Procurement strategy

A procurement strategy is the planned approach a buyer uses to acquire goods, services or construction. CanadaBuys states that the strategy outlines the approach for the acquisition, including how the requirement will be sourced, the method of supply and whether trade agreements apply.

In the Government of Canada, the strategy is part of the buyer's planning process and is set well before a solicitation reaches the market. The buyer and the client develop it together, and the decisions made at this stage shape the solicitation that suppliers eventually see on CanadaBuys.

What a Canadian procurement strategy decides

According to the CanadaBuys guidance on developing a procurement strategy, the strategy must address operational requirements, legal requirements, best value and national objectives. It also influences the scope of the requirement and determines the level of competition.

The same guidance sets out several planning elements the strategy covers:

• Total estimated cost: this includes options, maintenance, storage and lifecycle costs.
• Contract period: this covers extension options, delivery requirements, milestones and the procurement schedule.
• Evaluation procedures: these set the criteria for assessing offers and the method for selecting a supplier.
• Trade agreements: CanadaBuys lists trade-agreement applicability among the matters considered when determining the strategy.

How the buyer and client develop the strategy

CanadaBuys says strategy development begins with discussions between the buyer and the client. The client is the department or organization that needs the goods, services or construction. The buyer is the procurement officer responsible for the acquisition process.

Because the work starts early, the strategy affects how the requirement is described. A decision about scope or competition made here carries through to the bid documents, so suppliers who want to influence a requirement have the most leverage before the solicitation is published, not after.

Method of supply: contract, standing offer or supply arrangement

One of the central choices in the strategy is the method of supply. CanadaBuys lists contracts, standing offers and supply arrangements as the available methods. Contracts can include task-authorized contracts.

The method chosen determines the document a supplier is competing for. A standalone contract, a standing offer, a supply arrangement and a task-authorized contract each have a different structure, so the same requirement can look quite different depending on the strategy behind it.

NATO's contracting strategy

NATO uses the closely related term contracting strategy. Its procurement manual states that after procurement planning, procurement staff must devise a contracting strategy that weighs risks and adequately protects NATO's interests. Suppliers encounter the resulting approach through the applicable solicitation and contract procedures.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

A supplier does not usually see the procurement strategy itself. It sees the result: the contract structure, evaluation criteria, delivery requirements, contract terms and any trade-agreement or eligibility conditions. Read the solicitation as the visible form of the strategy, and confirm that your offer fits the method of supply, whether that is a standalone contract, a standing offer, a supply arrangement or a task-authorized contract, and that it answers every stated evaluation criterion.