How do I find out who won a government contract in Canada?

Where are federal contract awards published?

Start on CanadaBuys. From the Tender opportunities page you can search by keyword, solicitation number, company name or tender title, then switch between two tabs that answer slightly different questions.

• Award notices. CanadaBuys says these cover contracts the Government of Canada has issued since June 1, 2013, and they are posted daily. A notice shows the contract and solicitation numbers, award date, contract value, awarded company, duration, applicable trade agreements and, where it applies, the reason for limited tendering.
• Contract History. This covers contracts Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has awarded to businesses on behalf of federal departments and agencies since January 2009, and it is updated monthly. Click a company name and use the "View the full contract history" link to see everything that company has been awarded through PSPC.

The two views differ on amendments. CanadaBuys explains that contract history lists all contract amendments, while an award notice shows only the last amended version. It also warns that searching contract history with old Buyandsell contract numbers will not give accurate results, so search by company name or solicitation number instead.

Bulk data

If you want to analyze awards rather than look up one contract, the same data is on the Open Government Portal. The CanadaBuys award notices dataset covers federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations bound by trade agreement obligations, unless specifically exempt, and its current files are refreshed each morning. The CanadaBuys contract history dataset holds PSPC contract records and is refreshed monthly. The award notices dataset includes federal organizations only, even though the CanadaBuys site also lists notices from other levels of government.

How do I search federal contracts over $10,000?

CanadaBuys contract history covers only contracts PSPC awarded, and CanadaBuys points to proactive disclosure for contract data across the entire federal government. For that government-wide view, use "Search Government Contracts over $10,000" on the Open Government Portal. It is published under the proactive publication requirements of the Access to Information Act and covers contracts over $10,000, plus amendments that change a contract's value by more than $10,000 or push it over that threshold. Values include applicable taxes.

Each record shows the vendor name, total and original value, contract date, description of work and the buying organization. You can filter by organization, value, solicitation procedure, limited tendering reason, trade agreement, vendor country and more, and download your results.

How do I find who won a provincial contract?

Each province publishes results on its own system, usually the same one that posted the tender.

British Columbia: BC Bid

The BC Bid public portal's main menu has links to Opportunities, Contract Awards and Unverified Bid Results. On Contract Awards you must enter at least one keyword or filter before any records display. The province says that for contracts covered by trade agreements, contract award summaries, Invitations to Quote for goods bid results and unverified bid results for construction opportunities are posted on BC Bid. It also notes that announcements are unofficial until the contract or purchase order is executed.

Alberta: Alberta Purchasing Connection

The Government of Alberta's procurement FAQ says the contract award, including the name of the successful supplier, the award date and the contract value, is posted on APC. The APC Help Centre says the Find Opportunities & Notices page displays all postings on APC by default, and that you can enter an APC reference number in the Text Phrase filter to find a specific posting. Municipal buyers use APC as well: the City of Calgary says it strives to post all award notices within 48 hours of each decision, on SAP Ariba Discovery and APC.

Ontario: Ontario Tenders Portal and broader public sector buyers

The Ontario Tenders Portal handles opportunity postings and award notices, and its supplier FAQ says you can search by UNSPSC code, keyword, date and ministry to locate past award details. Supply Ontario says award notifications are published in the same manner and place the opportunity was advertised, and that the name of the successful bidder, the term of the contract and the total bid price can be provided upon request. For designated broader public sector organizations, such as hospitals, school boards, universities and colleges, the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive requires a contract award notification for procurements of $139,000 or more, posted the same way as the procurement documents after the agreement is executed. It must list the successful supplier, the agreement start and end dates and any extension options.

Quebec: SEAO

Once a bidding period ends, SEAO moves the notice to its Résultats d'ouverture et contrats conclus section, where you follow up on opening results and concluded contracts. Quebec's Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor summarizes the rules for public bodies this way: opening results are published on SEAO within 4 business days, and contract information is published on SEAO for contracts with an expenditure of $25,000 or more. Quebec municipalities must also publish on SEAO, and keep updated monthly, a list of their contracts of at least $25,000.

