Consulting Services Regarding Matters of a Confidential Nature

"Consulting Services Regarding Matters of a Confidential Nature" is a limited-tendering reason used in Government of Canada procurement. CanadaBuys identifies it as CAP Code 23 in the annexes to Chapter 3 of the PSPC Supply Manual.

It is a justification, not a supplier certification, a security level or a NATO classification. A contracting authority selects it when the subject matter of a consulting requirement is confidential or privileged, and a public, open tender would be inappropriate as a result.

What CAP Code 23 covers

The Supply Manual applies the code to consulting services where disclosure through an open tendering process could reasonably be expected to compromise government confidences, cause economic disruption or otherwise be contrary to the public interest. The Manual also refers to confidential or privileged matters and the risk of waiving privilege.

The Government of Canada's contracts search presents the term as a "Limited Tendering Reason". The records qualify it as applying to contracts not covered by CETA, CFTA, WTO-GPA, CPTPP, CKFTA and CUFTA.

The four grounds in the Supply Manual

The rationale rests on four stated outcomes that open tendering could cause:

• Compromising government confidentiality.
• Resulting in the waiver of privilege.
• Causing economic disruption.
• Otherwise being contrary to the public interest.

Each ground concerns what the act of publicly tendering would reveal. A solicitation describing the work could itself expose a sensitive matter, such as a legal issue or an internal review.

Where the reason appears in federal contract records

Proactive disclosure records show the term across several departments and contract types:

• Department of National Defence: management consulting contracts, such as this record, use the reason, with PSPC awarding on behalf of the client department.
• Transportation Safety Board of Canada: a contract with Conway Baxter Wilson LLP records the term as its limited-tendering reason.
• Canadian Human Rights Commission: a contract with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt records the same reason.
• Employment and Social Development Canada: an IBM Canada contract records the term while the solicitation procedure is competitive-selective tendering.
• Standing offers and supply arrangements: a BDO Canada contract records the term as a call-up or contract against a PSPC standing offer or supply arrangement.
• Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada: professional-services contracts, such as this one, use the reason.

A CanadaBuys award notice for adjudication services names the term as its procurement strategy and lists the trade-agreement status as "NONE".

What the code does not establish

The term does not grant a supplier an exemption, a security clearance or a confidentiality obligation. Those depend on the specific solicitation or contract conditions. The sources also set out no single supplier procedure tied to CAP Code 23. How the work is actually procured is recorded by the contracting authority and varies from one contract to the next.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Work under this reason is often procured through a restricted or non-open route, such as a source list, standing offer, supply arrangement or selective tendering. Suppliers will rarely see it as a public tender on CanadaBuys. Firms that want this work should position themselves where such buyers look, including relevant standing offers and supply arrangements. They should also read the contract conditions closely, since those documents, not the code, define confidentiality and security duties. Award records in the contracts database show which departments and suppliers have used the reason.