Regret Letter

A regret letter is a written notification sent to an unsuccessful bidder after a solicitation has been evaluated and a contract has been awarded to another supplier. It informs the recipient that it will not receive the contract and normally explains why its bid was not selected.

In Canadian government procurement, the regret letter is part of communicating solicitation results. It often serves as the first written debriefing a supplier receives. Depending on the department, it may also name the winning bidder, state the contract value, and set out evaluation results and the recourse mechanisms available to the supplier.

What a regret letter typically contains

The Office of the Procurement Ombud (OPO) states that federal regret letters should offer an explanation of why the bid was not selected. Letters reviewed by OPO show the range of content departments provide:

• The statement that no contract will be issued to the recipient.
• The name of the successful bidder and the contract value.
• The technical-evaluation results and the winning bidder's overall score, as in OPO's review of Canada Border Services Agency practices.
• Score breakdowns, unmet mandatory criteria or minimum requirements, and available recourse mechanisms, as in OPO's review of Parks Canada.

The PSPC model for temporary help services

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) publishes a model regret letter for the Temporary Help Services Supply Arrangement. It is suggested for low-complexity or single-resource solicitations.

The model states that no contract will be issued to the recipient and identifies the successful bidder and the contract value. It can also explain that a bid failed to meet mandatory requirements, or that it did not provide the lowest total evaluated price. Parks Canada built its own regret-letter templates on PSPC's Supply Manual, which shows how the PSPC approach carries into other departments.

Timing and the difference from an award letter

A regret letter goes to the unsuccessful bidder. An award letter goes to the successful supplier to confirm that it won. Some departments use one or the other depending on the recipient. CBSA, for example, issued either a regret letter to the unsuccessful bidder or an award letter to the successful one, as described in OPO's procurement practice review.

On timing, Indigenous Services Canada best-practice guidance says a regret letter should be sent to unsuccessful proponents on the same day the contract is awarded. The ISC guidance describes the letter as the notice that another party received the contract.

What a regret letter means for a supplier

Read the letter closely. It tells you which evaluation reasons the department relied on, and it may disclose scores, unmet mandatory requirements, or the winning bidder's price. Compare those details against your bid to see where it fell short.

If the letter leaves questions open, you can request a fuller debriefing. OPO describes the regret letter as the means by which an unsuccessful bidder decides whether to ask for more information or pursue recourse. Depending on the procurement and any applicable thresholds or trade rules, recourse may include OPO or the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, as discussed in OPO's procurement practice review results.

Keep every regret letter on file with the matching bid. The reasons and scores they record give your bid team a factual basis for improving future proposals.