How do I find who won a city contract?

Cities publish results in three main places: a bid results or awarded contracts page, the e-bidding platform that hosted the tender, and council or committee reports. Check all three, because each city splits them differently. Some examples:

• Toronto. Since October 1, 2025, approved and cancelled procurements are published on the Toronto Bids Portal under Awarded Contracts and Cancelled Solicitations, where you can subscribe to weekly updates. Award information from before that date stays on TMMIS, the City's meeting management system, which still captures non-competitive awards, competitive awards over $30 million and contracts with terms over 5 years. Awards over $30 million still require City Council approval.
• Winnipeg. The City's closed bid opportunity listing covers past bid opportunities, documents, and public or posted opening and award results. It notes that award amounts are based on the terms in the bid opportunity, typically with PST and GST extra.
• Ottawa. The City says unofficial adjusted results for construction projects are posted to the individual solicitations on MERX, and copies of previous results can be requested from Supply Services.
• Calgary. Award notices go on SAP Ariba Discovery and APC, as above.
• Vancouver. The City's Awarded bids page publishes yearly PDFs of results of its open public competitive bids, with successful vendor names, bid amounts and award dates, alongside bid committee decision reports and monthly notice of contract reports. It notes that information is published after the contracts are signed.

What I see most often is people stopping at the opening results. An unofficial bid result tells you who bid and at what price on opening day, not who was finally awarded the contract. For larger contracts, the council or committee report that approved the award is often the most detailed public record, so search the city's meeting agendas for the tender number.

Can I ask for a debriefing if I bid and lost?

Yes, and if you bid it is usually the fastest way to learn who won and why your bid scored the way it did. Debriefs have deadlines, and they are short:

• Federal. CanadaBuys says unsuccessful bidders can request a debriefing after a contract is awarded, under Treasury Board contracting policy. The window is set in each solicitation. A National Defence request for proposal posted on CanadaBuys, for example, asks bidders to make the request to the Contracting Authority within 15 working days from receipt of the results, and says the debriefing may be in writing, by telephone or in person.
• Alberta. The Government of Alberta says a written debrief request must be received within 10 business days of notification that you were unsuccessful, or as otherwise specified by the purchasing department.
• Ontario broader public sector. Organizations must tell all unsuccessful suppliers they are entitled to a debriefing for procurements of $139,000 or more, and allow 60 calendar days from the contract award notification to request one.
• British Columbia. The province describes a debrief as a session between a supplier and the government office that issued the solicitation, to help the supplier understand why its submission was not successful.
• Calgary. All bidders are emailed when a procurement is awarded, with a link to a debrief request form, and the City will not accept requests before the contract is awarded.

Read the debriefing clause in the solicitation itself and diarize the deadline the day you receive the results notice. Buyers protect confidential information, so expect to learn about your own bid and the outcome, not the winner's full proposal.

When should I use an access to information request?

Use it last, when the award is not in any published source and the buyer will not tell you. Before filing, search the Government of Canada's summaries of completed access to information requests, which cover requests made after January 2020. If someone has already obtained the records you want, you can request a copy at no cost through the form under each summary.

1. Identify the institution that holds the records, usually the department named on the tender.
2. Describe the records precisely: the solicitation or contract number, the date range and the type of document, such as the contract or the award decision.
3. Submit through the ATIP Online Request service or the institution's own process. Federal requests under the Access to Information Act have a $5.00 application fee.
4. Expect a response within 30 days. The Act requires the institution to respond within 30 days after receiving the request, subject to extensions allowed under the Act.

Set expectations about what you will get. Section 20 of the Act requires institutions to refuse to disclose third-party trade secrets and confidential financial, commercial, scientific or technical information supplied by a third party, which can cover parts of a competitor's bid. Provinces have their own laws. In British Columbia, for example, the province notes that suppliers and individuals may request information under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.