Canada’s Federal and Provincial Governments purchase everything from ships to paperclips. The majority of these purchases are made through public tenders that are subject to international trade obligations which require that the purchases be made through open tenders with clear evaluation criteria, reasonable time limits, and no bias in favour of any particular supplier. While these governments must ensure equal access to procurement for all qualified suppliers, this does not always work in practice.
Because government is a major customer, access to government contracts can be extremely important to your business’ bottom line. To be successful, a bidder must provide the best product at the most reasonable price. To be able to protect its interests, a business should also have an understanding of its rights and how to use them within the tight timelines for objecting to, or challenging a procurement contract. As a business or supplier that wants to sell to the Government or Government agencies, you owe it to yourself to ensure that your government sales strategy succeeds. Lack of information about the process and applicable timelines can prove to be extremely costly for your business.
Woods, LaFortune LLP understands the government procurement process and the rights and obligations that bind government. We have the expertise needed to help businesses access procurement opportunities and create a winning bid. We help clients understand the terms and conditions in tender documents and we also determine whether clients are receiving the fair and equal treatment to which they are entitled. Where there is doubt as to whether or not fair and equal treatment has been provided, we can take steps to challenge unfair procurements.
Our government procurement practice includes:
- Advice on the procurement obligation in the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, the NAFTA, the Agreement on Internal Trade and the interprovincial trade agreements
- Review of tender documents issued by Government bodies including Requests for Procurement and Requests for Standing Offers
- Preparing and filing bid challenge complaints with administrative bodies at the Federal and Provincial levels
- Seeking court review of government procurement
If government procurement is important to your business, you should be aware of your rights and the important deadlines that apply to protect your interests. You should also have a proper strategy in place for responding to bids successfully. Woods, LaFortune LLP can help you build a successful government sales strategy to optimize bid success. If you have any questions concerning any aspect of government procurement, please contact Gordon LaFortune at (613) 424-3921 or by e-mail at lafortune@wl-tradelaw.com for a no fee, no obligation consultation.
