Bid Closing Location and Time

Bid Closing Location and Time is the designated place or electronic channel, together with the specified deadline, by which a supplier's bid must be received to be considered. Canadian federal solicitations commonly state the deadline as the "bid solicitation closing date and time" and identify separately where bids must be submitted.

The term covers two linked submission requirements. The location is the physical bid-receiving office, named email address, electronic procurement portal or other channel specified in the solicitation. The time is the date and time, including the applicable time zone, by which the bid must have been received. Both requirements apply to paper and electronic submissions.

The two parts of the requirement

The closing location tells a bidder where a bid must go. Depending on the solicitation, it may be a bid-receiving unit, an email address, or an electronic platform. The closing time tells a bidder when the bid must be there. A bid sent to the wrong place or received after the stated time does not meet the requirement.

Related terms you will see in tender documents include:

• Bid closing date and time
• Solicitation closing date and time
• Closing date
• Bid-receiving unit
• Proposal Receiving Unit
• Late bid

What the federal standard instructions require

The federal standard instructions for goods and services competitive requirements put responsibility on the bidder. Bidders must submit a complete bid by the closing date and time, and they must send it only to the address specified in the solicitation.

For physical bid packages, the instructions also require the bidder's name, return address, solicitation number, and closing date and time to be visible on the package.

How departments state it in solicitations

CanadaBuys tender notices display a "Closing date and time" for each opportunity. One federal professional-services opportunity listed a closing of December 14, 2022, at 14:00 EST, and required proposals to be delivered to the Proposal Receiving Unit by that deadline.

Individual departments set out the location in the solicitation itself:

• The National Capital Commission required bids to be submitted only to the NCC, by the date, time and location shown on the title page. It stated that bids received after closing would not be accepted (NCC workplace modernization RFP).
• A Global Affairs Canada RFP required proposals to be received at the identified electronic address by the date and time shown on page 1.
• Indigenous Services Canada tendering-policy guidance says calls for tenders include a closing date and time. Bids must reach the designated office, or be submitted through the electronic procurement platform, before the deadline.

Closing in electronic portals and supply arrangements

Electronic qualification processes treat the deadline as a hard system limit. PSPC's ProServices bid solicitation guidance and its Solution-Based Supply Arrangement page describe periods that close in the portal at the date and time shown on the solicitation dashboard. Data cannot be submitted against a closed period, and data submitted after closing cannot be evaluated.

What it means for a supplier

Treat the closing location and time as a compliance requirement, not a courtesy. Read the solicitation for the exact submission channel, and use only that physical address, email address or platform. Confirm the time zone stated in the notice. Make sure the complete bid is received, not merely sent, before the deadline. Include any identifying information the instructions require on physical packages. A late bid may be rejected, and the supplier bears responsibility for timely submission. Check each amendment as well, since a solicitation can change either element, and confirm the current closing details on CanadaBuys before you submit.