Award Contract

Table of Contents

Types of contract awards

Contract award may take place at any time, after bid closing and completion of the evaluation, and before the bid validity expiry date. The contract document will depend on the type of bid solicitation.

Types of contract documents include:

Government acquisition cards

Government acquisition cards are issued to eligible procurement officers and clerks to permit them to buy goods or services up to a value of $5,000. The least complex method of contracting, acquisition cards are basically credit cards and buying with them is as simple as buying goods in a department store using your own personal credit card. Your manager or supervisor will tell you whether you are eligible to use one.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 3: Section 3.155 Acquisition Cards.

Purchase orders

A purchase order is issued when quotations are requested. Quotations are normally placed by telephone and confirmed in writing.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Section 7.5 Contract Award.

Your Tender/Proposal is Accepted

A Your Tender/Proposal is Accepted document is issued when tenders/proposals are requested and the accepted tender or proposal is received in writing. This type of document is used only when the proposed contract reflects those terms and conditions proposed or agreed to in writing by the selected supplier. The document should make reference to the tender or proposal and any amendments to it.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Section 7.5 Contract Award.

You are Requested

A You are Requested document is issued when proposals are requested and the accepted proposal is received by telephone, or in any circumstances where the proposed contract may reflect a term or condition not agreed to in writing by the selected contractor. This type of document constitutes a counter offer which must be accepted by the selected supplier.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Section 7.5 Contract Award.

Standing Offers

A standing offer is not a form of contract award, but a call-up against a standing offer made by you, becomes a contract.

For a list of forms used for call-ups against a standing offer, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 4: Section 4.10.20.10 Standing Offer Forms.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Section 7.10 Issuance of Supply Arrangements and Standing Offers.

Supply Arrangements

A supply arrangement is a method of supply which allows you to solicit bids from a pool of vendors whose technical capabilities are prescreened and established. A supply arrangement is not a contract and neither party is legally bound as a result of the signing of this document alone. But it establishes a framework to permit quicker processing of legally binding contracts. Supply arrangements include a minimum set of terms and conditions which apply to each contract.

Remember that a legal contract does not exist between you and the supplier until the supply arrangement has been fully completed as an offer by the supplier and accepted by the client.

For the forms that must be used by client departments, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 4: Section 4.10.25.1 Supply Arrangement Procedures.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Section 7.10 Issuance of Supply Arrangements and Standing Offers.

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Notification to unsuccessful bidders

Contracting officers should notify unsuccessful suppliers as soon as possible after contract award and issuance of a standing offer or supply arrangement.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Section 7.35 Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders/Offerors/Suppliers.

Supplier debriefings

In accordance with Treasury Board Contracting Policy and the various trade agreements, every supplier has access to a debriefing from the federal government following the award of a contract resulting from a competitive process. This includes the issuing of supply arrangements and standing offers.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Section 7.40 Debriefings to Unsuccessful Bidders/Offerors/Suppliers.

Disclosure of information

A debriefing should include:

  • the name of the successful supplier;
  • the value of the contract as awarded or the supply arrangement or standing offer as issued;
  • the overall evaluation result of the successful supplier; and
  • an outline of the reasons the supplier was not successful, making reference to the evaluation criteria and selection methodology.
  • where appropriate, very general information on the relative strengths of the successful bid, ensuring that any such statements do not provide any confidential commercial information.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Section 7.40 Debriefings to Unsuccessful Bidders/Offerors/Suppliers.

Complaints

Unsuccessful suppliers must be informed of whatever recourse is available to them. For any given procurement, one or more of the following avenues may be available to a supplier that wishes to make a claim regarding the conduct of the procurement:

Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT)

Whether or not the CITT has jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry regarding any particular procurement will depend on factors such as the government institution conducting the procurement, the estimated value of the procurement, and the nature of the goods, services or construction services being procured.

For more information, please visit the CITT Web site.

Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO)

If the value of the procurement is below the monetary thresholds established under the Agreement on Internal Trade, the OPO may have jurisdiction to conduct a review.

For more information, please visit the OPO Web site.

For more information

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 7: Award of Contracts and Issuance of Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements.

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