Goods and Services

Goods purchased by the GNWT include raw materials, products, equipment and other physical objects of every kind and description. This may include (but is not limited to) computer equipment, vehicles, office supplies, medical supplies, fuel, and safety equipment.

In general, the GNWT buys goods using four methods:

1. From Standing Offer Agreements (SOAs).
2. Less than $25,000: Departments buy directly from suppliers, following the Order of Preference. 
3. $25,000 or greater: Departments work with Procurement Shared Services to have a formal, competitive procurement process like a tender or Request for Tender (RFT). 
4. $25,000 or greater: By sole source, only in special circumstances. Regulations require that all contracts be issued through a competitive process unless they meet the strict regulatory requirements for sole source contracting.

There are special rules for goods manufactured in the North. To learn more, read about the NWT Manufactured Products Policy.

The GNWT buys services like accommodations, transportation, rentals, insurance, permits, printing, consulting, and custodial.

There are special rules for professional services (like legal and accounting) and for architectural and engineering services. 

In general, the GNWT buys services using four methods:

1.   From Standing Offer Agreements (SOAs) or Supply Service Agreements (SSAs).
2. Less than $25,000: Departments buy directly from suppliers, following the Order of Preference. 
3. $25,000 or greater: Departments work with Procurement Shared Services to have a formal, competitive procurement process like a Request for Proposal (RFP). 
4. $25,000 or greater: By sole source, only in special circumstances. Regulations require that all contracts be issued through a competitive process, unless they meet the strict regulatory requirements for sole source contracting.

The GNWT makes major capital purchases for construction projects like bridges, schools, hospitals, offices, and housing. The GNWT usually uses two forms of construction contracting methods: 

1. The design-bid-build model (Construction Tender/Contract), and 
2. The design-build model (Design-Build RFP/Contract).

These are services provided by a person or persons holding a professional designation/certification under a legislated profession in the Northwest Territories, like a lawyer or accountant.  

In general, the GNWT buys professional services using these methods:

1. From Standing Offer Agreements (SOAs) or Supply Service Agreements (SSAs).
2. Less than $10,000: Departments buy directly from suppliers, following the Order of Preference. 
3. Between $10,000 and less than $50,000: Departments work with Procurement Shared Services to enter a contract with a vendor. Departments follow the Order of Preference and should get at least two quotes. 
4. $50,000 and greater: Departments work with Procurement Shared Services to have a formal, competitive procurement process like a Request for Proposal (RFP). 
5. $50,000 and greater: By sole source, only in special circumstances. Regulations require that all contracts be issued through a competitive process unless they meet the strict regulatory requirements for sole source contracting.

In general, the GNWT buys architectural and engineering services using these methods:

1. From Standing Offer Agreements (SOAs) or Supply Service Agreements (SSAs).
2. Less than $10,000, departments buy directly from suppliers, following the Order of Preference. 
3. Between $10,000 and less than $100,000: Departments work with Procurement Shared Services to enter a contract with a vendor. Departments follow the Order of Preference and should get at least two quotes. 
4. $100,000 and greater: Departments work with Procurement Shared Services to have a formal, competitive procurement process like a Request for Proposal (RFP). 
5. $100,000 and greater: By sole source, only in special circumstances. Regulations require that all contracts be issued through a competitive process unless they meet the strict regulatory requirements for sole source contracting.

The GNWT can procure services valued at less than$10,000 directly from vendors (following the order of priority), excluding leases and products listed under the GNWT Northern Manufactured Policy. 

The GNWT can procure services valued at less than $10,000 and less than $25,000 through Procurement Shared Services (following the order of priority), including leases and products listed under the GNWT Northern Manufactured Policy. In these instances, PSS would obtain a minimum of two informal quotes.

The GNWT can procure goods valued less than $25,000 directly from vendors, in accordance with the following order of priority:

1. BIP Registered Businesses
2. NWT Businesses
3. Canadian Businesses
4. Foreign Businesses

Although purchases valued less than $25,000 are not directly subject to the Business Incentive Policy (BIP) bid adjustment, the BIP registration status of a business should be considered in accordance with the above order of priority.
 
When purchasing goods, services, and construction valued under $25,000, Contract Authorities should support local and regional BIP-registered businesses while also ensuring value for money. 

Where quoted prices that are obtained in accordance with the order of priority exceed 20% of the pricing obtainable from a business at a lower level of priority, the Contract Authority may choose to procure the goods, services or construction from the business at the next level of priority.  

