30 terms Cross-linked to primers Release 2026.10 Methodology

Glossary

30 working definitions, cross-linked to the primers that use them. Statistics cited are from the compiled record described on the about page.

A

Average bidders: The mean number of bids received per tender in a category or buyer's record. In Québec's compiled corpus the overall figure is 1.98 bidders per tender, but the split — 3.14 for works, 1.78 for services — is what informs a bid decision. See primer: competition data

B

Bid / no-bid: The structured decision of whether to respond to a solicitation, scored against capability fit, competition, incumbency, capacity, and margin. See primer: bid no bid
Bid challenge: A formal complaint that a procurement was conducted or evaluated unlawfully — federally, to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal. The compiled registry holds 2,043 challenges since 1990. See primer: challenges

C

CITT: Canadian International Trade Tribunal — the quasi-judicial body reviewing federal procurement complaints under trade agreements. Its registry exits into decisions (777), determinations (719), and orders (547). See primer: challenges
Competition intensity: How contested a market category is, measured by average bidders and single-bid rate. Works, services, and goods differ by factors of nearly two in Québec's record. See primer: competition data
Compliance matrix: A table mapping every solicitation requirement to the responding proposal section and its evidence. See primer: compliance matrix

D

Direct award (Québec): A contracting method permitting a buyer to contract without open solicitation under defined exceptions. Québec's record shows 213,328 direct-method tenders against 137,810 open ones — the method mix behind much of the single-bid economy. See primer: single bid

E

Evaluation grid: The weighted criteria a buyer publishes for scoring proposals — the authoritative guide to what a winning submission must contain. See primer: rfp vs rfq vs tender
Evaluation grid weighting: The points or percentages assigned to each scored criterion (e.g. technical 70 / price 30). Weighting determines whether a cheaper-but-weaker competitor can beat you, and where proposal effort belongs. See primer: rfp vs rfq vs tender compliance matrix

F

Fiscal-year effect: The clustering of solicitation deadlines and awards in an organization's final quarter as unspent budgets are committed. Federal contract counts show consistent fourth-quarter surges. See primer: finding opportunities

H

Hit rate: A supplier's wins divided by bids submitted. Québec's most active bidders sustain 40%+ rates across thousands of bids (WSP: 1,224 wins on 2,862 bids) — the signature of durable incumbency. See primer: incumbents

I

Incumbent: The supplier currently holding the contract being re-tendered; incumbents historically retain a large share of renewals. See primer: incumbents
ITQ / ITT: Invitation to Qualify / Invitation to Tender — formal competitive solicitations with binding terms.

L

Limited tendering: A solicitation restricted to a pre-selected or otherwise narrowed field of suppliers rather than open to all. Trade agreements define the permitted grounds. See primer: single bid

M

Mandatory requirement: A pass/fail criterion in a solicitation; failing one disqualifies the proposal regardless of quality elsewhere. See primer: compliance matrix
Mandatory vs rated criteria: Mandatory criteria are pass/fail gates — disqualification on failure; rated criteria are scored, weighted dimensions (technical approach, personnel, past performance) on which proposals are compared comparatively. Maximum points on rated criteria cannot rescue a failed mandatory gate, so reading which is which — before writing — is the first act of proposal strategy. See primer: rfp vs rfq vs tender compliance matrix
Merx-type portal: A subscription tendering service aggregating public-sector opportunities; provinces each operate or license their own.

N

No-tender rate: The share of contract value awarded without a competitive process. In the compiled federal record, 2004–2026, it is 29.3% of $1,212.3B — with a recent-year range of 23.7–32.8%. See primer: incumbents

O

OCDS: Open Contracting Data Standard — the schema for publishing contracting data as releases covering tender, award, and contract stages.
Open tendering: A solicitation open to any qualified supplier, advertised publicly. Open processes are where newcomer displacement is actually possible; Québec recorded 137,810 of them in the compiled corpus. See primer: single bid incumbents

P

Proactive disclosure: Canadian federal policy requiring departments to publish contracts over $10,000 quarterly — the publishing regime behind the compiled record of 1,313,281 awards used throughout this site. See primer: buyer research

R

RFI / RFQ / RFP: Request for Information / Quotation / Proposal — market research, price-driven, and weighted-evaluation solicitations respectively. See primer: rfp vs rfq vs tender

S

Serial challenger: A supplier that files bid challenges repeatedly, maintaining loss files as standing strategy. The compiled CITT registry's top complainant filed 16 complaints; the top dozen filed 120. See primer: challenges
Single-bid rate: The share of tenders receiving exactly one bid. Québec's compiled rate is 67.4% (2021–2026); buyer-level rates range from 37.3% to over 90% — the widest spread in the dataset. See primer: competition data single bid
Single-bid tender: A tender receiving exactly one bid — roughly two-thirds of Québec tenders, 2021–2026. See primer: single bid
Sole-source contract: A contract awarded directly to one supplier without competition, under a policy exception (urgency, national security, exclusive rights, follow-on). Distinct from a single-bid tender, which was openly posted but drew one response. See primer: incumbents
Standing offer: A pre-arranged list of suppliers and prices from which buyers purchase as needs arise, without re-tendering each time.
Supply arrangement: A list of pre-qualified suppliers (unpriced, unlike a standing offer) whom buyers may invite to compete for specific requirements as they arise.

V

Value band: A size class of contract awards (under $25K; $25K–$100K; $100K–$1M; $1M–$10M; over $10M). In the federal record 76.4% of awards fall under $100,000 — the distribution that should drive target selection. See primer: value bands
Vendor concentration: The share of value or count held by the largest vendors. The federal top 100 hold 62.6% of value on just 12.8% of awards. See primer: incumbents value bands

Cite this page

The Procurement Institution. (2026). Procurement glossary. https://procurementinstitution.org/glossary

@misc{pi-2026-glossary,
  author = {{The Procurement Institution}},
  title  = {Procurement glossary},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://procurementinstitution.org/glossary},
  note   = {Release 2026.10}
}