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Government Procurement Glossary of Terms

You may come across unfamiliar terms when looking for information pertaining to selling to a specific government body. As mentioned earlier, each body or organization can have different procurement policies and use different terminology. This glossary, specific to the context of this article, should help you with your research.

Bid: An indication of willingness to buy or sell goods or services or to undertake a task, at a specific price and within a specific timeframe.

Business Number: A unique, nine-digit business number that is given to your registered business by the Canada Revenue Agency to identify you.

Call for tenders: see Request for proposals

Call-Up: A business that holds a standing offer to supply goods or services to the government receives a call-up when the goods are required.

Commodity: Goods and services that are bought and sold.

Contracts: Contracts describe a pre-defined requirement or scope of work, and set the terms and conditions of the work or deliverables including predetermined quantities, prices or pricing basis, and delivery date.

Invitation to bid: see Request for proposals

MERX: The electronic tendering service that is used by the federal government, as well as by provincial/territorial and municipal governments.

Procurement Business Number: You are given this number when you register your business in the Supplier Registration Information service using your Canada Revenue Agency Business Number.

Proposal: A submission by one party to supply certain goods or services to another. Unlike an offer, a proposal is not a promise or commitment but, if accepted by the other party, its proposer is expected to follow through and negotiate for the creation of a binding contract. If submitted in response to a request for proposals, it normally constitutes a bid.

Request for Information: A request made by the government to the supplier community for information and feedback on a proposed procurement strategy, prior to a request for proposals.

Request for Proposals: Depending on factors such as the type of work to be done and the value of the goods to be delivered, different terms are used to basically ask you to show your interest in a specific business opportunity. Some of the most common invitations or advertisements are: call for tenders, invitation to bid, request for proposals, request for tenders and request for quotations.

Request for a Standing Offer: A government department issues a request for standing offers when it wishes to create a list of pre-qualified standing offers.

Request for a Supply Arrangement: A government department issues a request for a supply arrangement when it wishes to create a list of pre-qualified supply arrangement holders.

Request for tenders: see Request for proposals

Request for quotations: see Request for proposals

Standing Offer: Prearranged prices, terms and conditions are offered by a potential supplier to provide goods and/or services to the government on a recurring basis for a specific period of time. This takes place when government departments have recurring needs for goods such as office equipment or services such as repairs. No contractual obligation exists in a standing offer.

Supplier Registration Information: Supplier Registration Information is a database of registered government suppliers.

Supply Arrangement: Negotiable prices with predetermined terms and conditions are offered by a supplier to provide goods, but most commonly services, to the government on an as required basis for a specific period of time. Supply arrangements are used, in lieu of standing offers, when the methods/bases of payment frequently change or when a statement of work or commodity can't be predetermined.

Tender: A sealed bid submitted in response to a request for tenders and containing detailed information on requirements and terms associated with a potential contract.