Methods of Solicitation

Methods of solicitation are the formally defined ways a public buyer tells the market what it needs and asks suppliers for offers. The most common instruments are the invitation to bid or tender, the request for proposals (RFP) and the request for quotation (RFQ). Each one sets out how the opportunity is advertised, how an offer must be structured and how the award will be decided.

The term is used across Canadian federal procurement and in the frameworks of allied and multilateral bodies. The United Nations Procurement Manual, for example, defines a solicitation method as the method used to solicit offers from vendors. Canadian suppliers who bid on federal, UN or NATO work therefore meet a largely consistent vocabulary.

Solicitation instruments in Canadian federal practice

The Supply Manual glossary on CanadaBuys defines a bid solicitation as an invitation, verbal or written, to suppliers to submit a bid, quotation or offer. It then defines the specific documents used for that purpose: the invitation to tender (ITT), the request for proposal (RFP), the request for quotation (RFQ) and the request for standing offer (RFSO). Requests for supply arrangements sit alongside these.

Federal buyers treat the choice of method as its own step in the procurement process. The CanadaBuys buyer's guide has a section titled Choose a solicitation method, which explains the available methods and how to use them.

Public notice, suppliers lists and tendering approaches

The Government Contracts Regulations require a contracting authority to solicit bids before entering a contract. Bids are solicited either by giving public notice of a call for bids or by inviting bids from suppliers on a suppliers' list. These are two basic ways of inviting offers, and both must be consistent with generally accepted trade practices.

The CanadaBuys sourcing strategy guidance adds the tendering approaches used under trade agreements:

• Open tendering: a notice of proposed procurement is published to invite all interested businesses.
• Selective tendering: invitations go to one-time or permanent lists of prequalified offerors.
• Limited tendering: suppliers are invited directly under specified exceptions.

Solicitation methods versus methods of supply

Federal guidance separates how offers are solicited from what the buyer ends up with. A Government of Canada acquisitions publication lists the methods of supply as contracts, standing offers and supply arrangements. It lists solicitation methods separately, as forms such as the request for quotation, invitation to tender, bid solicitation, request for standing offer and request for supply arrangement. A solicitation method is the document and procedure that leads to a contract, standing offer or supply arrangement.

Solicitation methods at the UN and NATO

The United Nations Procurement Manual names four main methods: invitations to bid (ITBs), requests for proposals (RFPs), requests for quotations (RFQs) and low value acquisitions (LVAs). ITBs and RFPs are formal methods, while RFQs and LVAs are informal.

At NATO, the NCIA procurement process describes the Agency releasing the solicitation as an Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Quotations (RFQ) or Request for Proposal (RFP). It goes to companies that have submitted Declarations of Eligibility. NATO's procurement opportunities page states that opportunities are generally reserved for firms registered in NATO member nations.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian contracts

The solicitation method tells you the rules before you write a word. An ITT points to a clearly defined requirement. An RFP signals that evaluation will weigh more than price. A solicitation limited to a suppliers' list or to prequalified offerors means you must already be on that list to take part. Read the method named in the notice first, and confirm your eligibility, format and evaluation expectations against it before committing bid resources.