In Canadian government procurement, mandatory requirements are the non-negotiable baseline criteria that separate compliant bids from those that get tossed out before anyone even looks at pricing. Miss one? Your proposal is done. Doesn't matter how competitive your price is or how strong the rest of your submission looks.
How It Works
According to the Supply Manual Sub-section 4.35.1, mandatory technical evaluation criteria must be assessed on a simple pass/fail basis. There's no partial credit here. You either demonstrate full compliance with each requirement, or you don't. Evaluators work through these criteria first, before they ever get to rated requirements or open your pricing envelope.
Here's the thing: the sequencing matters. Federal departments assess mandatory criteria at the outset of bid evaluation because there's no point investing hours scoring and comparing proposals that don't meet the minimum bar. The Procurement Practice Review of DND confirms this approach explicitly—mandatory evaluation criteria must be met or the bid must be disqualified. No exceptions. No appeals based on "we meant to include that" or "our solution actually exceeds what you asked for."
In practice, these requirements identify what's truly essential to completing the work successfully. The assessor guidance for supply arrangement requirements clarifies that mandatory criteria represent the minimum threshold—not aspirational goals or nice-to-haves. This means procurement officers at PSPC, SSC, DND, and other departments must carefully distinguish between what's genuinely necessary and what would simply be preferred. Poorly drafted mandatory requirements that aren't actually essential create unnecessary risk of legal challenge and can eliminate otherwise qualified suppliers.
Key Considerations
- Documentation is everything: Even if you meet a requirement operationally, you must demonstrate compliance clearly in your proposal. Evaluators can only assess what you've written. Assuming they'll infer compliance is a common and costly mistake.
- Clear and measurable criteria: Treasury Board policy requires that mandatory requirements be demonstrable and measurable. Vague criteria like "must have significant experience" create problems for both evaluators and bidders. Look for specific thresholds, certifications, or documented capabilities.
- One failure eliminates everything: Your firm might nail 14 out of 15 mandatory requirements and offer the best technical solution at the lowest price. That single missing requirement disqualifies your entire proposal before anyone evaluates the rest. Everything else becomes irrelevant.
- Different rules for smaller buys: For procurements under $40,000, documentation requirements may be simplified, but the pass/fail nature of mandatory criteria still applies. You can't skip them just because the dollar value is lower.
Related Terms
Rated Requirements, Point-Rated Criteria, Compliant Bid, Bid Evaluation, Statement of Requirements
Sources
- Supply Manual - Sub-section 4.35.1: Mandatory Technical Evaluation Criteria
- Assessor Guidance for Supply Arrangement Requirements
- Procurement Practice Review of the Department of National Defence
Before you submit, map every mandatory requirement in the solicitation to a specific section of your proposal where you address it. That simple checklist has saved more bids than any other practice.