Supplier Registration Number (SRN)

A Supplier Registration Number (SRN) is the unique identifier a business receives when it registers in the Government of Canada's Supplier Registration Information (SRI) system. It is the formal name for what most suppliers and federal documents call the Procurement Business Number (PBN). The number identifies your business in federal procurement and is the key that lets you bid on and receive payment for federal government contracts.

In practice, the two names refer to the same identifier. Federal solicitation documents and Government of Canada guidance use the label PBN, while the formal term is Supplier Registration Number. References to an older Procurement Business Number in earlier documents point to the same thing. If a tender asks for your PBN, it is asking for the number you obtained through SRI.

How the number is issued through SRI

Suppliers obtain the number by registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) guidance and CanadaBuys materials direct businesses to register in SRI to get their procurement business number. CanadaBuys explains the registration steps on its registration support page, and PSPC describes how suppliers find and respond to opportunities on its supplying services page.

Once registered, the supplier receives a number in a structured format, a nine-digit prefix followed by an alphanumeric suffix, for example 123456789 PG0001. Suppliers can also update their contacts or add new ones through the supplier module functions in SRI, so the record tied to the number stays current.

Where the number is required

Federal tender documents set the requirement out in their instructions. Standard instructions used by departments such as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Shared Services Canada state that a bidder must have a PBN before the award of any resulting contract, standing offer or similar instrument, and that suppliers can register for one online through SRI. You can see this language in the IRCC standard instructions for competitive requirements and in the SSC standard instructions for procurement documents.

The number is also tied to the transition to electronic procurement. Guidance on the electronic procurement transition and from CanadaBuys explains that suppliers register in SRI to obtain a PBN, and that the number is required for bids that are not processed through the SAP Ariba-based electronic procurement solution. The number is also linked to payment: a supplier without a PBN cannot be paid by PSPC.

How it differs from other business identifiers

The SRN is a procurement identifier. It is separate from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) business number and from an Ariba Network ID (ANID). Enrolment in the Centralized Professional Services System (CPSS), for example, requires a CRA business number and an ANID associated with CanadaBuys, but enrolment does not itself generate a PBN. PSPC describes that process on its CPSS supplier registration page. A supplier working across these systems should expect to hold several identifiers, each serving its own purpose.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Register in SRI before you find an opportunity, not after. The number is needed before contract award and for any bid outside the SAP Ariba-based process, and it is required to get paid. Keep your SRI contacts current so notices and follow-up reach the right people. When a solicitation asks for a PBN, a Supplier Registration Number, or an SRN, provide the same SRI-issued number in each case.