Acquisitions Program (AP)

The Acquisitions Program (AP) is the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) program responsible for acquiring goods and services on behalf of other federal government departments and agencies. It is also the PSPC common service provider for acquisition services, as described on the AP policy instruments page on CanadaBuys.

A Government of Canada procurement acronym list confirms that AP means Acquisitions Program. When a federal client department needs goods, services or construction that PSPC is responsible for buying, AP is the part of PSPC that runs the procurement and issues the resulting contracts and other instruments.

AP as a common service provider

As a common service provider, AP buys on behalf of client departments instead of each department running every purchase on its own. Dedicated AP account managers are assigned to each Government of Canada department and agency, and the CanadaBuys account managers page describes that support.

AP also leads specialized initiatives. Procurement Assistance Canada runs the Canadian Collaborative Procurement Initiative as part of AP. The initiative allows eligible organizations to use PSPC procurement instruments for certain goods and services.

Policy instruments that govern AP procurement

AP's work is governed by frameworks, directives and policies. These instruments are intended to make procurement fair, open, transparent and legally compliant. The AP policy framework sets out principles for AP acquisition activities and supports PSPC's role as a common service provider.

One example is the PSPC Policy on Social Procurement. It applies to procurement of goods, services and construction for which PSPC is responsible, including procurements conducted on behalf of client departments. It covers procurements, standing offers, supply arrangements, contracts and other instruments issued by AP.

Communications and defence procurement within AP

AP provides optional and mandatory procurement services for federal communications requirements. The communications and advertising page on CanadaBuys lists these areas:

• advertising
• public opinion research
• media monitoring
• printing
• audiovisual production
• event management
• graphic design
• writing and editing

Defence procurement responsibility within PSPC also sits under AP. Subject to limited exceptions, PSPC has authority to acquire defence goods and services for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Coast Guard and other government departments. According to the PSPC internal audit of land, aerospace and marine equipment procurement, AP awards and manages contracts for technically complex land, aerospace and marine equipment and associated in-service support. This includes low- and medium-complexity defence contracts.

AP and Agile Procurement at National Defence

The abbreviation AP is not unique to PSPC. In a Department of National Defence evaluation of capability acquisition modernization, AP means Agile Procurement, an initiative for lower-risk information and communications technology projects. That is a different program from the Acquisitions Program.

Read AP in light of the document and the organization that issued it. In PSPC material, AP means the Acquisitions Program. In Department of National Defence material on capability acquisition, it may mean Agile Procurement.

What AP means for suppliers

If you bid on a federal requirement that PSPC runs for a client department, you are dealing with AP. Follow the requirements in the specific solicitation, standing offer, supply arrangement or contract that PSPC issues. AP-run procurements are governed by the policy instruments above, so bid teams should check those instruments for rules that apply to the requirement, such as social procurement requirements.

For defence, communications and collaborative procurement opportunities, confirm whether PSPC is the contracting authority. When it is, the contract and any resulting instrument come from AP, and the solicitation document sets the terms you must meet.