Notice to the bidder/offeror/supplier

A notice to the bidder, offeror or supplier is an important notification addressed to a prospective supplier inside a solicitation. It usually sets out a submission requirement, a communication rule or another condition of bidding. The wording changes with the solicitation and the procurement system, so the same notice may say bidder, offeror or supplier.

In Canadian federal procurement, these notices sit within the solicitation documents rather than standing as a separate procurement instrument. They form part of the instructions a supplier must follow to submit a compliant bid. Bid teams should read them as binding direction, not as background information.

How NATO and Canadian sources use the word bidder

NATO's Procedure for NATO Competitive Procurement defines a bidder as a vendor actively participating in a specific procurement process by submitting a formal offer, either a bid or a proposal, in response to a solicitation. The procedure is published at nato.int. It also requires formal notification of NATO competitive-procurement procedures on NATO's procurement-opportunities website.

NATO maintains its official terminology in NATOTerm, which holds military and non-military terminology relevant to the Alliance. That database is the reference point for the term bidder in a NATO setting.

Where the notice appears in Canadian solicitations

CanadaBuys is the Government of Canada channel for tender opportunities and notifications. It describes federal tender notices as including instruments such as the Notice of Proposed Procurement and the Advance Contract Award Notice. See the CanadaBuys guidance on tender notices. A notice to bidders is a separate item inside the solicitation documents attached to such a tender notice.

PSPC also publishes tender notices for supplier prequalification. Its task-based and solution-based requests for supply arrangements are described in the guidance for suppliers on Task and Solutions Professional Services.

Examples from federal solicitations

• Parks Canada Agency: an RFP published through CanadaBuys carries the heading "IMPORTANT NOTICE TO BIDDERS." It states that bids sent by fax and email are accepted as official. It names the only acceptable email address and fax number. It requires bids to reach the Parks Canada Bid Receiving Unit by the stated deadline.
• Parks Canada consequences: the same solicitation states that failure to provide required information with a bid or offer may render it non-responsive or disqualify the supplier from award.
• Department of National Defence: a CanadaBuys tender notice tells bidders proposing equivalent or substitute products to provide the brand, model or part number, and NCAGE information. It specifies Canadian-dollar pricing. It warns that a bid containing an unrequested exchange-rate provision will be non-responsive.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Treat every notice to bidders as part of the solicitation's binding instructions. Check the stated submission channel, deadline, format, certifications and technical information before you finalize a bid. Confirm the exact email address or fax number named in the notice, and send nothing to other addresses.

Build a compliance checklist from each notice and assign an owner to every item. The cited solicitations show that missing information or a nonconforming pricing term can make a bid non-responsive. Review each amendment as well, because the notice wording in a solicitation can change between issue and closing. Monitor opportunities on CanadaBuys tender opportunities so you see the full documents, not only the summary notice.