# Canada Advances Federal Procurement Reforms

Canada’s Office of the Procurement Ombud (OPO) used its 2025–26 Annual Report to assess federal procurement reform priorities, including a planned Vendor Performance Management (VPM) system, harmonized procurement rules, and stronger governance and complaint recourse for Indigenous procurement. VPM scores are not yet used in bid evaluations; Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) says suppliers will receive at least 90 calendar days’ notice before scores begin to count. The report also highlights concerns about solicitation clarity, evaluation fairness, contract administration, payment delays, and procurement platforms, while noting that OPO’s funding increase beginning in FY 2026–27 covers only about one-quarter of its identified requirement.

- Suppliers should account for the planned VPM system in contract-performance processes, while recognizing that scores do not currently affect bid evaluations and that PSPC has committed to at least 90 days’ notice before they do.
- Businesses pursuing Indigenous procurement opportunities should take note of the report’s recommendations for stronger governance and complaint recourse related to the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business and the 5% Indigenous procurement target.
- The reported issues with unclear or restrictive solicitations, evaluation fairness, contract administration, payment delays, and procurement platforms identify areas suppliers may need to address when preparing bids and managing federal contracts.
- OPO’s reported capacity gap may affect the resources available for oversight: its FY 2026–27 funding increase covers roughly one-quarter of the identified requirement.

**Jurisdictions:** international
**Topics:** Regulatory Compliance
**Published:** October 27, 2026

### Government Entities
- Office of the Procurement Ombud (OPO)
- Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)
- Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)
- Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT)

### Sources
- [Last year, OPO identified 5 foundational changes needed to strengthen federal procurement. This year, we’re looking at the results.

See where progress stands in our 2025–26 Annual Report: https://t.co/2tdLTPZLDC https://t.co/eOSPfLBEAO](https://x.com/OPO_Canada/status/2115151853897818301) - twitter-fed-procurement