 500,000 contracts and processes close to 2 million credit card transactions each year

Contracting with the Government of Canada

• Public Services and Procurement Canada is the main procurement arm of the federal government
• It is important that all procurement activities be conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner, and that all suppliers have an equal chance at doing business with us
• Federal laws and regulations as well as Treasury Board of Canada policies guide the Government of Canada's procurement process

Increasing the diversity of bidders

• Initiatives to increase the diversity of bidders and help build a more inclusive economy by boosting the competitiveness and prosperity of Canadian businesses
• Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business: set-aside opportunities for Indigenous businesses, requirements for all government departments and agencies to offer a minimum of 5% of the total value of their contracts to Indigenous businesses
• Better Buying: modernizing procurement with a simpler and more accessible procurement system, advancing socio-economic goals by creating more opportunities for equity-deserving groups
• Three pillars of Better Buying
  • building a modern procurement foundation
  • delivering a simpler, more responsive and more accessible procurement system
  • advancing socio-economic goals, increasing competition and fostering innovation
• Using the Government's purchasing power for the greater good, to help social objectives such as
  • accessibility
  • increased opportunities for businesses run by equity-deserving groups, such as women, visible minorities and persons with disabilities
  • increased opportunities for Indigenous businesses
  • environmentally friendly purchasing
• Green procurement focuses on integrating environmental considerations into the procurement decision-making process, for example by setting specific targets for vehicle emissions, reducing plastic waste and improving energy efficiency in federal buildings
• Procurement Assistance Canada supports these initiatives by working with the procurement community inside government, and by providing support to businesses to help you find, understand and respond to contracting opportunities

Finding opportunities

Low dollar value procurement

• Purchases below $25,000 for goods, $40,000 for services and construction, including all applicable taxes, are considered to be low dollar value procurements
• Unlike larger purchases that are done through the solicitation of bids and quotes from potential suppliers using a tendering process, low dollar value procurements are often direct purchases from vendors
• Low dollar value procurement can present an opportunity to grow your business by developing a business relationship with the Government of Canada through smaller contracts
• Learn more about low dollar value opportunities

Non-competitive procurement

According to Canadian Government Contract Regulations, sole source purchasing can only be undertaken under the following four circumstances:

• pressing emergency
  • delays could be injurious to public interest
  • example: boats needed for an emergency evacuation
• expenditures not exceeding $25,000 in the case of a goods contract and in the case of any other contract to which the regulations apply, $40,000
  • adjusted to $100,000 for architectural, engineering services as well as international development assistance projects
• not in public interest (example: national security)
• one known supplier (examples: copyright, license or patent)

Competitive procurement

• Procurement over $25,000 for goods, $40,000 for services and construction is done through the solicitation of bids and quotes from potential suppliers using a variety of methods
• The most common types are
  • a Request for proposal
  • a Request for standing offer
  • a Request for supply arrangement
• The tender notice will indicate the method of procurement being used and will outline the solicitation documents
• For more information, visit How procurement works

Registering to provide professional services

• Buyers use a variety of purchasing methods, tools, categories and streams to issue service contracts. For more information to help you identify which one(s) may be suitable for your services, visit Professional services.
• For most services, register in Centralized Professional Services System
  • ProServices: A wide range of services including information technology (IT), business and project management, human resources (HR), technical, dispute resolution, health and other services below $100,000
  • Task-Based Informatics Professional Services: Specific IT services with set deliverables
  • Solutions-Based Informatics Professional Services: IT solutions including business transformation, electronic services delivery, business intelligence and network services
  • Task and Solutions Professional Services: Non-IT services including HR, business consulting, change and project management, and learning services
  • Temporary help services, up to 48 weeks in the National Capital Region (NCR). Opportunities outside the NCR are listed separately
  • Professional Audit Support Services: Services to support internal audits, funding compliance and financial accounting
• For construction, architectural and engineering services, visit CanadaBuys to register
• For linguistic services such as translation, interpretation, terminology and word processing, learn more about offering your linguistic services to the Translation Bureau

CanadaBuys: The official source for federal procurement

• CanadaBuys is the official source for Government of Canada tender and award notices
• Visit CanadaBuys to
  • search for public sector tenders and contract history
  • register as a supplier for the federal government
  • complete your business profile
  • access the electronic procurement solution to view and bid on opportunities

Registering as a supplier

• Register in SAP Ariba
  • complete your business profile
  • view and respond to opportunities posted to the electronic procurement solution
• Register in Supplier Registration Information
  • obtain your procurement business number
  • this number is currently required for bids that are not processed through SAP Ariba
• Learn about registering in sourcing tools for professional services, including the Centralized Professional Services System e-Portal
• Learn more about registering as a supplier

Electronic procurement

The Government is moving federal procurement online. You may be able to bid on some tender opportunities through the electronic procurement solution. Learn about electronic procurement.

Learn more about the procurement process

• Download reference sheets
  • Getting started selling to the Government of Canada
  • Preparing to bid on an opportunity
• Register for your next seminar
  • How the government buys what you sell
  • Finding opportunities and registering as a supplier
  • Bidding on opportunities