Treasury Board Directive on the Management of Procurement

The Treasury Board Directive on the Management of Procurement is a Government of Canada directive that governs how federal organizations buy. Its objective is to ensure that procurement of goods, services and construction obtains the assets and services needed to support programs and services for Canadians, while ensuring best value to the Crown. The full text is published by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat on its policy suite site.

The directive is established under section 7(1) of the Financial Administration Act. It is an internal policy instrument aimed at federal buyers and contracting authorities. It sets requirements for procurement planning, oversight, contracting authorities, approvals and reporting, and it is part of the Treasury Board policy framework for the management of assets and acquired services.

When the directive took effect and what it replaced

The directive took effect on May 13, 2021. It replaced two earlier instruments: the Contracting Policy and the Policy on Decision Making in Limiting Contractor Liability in Crown Procurement Contracts. The Treasury Board Secretariat announced the change in a contracting policy notice.

Suppliers who remember the Contracting Policy should read references to it as references to this directive. The scope is the same field of federal procurement management, now set out in one directive with appendices.

Contracting approvals and the role of PSPC

Appendix A, Contracting Approvals, contains the financial limits and approval authorities for federal procurement. Federal contracting authorities use these limits to decide whether a proposed procurement or contract needs approval at a higher level. CanadaBuys explains how this works in its guidance on general principles of procurement authority.

The directive also defines the part played by Public Services and Procurement Canada. PSPC's role as a common service provider is elaborated in section 5.6. According to the CanadaBuys page on key acts and contract regulations, departments may enter into service contracts under their own authorities, within the Appendix A limits, although they may choose to have PSPC run those procurements.

Mandatory procedures for specific kinds of buying

The directive includes mandatory procedures for particular situations. Three are relevant to bid teams:

• Professional services: Appendix F sets out mandatory procedures for business owners procuring professional services. See the Appendix F text.
• Indigenous businesses: the directive contains procedures that support the Government of Canada's mandatory minimum target for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses. The procedure is published in an Treasury Board appendix.
• Accessibility: federal buyers must consider accessibility requirements in procurement, as described on the CanadaBuys page for accessible procurement.

What the directive means for a supplier

The directive is mainly an internal policy for federal organizations. A supplier does not normally submit a separate certification or form because the directive is cited in a solicitation. Its effect reaches suppliers through the procurement itself: how a buyer plans the procurement, which approvals it needs, and which requirements appear in the solicitation documents.

Where the directive drives a requirement, such as accessibility, Indigenous-business participation, security, evaluation or contract administration, that requirement is written into the bid documents and the resulting contract. Bid teams should follow the instructions in each solicitation, and use the directive as background for understanding why a federal buyer runs a process the way it does. The CanadaBuys page on planning and management of procurement is a useful starting point for related policy material.