Trade Agreement

A trade agreement is an agreement between parties, typically countries or trading blocs, that reduces trade barriers and establishes rules governing trade. In public procurement, its government-procurement provisions set procedural rules and market-access commitments for covered purchases. These include requirements for non-discrimination, transparency and open competition, as described by Global Affairs Canada.

Canada is party to several trade agreements with government-procurement obligations. They include the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), CETA, CPTPP and various bilateral free-trade agreements. Most of Canada's free-trade agreements contain a government-procurement chapter. The list of trade agreements on CanadaBuys shows the agreements that federal buyers work with.

What a government-procurement chapter contains

Government-procurement chapters generally contain two kinds of content: procedural rules and market-access schedules. Each has a distinct job.

• Procedural rules cover notices, time periods, impartiality, transparency and non-discrimination.
• Market-access schedules identify the covered government entities, goods, services and construction services.
• Thresholds set the monetary value above which obligations generally apply. A procurement below the applicable threshold, or one that falls under an exception, is not caught by the agreement.

Canada's procurement chapters are also meant to give Canadian suppliers access to covered opportunities in other parties' markets. Covered foreign suppliers, goods and services are treated in accordance with the applicable agreement.

Which Canadian buyers are covered

Trade-agreement obligations generally apply only to covered entities, procurements above the applicable thresholds, and covered goods, services or construction services. Covered Canadian entities can include federal departments and agencies, provincial and territorial governments, and certain Crown corporations. Under some agreements, such as CETA, municipalities are covered as well. Coverage therefore differs from one agreement to the next, and a single buyer may be covered under one agreement and not another.

How trade agreements appear on CanadaBuys

Federal procurement notices identify the trade agreements that apply to a solicitation. One CanadaBuys tender notice states that the procurement is subject to the CFTA, the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and several bilateral agreements, including the Canada-Panama, Canada-Peru and Canada-United Kingdom agreements.

For procurements covered by one or more agreements, contracting authorities must follow the public-advertisement and notification rules. Unless an exception applies, competitive procurements must be advertised through the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS), now delivered through CanadaBuys. The guidance on tender notices and trade agreements sets out these requirements for buyers.

The Government of Canada also publishes the applicable thresholds for federal procurements. The Treasury Board policy notice covers January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2027.

Defence and other exclusions

Trade agreements can apply to federal procurement, but coverage depends on the agreement, the procuring entity, the goods or services, the threshold and any exclusions. Not every defence procurement is automatically covered. Defence-related exclusions and solicitation-specific rules must be checked in the particular notice and the agreement it cites.

What a trade agreement means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

A trade agreement mainly shapes the buyer's process: how the opportunity is advertised, the timelines, non-discrimination and the allowable procurement methods. It does not normally create a separate registration that every supplier must complete. A supplier still has to confirm that it is eligible under the solicitation and the applicable agreement, follow the solicitation's instructions and submit its bid within the stated requirements and deadlines. Reading the trade-agreement section of each tender notice is the quickest way to see which rules govern a given bid.