Solicitation of Interest and Qualification (SOIQ)

A Solicitation of Interest and Qualification (SOIQ) is an invitation by the federal government to potential suppliers to indicate their interest in a competition and their ability to meet its requirements. The Auditor General of Canada describes it in these terms: an invitation issued before the competition to establish supplier interest and capability.

In practice, an SOIQ is a pre-qualification stage. Respondents demonstrate that they meet mandatory, high-level criteria, and the suppliers that qualify may then be invited to submit a formal proposal. The term is associated mainly with major Canadian defence and shipbuilding procurements.

How an SOIQ differs from a Request for Proposal

An SOIQ and a Request for Proposal (RFP) do different jobs. The SOIQ establishes a pool or shortlist of qualified suppliers. The RFP that follows asks those suppliers for a detailed, competitive proposal.

Qualifying through an SOIQ is not a contract or an award. It decides whether a supplier may move on to the RFP or proposal stage, and nothing more. The CanadaBuys buyer guidance lists the SOIQ among procurement-planning instruments, alongside the Request for Information.

Where Canada has used SOIQs

• Tactical airlift: Public Works and Government Services Canada first used a draft SOIQ to gather feedback from the supplier community. The formal SOIQ then asked potential suppliers to indicate interest and demonstrate that they could meet mandatory, high-level performance criteria. Suppliers that qualified were to be invited to submit a proposal, as set out in the 2006 update on the military aircraft procurement process.
• CC-130J Hercules: The procurement of these tactical aircraft used an SOIQ as part of a fair, open and transparent process, according to National Defence reporting on the new CC-130J fleet.
• National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy: The government used an SOIQ to identify shipyards able to take part in the later RFP. The SOIQ and the RFP focused on a shipyard's ability to become a viable, long-term strategic source rather than on a single ship project. The Auditor General's report covers this process.
• Canadian Combat Vehicle: The SOIQ served as the pre-qualification phase. Suppliers that qualified were placed on a pre-qualified bidders list and became eligible for the RFP stage.

What a respondent has to submit

A supplier answering an SOIQ submits the information and evidence the solicitation requires. That material must establish the supplier's interest and show that it complies with the mandatory qualification criteria.

The criteria are high-level. They test whether a supplier can credibly meet the core requirement, such as a performance threshold for an aircraft or the capacity of a shipyard to serve as a long-term source. Detailed pricing and technical solutions belong to the later RFP.

Some SOIQs are preceded by a draft. In the tactical airlift process, the draft SOIQ gave industry a chance to comment before the formal version was issued.

What an SOIQ means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

For a supplier, the SOIQ is the gate to the competition. A supplier that does not qualify at this stage is not invited to the RFP, so the qualification response deserves the same rigour as a full bid.

• Read the mandatory criteria first and confirm that you can evidence each one.
• Respond to any draft SOIQ, since it is the supplier community's chance to influence the final wording.
• Treat qualification as eligibility only. It does not guarantee a contract.
• Track pre-qualified bidders lists, because they define who can compete at the RFP stage.