Confirming Orders

A confirming order is a government contract signed after the fact. It records an agreement where work was done, or goods or services were delivered, before a properly authorized formal procurement vehicle existed. The contract does not start the buying process. It documents a transaction that has already happened so that it can be regularized.

Canadian government guidance describes the confirming order as an exceptional mechanism that should generally be avoided. The Government of Canada states it is usable only when a contract was not in place before delivery, as noted in a 2025 federal publication. Public Safety Canada describes the same practice in its internal audit of procurement: contracts signed after services were rendered or goods delivered, with no formal procurement vehicle obtained from an appropriately delegated official. It adds that government policy is to avoid them.

How Public Services and Procurement Canada treats confirming orders

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) does not normally place contracts merely to confirm the actions of a department or agency, and it says the practice should be discouraged. PSPC may still become involved where it holds exclusive procurement authority, such as for certain goods. Its position is set out on CanadaBuys.

PSPC guidance also tells buyers to watch for misuse. If a request appears intended to circumvent normal procurement procedures, the buyer should consider rejecting it or returning it to the client department.

What a confirming order for completed work contains

Where the work is already complete, PSPC Legal Services prepares the confirming order. The document is limited to the essential details of the transaction:

• the parties
• the work performed
• the dates
• the amount
• a release
• if required, the transfer of intellectual-property rights

The CanadaBuys buyer's guide directs that nothing beyond these essentials be included.

Work in progress and approval requirements

If work has started but is not finished, the buyer prepares a contract covering only the work that was not properly authorized. The award date of the written contract becomes the start date of the contract period. The contract does not reach back to cover the earlier, unauthorized portion as if it had been approved in advance.

Confirming orders processed by PSPC require approval at the director level or higher. The exact level depends on the contract value and the applicable non-competitive contracting-authority limits.

Amendments, out-of-scope work and contract reporting

Confirming orders are not limited to new contracts. The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman describes a case where extra work outside a contract's scope was performed before an amendment was made. That work had to be regularized through a new contracting process or an after-the-fact confirming order, as explained on the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman site.

Proactive disclosure also has a rule for them. Treasury Board guidance recommends reporting the contract date as the date of the verbal contract for the goods, services or amendment. If that date cannot be determined, the issue date of the confirming order may be used.

What confirming orders mean for suppliers

A confirming order is an internal government mechanism for regularizing a transaction. It is not a normal route to a contract. Verbal instructions, or delivery before written authorization, are not equivalent to a valid contract. A supplier who proceeds on that basis leaves the transaction to be assessed, approved, documented and, where appropriate, regularized by the government afterward.

Suppliers should confirm that a written contract or amendment signed by an authorized official is in place before starting work or extra work. If a client asks for work ahead of authorization, the supplier should ask when the contract will be issued. Any confirming order that follows will cover only the essential transaction details and must clear the approval levels described above.