CanadaBuys explained: how federal tenders work and how to use the site

CanadaBuys is the Government of Canada’s procurement site, run by Public Services and Procurement Canada. It replaced Buyandsell.gc.ca and is where federal departments and agencies post tender opportunities, amendments, awards and standing offers. It is free to search and free to bid on.

What is on it

Federal opportunities that must be advertised under Canada’s trade agreements, plus many that need not be. A small number of provincial, municipal and international notices are republished there too. Each tender opportunity page carries the solicitation number, the buyer and contact, the closing date and time (in the buyer’s time zone — check it), the commodity codes, the documents and every amendment.

Registering

To submit a bid you need a CanadaBuys account tied to a Procurement Business Number (PBN). Registration is free and takes minutes, though approval can take a day or two. Registering also lets you set up email alerts by commodity code and save searches.

Reading a notice

1. Notice type — RFP, RFQ, RFI, ACAN, RFSO. Each is evaluated differently; see the notice types explained.
2. Mandatory requirements — security clearance, certifications, past experience. Miss one and the bid is set aside unread.
3. Set-asides and preferences — a notice may be limited to Indigenous businesses or carry other conditions.
4. Amendments — the documents change during the question period. Always download the latest set before you submit.
5. Delivery location — a federal notice is often for work in one place; EveryBid tags each with its province.

What CanadaBuys does not cover

Everything provincial and municipal, which is most of Canadian public procurement. Each province posts on its own site, and cities and the MASH sector post across hundreds of others. EveryBid’s province editions gather all of it in one place.

CanadaBuys on EveryBid

EveryBid reads CanadaBuys through the day and lists every open notice on its CanadaBuys page and the federal edition, each with a plain-English summary, a category, a province and a link back to the original. French-only notices get an English summary. The original posting always governs.