Procurement Integrity Regime

The Procurement Integrity Regime, referred to in Government of Canada sources as the Integrity Regime, was the federal rules-based debarment and supplier-integrity system. It was designed to ensure that the Government of Canada does business only with ethical suppliers. Under it, a supplier could be declared ineligible or suspended from doing business with the federal government when specified integrity-related conditions applied.

The government introduced the regime in 2015. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) administered it centrally across government. In 2024, the Office of Supplier Integrity and Compliance replaced it. Federal sources still use the name Integrity Regime when they describe how the earlier system worked. You can read the overview in the Department of National Defence procurement overview.

The three components of the Integrity Regime

The regime had three identified parts that worked together:

• Ineligibility and Suspension Policy: set out when and how a supplier could be declared ineligible or suspended.
• Integrity directives: instructions for federal departments and agencies on applying the policy.
• Integrity provisions: clauses in solicitations, contracts and real-property agreements that brought the regime's requirements into each procurement and the resulting agreement.

PSPC publishes the supplier integrity and compliance overview that describes the current framework and its relationship to the former regime.

Scope: which contracts and organizations were covered

The regime generally applied to federal procurement and real-property transactions over $10,000, according to the Department of National Defence procurement overview. It covered contracts and real-property agreements awarded by the departments and agencies listed in Schedules I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act, subject to stated exceptions. Other federal entities, including Crown corporations, could adopt it voluntarily, as the PSPC transition briefing material explains.

Ineligibility and suspension periods

The policy tied consequences to listed offences. A supplier charged with or convicted of an offence listed in the Ineligibility and Suspension Policy could be suspended or found ineligible. Similar foreign offences could also trigger action.

The PSPC integrity regime consultation guide sets out the time periods. A conviction for a listed Canadian offence, or a similar foreign offence, could make a supplier ineligible for up to 10 years. A supplier charged with a listed offence, or one that admitted guilt, could be suspended for up to 18 months. A suspension could last longer while judicial proceedings continued.

Replacement by the Office of Supplier Integrity and Compliance

PSPC states that the Office of Supplier Integrity and Compliance (OSIC) replaced the previous regime. OSIC is responsible for identifying suppliers of concern, taking risk-mitigation action and promoting ethical business practices. The department announced the change in its notice on the coming into force of OSIC.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Treat the Integrity Regime as the historical name for federal supplier-integrity rules, and work to the OSIC framework for current federal procurements. Under the regime, suppliers had to provide the information needed for integrity verification and comply with the integrity provisions in the relevant solicitation or contract. A supplier that met the policy conditions could not be awarded covered federal business, or could lose its eligibility for it.

Federal organizations outside the core departments also check supplier standing. Defence Construction Canada states that it conducts due-diligence verification before awarding contracts, to determine whether a firm has been declared ineligible under PSPC's Ineligibility and Suspension Policy. Its Procurement Code of Conduct requires honest, fair and comprehensive bids, accurate representation of capacity and compliance with contractual obligations. Bid teams should keep their corporate records and offence disclosures accurate, and read the integrity clauses in every solicitation before submitting.