What is the difference between MERX and CanadaBuys?

What is CanadaBuys?

CanadaBuys is a suite of procurement services offered by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the official source for Government of Canada tender and award notices. Government open data records show it became the system of record for all federal tender notices on August 8, 2022.

It lists notices from PSPC, other federal departments and agencies, the broader Canadian public sector and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. PSPC tenders are viewed and bid through SAP Business Network. Broader public sector notices link to the buyer's own site, where the bidding instructions are.

CanadaBuys says it will eventually become the single point of access for tender opportunities across the Canadian public sector. For now, it also points suppliers to other tendering websites.

What is MERX?

MERX states on its own FAQ that it is not a government-owned service. Its Canadian Public Tenders service includes federal, provincial and MASH sector opportunities, meaning municipalities and academic, social and health organizations. It also carries tenders from agencies, Crown corporations and private organizations, and offers a separate private construction product.

For suppliers, MERX offers search, opportunity matching by email, document downloads and electronic bid submission for buyers that use it.

CanadaBuys itself lists MERX among the Canadian public procurement gateways on its page of other tendering websites, alongside bids&tenders, Biddingo and BIDSAlert.

Who posts on CanadaBuys and who posts on MERX?

The short version: federal departments and agencies publish on CanadaBuys, and many other public buyers choose MERX or another platform. Some specifics from the buyers' and platforms' own pages:

• Federal: CanadaBuys is the official source for Government of Canada tender notices. Opportunities subject to a trade agreement and at or above its dollar thresholds are published there.
• Manitoba: the province says its tenders that exceed trade agreement thresholds are advertised and distributed by MERX.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: the Public Procurement Agency implemented MERX e-procurement on November 3, 2020, and since May 3, 2021 has accepted bids only through MERX.
• Some federal organizations: at the time of writing, MERX's pricing page lists organizations such as the Bank of Canada and Farm Credit Canada among the buyers whose opportunities its free Basic users can access.
• Municipal, academic, school and hospital buyers: this varies by organization. MERX says its listings include MASH sector buyers, and CanadaBuys also shows some broader public sector notices with a link to the buyer's site.

What is free and what is paid on each?

I am only repeating what each platform publishes about itself. Terms change, so check the source before you rely on it.

CanadaBuys

• You can search the Tender opportunities page and follow a search or a notice by email, RSS or Atom feed from the public site.
• The SAP Business Network account needed to view and bid on PSPC tenders is described by CanadaBuys as free.
• For broader public sector notices hosted on a third-party site, CanadaBuys says any fees or costs to access the full details are described in the notice's Description tab.

MERX

• MERX's pricing page lists a free Basic level that gives access to solicitations from participating buying organizations that have paid for supplier access.
• Paid Premium subscriptions, billed monthly or annually, give unlimited access to solicitations and eBid submissions for one province, one region or all of Canada, with unlimited document downloads and daily notifications.
• Some buyers that use MERX state their own terms. Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, says MERX is free to use for its opportunities.

I am not listing prices here. They change, and the MERX pricing page is the place to check them.

How does bidding differ between the two?

On CanadaBuys, each notice tells you how to bid. PSPC tenders are answered in SAP Business Network, other federal departments attach their solicitation documents to the notice, and some solicitations use other methods such as Canada Post's Connect service.

On MERX, the tender documents explain how to submit, how to lay out your proposal and how it will be evaluated, and buyers can use MERX's electronic bid submission, as Newfoundland and Labrador does. MERX's FAQ also directs bidders to the tender documents for the designated contact person and the deadline for questions.

On both, the buyer's solicitation governs. The platform is the delivery channel, not the rulebook.

Do I need MERX, CanadaBuys or both?

Work backwards from your buyers. If you only sell to federal departments, CanadaBuys is your primary source. If you sell to a province or public body that posts on MERX, you need to watch MERX for those tenders. Suppliers who sell to several levels of government often end up watching both, plus provincial portals and other third-party sites.

1. List the specific buyers you want to sell to.
2. Check each buyer's purchasing page for where it publishes notices and where it accepts bids.
3. Set up searches or alerts on each platform that matters, and register wherever bidding requires it.
4. Recheck the list from time to time, because buyers change platforms.

Where do suppliers miss tenders between the two?

What I see most often:

• Assuming one platform mirrors the other. A search on CanadaBuys will not surface a provincial tender that is posted only on MERX, and the reverse is also true.
• Following amendments in the wrong place. Track each solicitation on the platform where the buyer issued it and accepts bids.
• Searching in one language. MERX notes that its search does not translate, so you may need both English and French terms. The same habit helps anywhere notices appear in only one language.
• Treating a CanadaBuys link-out as the full picture. For broader public sector notices, the bidding details and documents live on the buyer's own site.