Methods of Supply

In Government of Canada procurement, a method of supply is the procurement mechanism used to obtain goods or services. CanadaBuys identifies three methods: contracts (including contracts with task authorizations), standing offers, and supply arrangements.

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and federal departments use the term when they plan a procurement strategy. The method is selected in consultation with the client department, according to the requirement. For a supplier, the method of supply determines how a department will buy, and therefore how you get onto the list of firms it can call on.

The three methods CanadaBuys lists

A contract is the most direct method. A contract can also include a task authorization mechanism, which allows individual pieces of work to be authorized under that existing contract. Task authorizations are available only where the contract itself provides for them.

A standing offer and a supply arrangement are the other two methods. CanadaBuys describes both on its page for standing offers and supply arrangements, and states that they are used to procure goods and services.

How standing offers differ from supply arrangements

• Standing offer: a continuous offer from a supplier to provide goods or services at pre-arranged prices and under set terms and conditions. When a department needs the goods or services, it purchases through a call-up.
• Supply arrangement: a method involving pre-qualified suppliers. It contains predetermined conditions for solicitations and for the resulting contracts. A department issues a subsequent solicitation for a specific requirement, invites bids from the pool of pre-qualified suppliers, and awards a contract under the arrangement.

In short, a standing offer fixes prices and terms up front, while a supply arrangement qualifies suppliers up front and leaves the competition for each requirement until later.

Mandatory methods of supply for professional services

A mandatory method of supply is one that departments must use when a requirement falls within its scope. PSPC has identified Task-Based Informatics Professional Services (TBIPS) and Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS) among the Government of Canada's existing mandatory methods of supply for professional services. PSPC has also announced work to replace these methods, including TBIPS and TSPS, with a streamlined suite of mandatory methods.

TSPS gives federal departments access to pre-qualified suppliers of non-IT professional services. PSPC explains how the TSPS methods of supply work, and it includes two kinds of supply arrangement:

• Task-based: used for assignments with one or more consultants, a defined start and end date, and specified deliverables.
• Solution-based: used when a department needs a supplier to propose and manage an end-to-end solution to a business problem, including responsibility for the outcome.

What it means for a supplier

Check which method of supply a department is using before you prepare a bid. CanadaBuys directs buyers to determine whether an existing method of supply should be used as part of the procurement strategy, so a requirement may only be open to firms already on a standing offer or supply arrangement. If a mandatory method covers the work, being outside it can mean being shut out of the requirement.

To join a supply arrangement, follow the instructions in the applicable Request for Supply Arrangement tender document, and obtain the relevant supplier account. PSPC sets this out on its supplier registration page. Because the professional-services methods are being replaced, bid teams in that space should watch CanadaBuys for the new suite of mandatory methods.