Contract Award Notice

In Canadian federal procurement, the phrase contract award notice covers two related notices. The first is the Award Notice, which is issued after bid evaluation and identifies the procurement result. The second is the Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN), a public notice that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier.

The ACAN is the notice that most affects suppliers who have not yet won anything. It gives other businesses an opportunity to submit a statement of capabilities before the contract is awarded. Federal departments publish it through CanadaBuys, and CanadaBuys describes the ACAN as a notice of the intention to award to a named supplier.

What an ACAN must tell suppliers

The notice identifies the intended supplier and describes the requirement so that other suppliers can judge whether they can meet it. The federal model requires the notice to communicate the requirement or expected contract results, the proposed contractor, and the reason for the proposed directed award. Where possible it also gives an estimated contract value, provided that disclosure would not prejudice negotiations. These requirements appear in the Treasury Board Secretariat policy documents.

When a department uses an ACAN

A department uses an ACAN when it believes that only one supplier can meet the requirement. Public Services and Procurement Canada gives two examples: a single company owns the relevant intellectual property, or a specific security requirement applies. Both appear in the PSPC seminar notes on bidding opportunities.

The notice is tied to the federal obligation to solicit bids under section 5 of the Government Contracts Regulations. The former Contracting Policy stated that an ACAN could satisfy the competitive requirements if no qualifying statement of capabilities was received. The policy framework still treats publishing an ACAN as a form of competitive contracting for contracting-approval purposes, as set out in the Treasury Board policy framework.

Real examples are easy to find. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission published an ACAN for advisory services on the long-term management of used nuclear fuel. A National Defence record in the open contracts data identifies a contract that resulted from an ACAN and was sole-sourced.

The statement of capabilities and the posting period

A supplier that believes it can meet the requirement must submit a statement of capabilities within the period and according to the instructions in the ACAN. The statement has to demonstrate compliance with the requirements the notice sets out.

The notice is posted for at least 15 calendar days, according to the Treasury Board glossary entry for ACAN. The former Contracting Policy also required a posting of no less than 15 calendar days. The outcome then follows one of two paths:

• If another supplier demonstrates that it meets the requirements, the department must proceed to a full tendering process.
• If no valid statement of capabilities is submitted, the contract may be awarded to the pre-identified supplier, as the Supply Manual annexes explain.

How an ACAN differs from other notices

An ACAN is not a Notice of Proposed Procurement (NPP). CanadaBuys lists both as types of tender notices, but an NPP invites bids from the open market, while an ACAN names a supplier the department already intends to use.

The Award Notice is different again. It follows bid evaluation, and the supplier is notified of the result whether or not it won the contract. Canada's guidance for businesses on how to prepare to bid on opportunities uses that term.

What an ACAN means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Treat every ACAN in your sector as a live opportunity. If your firm can meet the stated requirements, you can submit a statement of capabilities and force a full tendering process. Read the requirement closely and answer each stated criterion directly, because the statement must demonstrate compliance. Send it within the period the notice sets, which is at least 15 calendar days from posting. Monitoring CanadaBuys for new ACANs lets you act inside that window.