What the Government Buys

The Government of Canada buys just about every kind of product and service, from aircraft to paper clips, from training services to scientific research. Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is a common service agency responsible for a significant portion of these government requirements which it categorizes under the following:

• Architectural and Engineering Consulting Services
• Services Related to Real Property
• Construction
• Goods and Services

You may also want to examine the following lists to give you a better idea of what PWGSC and other departments buy:

• Goods and Services (see the Procurement Allocations Directory)
• Historical Purchasing Data

Architectural and Engineering Consulting Services

PWGSC solicits, on behalf of government departments and agencies, various architectural and engineering consulting services related to real property. These include:

• Professional and technical services: studies, planning, design, and related services during construction for buildings, marine, air and land facilities;
• Specialized services: environmental services, electronic imaging, communication engineering, building automation, heritage restoration, and hydrographic surveys;
• and other related consulting services.

While architectural and engineering consulting services requirements at or above $76,600 are advertised on MERX^TM; those below $76,600 are handled through the online system SELECT.

Other departments are required to use SELECT for architectural and engineering consulting services they buy that are valued at $25,000 or more. To find out more about these services and how you may provide them, please contact the PWGSC office nearest you.

Services Related to Real Property

PWGSC purchases services relating to buildings such as:

• Cleaning services (eg: carpets, windows)
• Janitorial services
• Control systems maintenance and repair (eg: alarms, sprinklers, security)
• Grounds maintenance
• Other related real property services

Requirements worth $76,600 or more for services related to real property are advertised on MERX. Those below $76,600 are handled through the SELECT system, used to identify qualified firms.

Construction

Although departments and agencies can buy much of their construction requirements directly, PWGSC purchases a broad range of these services in support of departments and agencies. Annually, the department contracts for construction requirements worth $678 million.

Construction opportunities at or above $100,000 are advertised on MERX. Similar requirements valued below $100,000 are handled by PWGSC regional offices through the online system SELECT.

Leasing requirements are normally advertised in local newspapers. However, leases with annual net rents in excess of $100,000 are also listed on MERX.

SELECT is used to register construction contractors to give them an equal opportunity to do business with the government by selection on a rotational basis for requirements valued at less than $100,000.

To find out about registering, contact the PWGSC office nearest you.

Goods and Services

Some departments and agencies have the authority to purchase their own goods and services (in most cases, up to $25,000 worth of goods and, up to $2,000,000 of services). PWGSC purchases over 17,000 types of goods and services from private sector companies on behalf of these departments and agencies. These include, but are not limited to:

• aerospace and electronic systems (for aircraft, ships and military vehicles);
• computer hardware and software;
• custom-manufactured and commercially-available products;
• informatics services;
• marine equipment and armament;
• marine inspection and technical services;
• communications, audio-visual and printing services;
• research and development services; and,
• science and professional services.

Federal departments and agencies are establishing purchasing practices to make government procurement more environmentally responsible. As part of this objective, they are using online resources to identify "green" products and services and the companies that supply them. These include:

• Environmental Choice Program
• EnerGuide

MERX advertises requirements for most goods and services at or above $25,000, ($10,000 for printing). For most goods and services below this threshold, PWGSC seeks competitive bids from companies registered on PWGSC source lists. Many of the requirements the department buys below $25,000 are handled by its regional offices.

To find out about business opportunities and how you may respond to them, please contact the PWGSC office nearest you.