Major Projects

In Canadian defence project management, major projects are projects for the one-time acquisition of new equipment, materiel or services where the total project value, inclusive of tax, equals or exceeds $10 million. National Defence uses the term to classify large capability acquisitions and to organize how they are managed. The definition appears in a Department of National Defence report.

The category covers large-scale air, land and naval equipment, including ships, aircraft and vehicles. It also covers information-technology infrastructure and related services. National Defence's evaluation of acquisition project management describes these projects and the organizations that deliver them. For suppliers, the term signals a large, project-managed purchase with its own procurement documents.

The $10 million threshold in the definition

The test for a major project is value and type. The acquisition must be a one-time purchase of new equipment, materiel or services, and the total project value including tax must reach $10 million or more. This wording comes from the National Defence report cited above. Because the threshold is measured on the whole project, it describes the full acquisition rather than a single contract within it.

Air, land and naval examples

National Defence names specific projects in its project-management material. Its air and land major projects include:

• Fixed Wing Search and Rescue Project
• Future Fighter Capability Project
• Medium Support Vehicles System Project
• Logistics Vehicle Modernization
• Strategic Tanker Transport Capability
• Armoured Combat Support Vehicle
• Remotely Piloted Aircraft System

Naval examples include the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships, Joint Support Ship and Canadian Surface Combatant projects. All of these are listed in the evaluation of acquisition project management. The same document describes information-technology infrastructure for secret-level cloud capabilities as a major capital project, so the category is not limited to platforms such as ships and aircraft.

The Government of Canada describes the Canadian Surface Combatant project as its largest and most complex procurement, according to a Public Services and Procurement Canada briefing on defence procurement.

Who manages major projects

Within National Defence, the Directorate General Major Project Delivery (Air and Land) manages large-scale air and army equipment acquisitions. A separate naval project organization is responsible for major new sea-equipment acquisitions. Both are described in the evaluation of acquisition project management.

On the contracting side, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) lists major projects in its defence-procurement contact structure. The PSPC defence and marine contact page includes three related portfolios:

• Air: Major projects
• Air: Major projects, with a separate listing for aerial surveillance systems
• Land: Major projects

What major projects mean for a supplier

The label "major projects" describes how National Defence classifies and manages an acquisition. It does not create a single clause or obligation that applies to every bid. A supplier should work from the documents issued for the specific project: the solicitation, statement of work, security requirements, technical standards, industrial and technological-benefits requirements, contract terms and delivery milestones.

Suppliers can use the project names and the PSPC portfolio structure to identify which air, land or naval project office is relevant to their capabilities. They can then track that project's procurement activity. Publicus follows defence and other federal procurement activity so that bid teams can see these opportunities early.