Solicit Bids

Table of Contents

• How do buyers solicit bids?
• Find a supplier using the Supplier Information service
• Trade agreement requirements
• Notices of Proposed Procurement (NPP)
• Advance Contract Award Notices (ACAN)
• Publication of solicitation documents
• For more information

How do buyers solicit bids?

There are two methods for soliciting bids:

• By giving public notice of the requirement, either electronically, meaning advertising the requirement on the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) available through the Tenders minisite; or
• By soliciting bids or proposals directly from suppliers on a source list of registered or qualified suppliers found on (Supplier Information (SI)), or by advertising in trade and professional journals.

Find a supplier

Government buyers, are you surfing the Internet or searching through directories trying to find suppliers for the goods and services you buy?

The Supplier Information (SI) service is a list of more than 110,000 companies who have registered to do business with the federal government. You can search the system by legal or operating name, address, PBN (procurement business number), telephone number or commodities that the company offers.

This service has been created to become the federal government central registration system for companies who want to do business with the government. We ask that you encourage your suppliers to register.

Browse the Supplier Information service.

Trade agreement requirements

Bids that are subject to trade agreements must meet specific advertising conditions:

• All requirements subject to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) must be published on the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) available through the Tenders minisite.
• Departments have authority to buy services valued at up to $2 million if they are advertised competitively on the Tenders minisite.
• All goods requirements subject to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) must be published on the Tenders minisite.
• With certain exceptions, services requirements of $100,000 or more that are subject to AIT must be published on the Tenders minisite.

Notices of Proposed Procurement (NPP)

NPPs are published on the Tenders minisite advising suppliers of an upcoming requirement. The text of a Notice of Proposed Procurement should contain sufficient information to allow a supplier to decide whether to order a bid document.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 4: Section 4.75.15 Notice of Proposed Procurement.

Advance Contract Award Notices (ACAN)

An ACAN is a notice advising suppliers of the government's intention to contract with a preselected supplier without competition. Suppliers wishing to bid on the procurement opportunity may challenge the proposed sole sourcing; if the challenge is successful, the requirement must be tendered.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 3: Section 3.15.5 Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN).

Publication of solicitation documents

• Buyers must publish bid solicitation documents on the Tenders minisite for each publicly advertised competitive solicitation. All solicitation documents must be published at the same time as their corresponding NPPs.
• Suppliers can view and download bid solicitations from the Tenders minisite. Buyers do not send bid solicitation documents directly to suppliers.

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 4: Section 4.75 Issuance of the Solicitation.

For more information

For more information, please see the PWGSC Supply Manual, Chapter 4: Solicitation Process.