Question Period Note: Electronic Procurement Solution

In the context of the publication of recent reports, audits, and committee appearances on the procurement process, Public Services and Procurement Canada is leveraging the Electronic Procurement Solution to modernize procurement processes.

• The Electronic Procurement Solution is a modern, cloud‑based digital platform that centralizes federal procurement, improving efficiency while strengthening visibility and oversight of government contracts
  • It now supports virtually all Public Services and Procurement Canada procurements
  • It is being enhanced to support the Buy Canadian Policy by increasing visibility and improving access for Canadian suppliers

Under the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has the legislated mandate to provide acquisition services for federal departments and agencies.

PSPC launched the Electronic Procurement Solution (EPS) project in 2018 to move to a cloud-based e-procurement platform. This project was completed in June 2023 and is a key component of the digital transformation in support of the Minister's mandate to modernize procurement. Following the Budget 2018 announcement, on July 4, 2018, through a competitive process, PSPC awarded a five-year contract to Infosys Public Services who proposed a SAP-based solution.

The CanadaBuys portal is the public facing component of the e-procurement platform that, since September 2022, provides suppliers with a free and accessible single window to view procurement opportunities across federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal jurisdictions.

Prior to the implementation of EPS, PSPC was heavily reliant on an array of obsolescent systems and manual processes to conduct procurement activities and safeguard key information related to procurement activities (emails, CD, fax, e-post, hard copies, etc.). EPS centralizes tendering, award and contract management functions at PSPC and provides enhanced and automated information management and auditing functions.

The EPS contract sourcing and management functionalities are only accessible to PSPC procurement officers. Bid evaluations and other procurement activities conducted by other government departments under their own authorities are currently conducted outside the EPS SAP environment.

EPS has exhausted its project funding. Budget 2023, which included $24.8 million for 2025 to 2026 for the steady-state operation of the system within PSPC has also sunset. This is reflected as a decrease in the 2026 to 2027 Main Estimates.

The next steps planned by PSPC regarding EPS include the following:

• evolve the use of the platform and further modernize procurement practices
• support the implementation of the Buy Canadian measures by strengthening the digital infrastructure needed to collect, identify, and prioritize Canadian content and suppliers
• continue to modernize PSPC Supply Arrangement and Standing Offer instruments and enhance the management of professional service contracts (e.g., timesheets) at PSPC with a view to support more efficient detection of fraudulent practices
• promote social procurement and supplier diversity with better data collection

• More than 92,000 supplier accounts have been registered in the Electronic Procurement Solution, supporting broad and competitive participation in federal procurement
  • 20,112 contracts have been awarded in the Electronic Procurement Solution for a total of $56.7 billion, and 99.7% of all core Public Services and Procurement Canada procurement activities are now conducted in the Electronic Procurement Solution
  • The provinces, territories, municipalities, academia, schools, hospitals and Crown Corporations have a window into CanadaBuys and have posted over 155,000 notices on the web portal