Major Crown Project (MCP)

A Major Crown Project, abbreviated MCP, is a Government of Canada project whose estimated cost exceeds $100 million and that the Treasury Board assesses as high risk. The designation comes from the Treasury Board's project-management and expenditure-approval framework, as set out in Treasury Board policy.

An MCP is a project-management and government-approval designation. It is not a type of solicitation or a contract vehicle. A procurement can form part of an MCP, and the sponsoring department's tender documents and contract terms set out what a supplier must do. The term is Canadian and federal, and it is not NATO terminology.

The cost and risk test for an MCP

The established meaning has two parts: an estimated cost above $100 million and a high-risk assessment by the Treasury Board. The same Treasury Board source confirms that the threshold alone does not settle the question.

• The Treasury Board may require MCP treatment for a project below $100 million when its risk warrants it.
• It may also require MCP treatment for a project that exceeds the sponsoring minister's delegated project-approval authority.

The policy applies to projects funded wholly or partly by the federal government. That includes projects acquired through purchase, lease-purchase, lease or other arrangements, as described in the policy text.

The management regime attached to an MCP

MCPs are subject to a special management regime. The former Treasury Board policy sets out the following elements:

• A senior project leader accountable to the deputy minister or designate.
• A Senior Project Advisory Committee that involves participating departments.
• Comprehensive project definition and procurement review.
• Treasury Board approvals and reporting appropriate to the project.

These requirements apply to the sponsoring department's internal governance. They shape how a project is planned, reviewed and reported, and they sit behind the procurements that follow.

Departments that sponsor Major Crown Projects

Federal departments and agencies that run large, high-risk projects report them as MCPs. The sources show a wide spread of sectors:

• National Defence reports projects such as the Canadian Surface Combatant Project in its report on Crown projects. The 2013-14 to 2018-19 status reports cover naval, land, aviation, missile-defence and cryptographic-modernization programs.
• Public Services and Procurement Canada reports major Crown projects tied to the rehabilitation of major buildings in the Parliamentary Precinct.
• The Canadian Space Agency has reported the RADARSAT Constellation Mission as an MCP in a departmental publication. It has also reported the James Webb Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor project.
• Transport Canada identified the Detroit River International Crossing as an MCP because its Canadian project value exceeded the $100 million threshold, according to its status report table.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has reported its Global Case Management System as an MCP in its major Crown projects publication.

MCPs are often paired with Transformational Projects in departmental reporting. National Defence publishes its status reports on transformational and major Crown projects each planning cycle.

What an MCP designation means for a supplier

No general supplier certification or mandatory bid form called "Major Crown Project" exists in the sources. A supplier's obligations come from the specific solicitation, statement of work, contract conditions, security requirements and industrial-benefit requirements that the department issues.

For a bid team, the designation signals what to expect. Expect a long-running, complex procurement with senior oversight, a formal procurement review and Treasury Board reporting. Read the department's published project reports to see where a requirement sits in the project, then build the bid around the tender documents themselves.