Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA)

The Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, known as CUFTA, is a free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine. It sets obligations meant to reduce trade barriers and to give each country's suppliers open, transparent and non-discriminatory access to the other's government-procurement market. Government procurement is addressed in Chapter 11 of the agreement.

The modernized CUFTA entered into force on July 1, 2024, and replaced the 2017 agreement. For Canadian suppliers, CUFTA is one of the trade agreements that can apply to a federal tender. It is listed alongside Canada's other trade agreements on CanadaBuys, and tender notices can name it as an applicable agreement.

What the modernized CUFTA changed on July 1, 2024

The modernized agreement replaced the 2017 version on July 1, 2024. According to Canada's investment and trade agreements page for Ukraine, the earlier text no longer governs.

The most notable procurement change is that the modernized CUFTA incorporates the obligations of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) by reference. The original agreement did not do this. The Canada Revenue Agency's procurement policy appendix on trade agreements identifies Chapter 11 as the procurement chapter and records the WTO-AGP incorporation.

The Treasury Board Secretariat told federal contracting authorities that the modernized agreement applies to federal contracting and that authorities in all departments should review Chapter 11. Its Contracting Policy Notice 2024-3 also states that no adjustments to existing procurement processes were required when the agreement entered into force.

When CUFTA applies to a federal procurement

CUFTA does not apply to every contract. The general principles for trade agreements on CanadaBuys set out four conditions. A procurement is covered when all of the following are true:

• The estimated value meets the applicable threshold.
• The buyer is a covered client.
• The goods or services are a covered requirement.
• No exclusion applies.

Canada's obligations are carried out through the agreement's procedural rules and annexes. These identify covered entities, covered goods and services, thresholds and exclusions. Thresholds differ by entity and by procurement category, so there is no single figure that applies to every buyer. The Treasury Board's published table lists the CUFTA thresholds for federal procurement.

For covered procurements, buyers must follow the agreement's procedural obligations, including open, transparent and competitive tendering.

How CUFTA appears in CanadaBuys notices

CanadaBuys publishes notices for procurements subject to Canada's trade agreements, and a notice can identify CUFTA as one of the agreements that applies. An example is tender notice cb-911-99857942. The trade agreement field in a notice is the first place to check whether CUFTA is in play.

Security exceptions and support for small business

CUFTA includes security and general exceptions. These include provisions under which Canada can exclude a procurement from some or all trade-agreement obligations where necessary to protect specified national-security interests. This matters for defence and security-related requirements, where a buyer can rely on an exception instead of running a procurement under the agreement's rules.

CUFTA is also one of Canada's trade agreements with provisions supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. Canada's approach to small and medium-sized enterprises in trade policy notes flexibility for programs that benefit women-owned and Indigenous businesses, provided they are applied consistently with Canada's trade obligations.

What CUFTA means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Read the tender notice and the solicitation documents first to see whether CUFTA is listed as applicable. Then respond to the requirements as written: submission instructions, eligibility requirements, technical requirements, certifications, security requirements and deadlines.

CUFTA sets obligations on the buyer, not on you. It governs how a covered procurement is run, including open, transparent and competitive tendering. Your bid is judged against the solicitation documents. Bid teams tracking Ukraine-related trade rules should also review Chapter 11 and the Treasury Board threshold table when they qualify opportunities.