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Contracting Policy Notices (CPNs)
Official communications issued by Treasury Board Secretariat or Public Services and Procurement Canada that announce changes, clarifications, or new requirements in federal contracting policies. Suppliers must monitor CPNs to stay current on procurement obligations, as they can affect eligibility, evaluation criteria, or mandatory contract terms.
Contracting Policy Notices are official communications from Treasury Board that announce changes to federal procurement rules. They can drop any time, and missing one could mean your bid gets rejected or your existing contract requires amendments you weren't expecting.
How It Works
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Office of the Comptroller General issues these notices to provide updates, interpretation, and guidance on federal procurement regulations, policy instruments, and trade agreement obligations. Think of them as the official way the government tells departments—and by extension, suppliers—that something has changed in how federal contracting works.
CPNs don't follow a predictable schedule. When policy shifts happen, you get a notice. Recent examples show the range: CPN 2025-4 amended the Directive on Management of Procurement to adjust risk-based exceptional limits. CPN 2025-3 introduced a new guide on mitigating conflicts of interest. CPN 2025-2 rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination attestation requirements for federal contracts. CPN 2021-3? That one announced an entirely new directive on procurement management that fundamentally changed how departments handle their buying.
In practice, these notices appear on Canada.ca and flow through to procurement officers across all departments—PSPC, DND, SSC, and every other federal entity that buys goods or services. The Government of Canada Supply Manual provides the baseline policies, but CPNs are how those policies evolve. They can introduce new mandatory criteria that affect your eligibility, change evaluation scoring, or add clauses that must appear in every contract over a certain threshold.
Key Considerations
No automatic notifications to suppliers: Unlike procurement notices on government tender sites, CPNs aren't pushed to vendor mailing lists. You need to monitor the Contracting Policy Notices page yourself or risk missing changes that affect your bids.
Retroactive implications: Some notices clarify existing policy rather than announcing new rules. If you've been interpreting a requirement one way and a CPN clarifies it differently, your standing arrangements or response templates may need immediate revision.
Impact cascades through documents: When a notice changes the Directive on Management of Procurement or Government Contracts Regulations, that change filters down to solicitation templates, standard clauses, and evaluation criteria across hundreds of upcoming opportunities.
No grace period guaranteed: While major policy changes typically include implementation timelines, clarifications can take effect immediately. CPN drops while you're preparing a bid? You may need to adjust your submission before the deadline.
Related Terms
Mandatory Criteria, Supply Manual, Directive on Management of Procurement
Sources
Set up a monthly check of the CPN page, or better yet, include it in your bid preparation checklist. The five minutes you spend scanning for updates could save you from a non-compliant submission.
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