It is the responsibility of the Contract Authority to:

• take reasonable steps to obtain the best value possible;
• operate within GNWT policies;
• comply with the Business Incentive Policy;
• comply with the NWT Manufactured Products Policy;
• comply with the Financial Administration Manual; and 
• be able to demonstrate that reasonable steps were taken to obtain the best value possible while adhering to GNWT policies.

A Request for Tenders is a formal and structured invitation to vendors to submit competitive bids to supply goods, services or construction. Because this is a public and open process, laws were created to govern the process to ensure fair competition among bidders.

The GNWT has a well-defined tender process, as well as processes to govern the opening, evaluation, and final selection of the vendors. This ensures that the selection process is fair and transparent.

Tenders are based on the lowest price once a bid has met all the requirements of the tender.

A Request for Proposals is a formal structured invitation to vendors to submit a proposal for goods, services, or construction. 

A Request for Proposals should be used when one or more of the criteria for issuing a Request for Tenders cannot be met, such as:

• Owing to the nature of the requirement, suppliers are invited to propose a solution to a business problem, requirement or objective and the selection of the bidder is based on the effectiveness of the proposed solution and its overall value rather than on price alone; or
• It is expected that negotiations with one or more bidders may be required with respect to any aspect of the requirement;

Evaluation of a Request for Proposals typically includes:

• Solution/Product
• Qualifications
• Experience
• Price

Vendor submissions are referred to as "proposals" and vendors as "proponents". All proposals must comply with all Mandatory Submissions Requirements in the Request for Proposals.

Sole source procurement is used when:

1. The contract price will not exceed the minimum threshold value:
   • Goods and Services: Less than $25,000
   • Professional Services: Less than $50,000
   • Architectural or Engineering Services: Less than $100,000
2. Performance of the contract is urgently required and delay would be detrimental to the public interest and safety;
3. Only one party is available and capable of performing the contract due to:
   • The work is quite unusual (work of art) 
   • the existence of a legal cooperative agreement
   • geographic limits
   • prototype, experiment, or original development
   • statutory monopoly/absence of competition
   • compatibility, copyright, patent rights, or warranty issues,
4. Only one manufacturer of an Approved NWT Manufactured Product.

A negotiated contract is one where a specific firm or business is targeted, for a variety of reasons, to perform the contract by the GNWT, even though there is more than one firm or business that can perform the contract.

Under usual circumstances, a competitive tender or proposal would be issued instead of entering into a negotiated contract.

Please note, that this differs from a sole source situation, which occurs when: only one firm is available and capable of performing the contract, or the urgency of the situation dictates that the competitive process cannot be used.

The ultimate authority for approval of a negotiated contract rests with Cabinet. See the GNWT Negotiated Contracts policy. 

A Standing Offer Agreement (SOA) is an offer from a vendor to supply goods and/or services at pre-arranged prices and under the terms and conditions stated in the SOA. SOAs are not contracts. They are pricing agreements that the government makes with suppliers or contractors covering anticipated requirements over a defined period of time. They may be used in contracting for goods, services, and/or maintenance.

All SOAs will have transaction limits. The transaction limit is the maximum value of a contract that can be issued under an SOA.

See the current listing of GNWT SOAs.

You can find more information about SOAs in the Procurement Guidelines, section 1.6, and the Financial Administration Manual, chapter 3305. If you want to suggest a new SOA, email us: Procurement_Questions@gov.nt.ca. 

A Supply Services Arrangement (SSA) is an offer from a vendor to supply services under the terms and conditions stated in the SSA. SSAs are not contracts. They are arrangements that pre-qualify contractors to provide specific services on an as and when needed basis, over a defined period of time. They may be used in contracting services only.

The Supply Service Arrangement establishes a list of pre-approved contractors.

P3 Projects are “Public-Private Partnerships” which are a long-term approach to procuring public infrastructure where the private sector assumes a major share of the risks in terms of financing and construction, from design and planning to long-term maintenance.

What are the benefits of a P3 approach?

In practical terms, this means that:

• the GNWT does not pay for the asset until it is built;
• a substantial portion of the cost is paid over the life of the asset and only if it is properly maintained and performs according to specifications; and
• the costs are known upfront and span the life cycle of the asset, meaning that taxpayers are not on the financial hook for cost overruns, delays or any performance issues over the asset’s life.

For a guide to the Government of the Northwest Territories' approach to assessing and acquiring capital infrastructure through a Public-Private Partnerships approach see the GNWT P3 Management Framework. You can also view the P3 policy.