[ARCHIVED] Government of Canada Procurement Change: Transitioning from GSIN Codes to United Nations Standard Products and Services codes (UNSPSC)
[ARCHIVED August 7, 2021 – This post is superceded and will no longer be updated.]
The Government of Canada currently uses Goods and Services Identification Number (GSIN) codes to identify products for all its procurement activities. Every federal government procurement is tied to a GSIN code. GSIN codes connect all of the procurement information on the Buyandsell.gc.ca website including Tenders, Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements, and Contract History.
As part of Treasury Board’s Data Standard on Classification of Procurement Items, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is implementing a transition from GSIN codes to United Nations Standard Products and Services codes (UNSPSC). GSIN codes and UNSPSC codes will be used concurrently for a time period, until UNSPSC fully replaces the GSIN in the Government of Canada by April 1, 2017.
Currently No Impact to Businesses or Government Buyers
There is no immediate impact to businesses or government buyers. As the transition to UNSPSC is implemented, PWGSC will inform businesses and government buyers of changes that may impact them.
Benefits of Switch to UNSPSC Codes
The adoption of UNSPSC as the new data standard on classification for procurement items is expected to result in an improved classification system of products and services, increase the ease of data sharing, and centralize the governance of the classification system.
How will the government transition from GSIN to UNSPSC?
The GSIN classification, as used by PWGSC, consists of over 5,000 codes. All of these codes will be mapped to UNSPSC. Currently you can link to the list of UNSPSC codes to be used by the Government of Canada on the Download UNSPSC data page. Once the mapping activity is complete, an open data file will be available on this page, which will map current active GSIN codes to their UNSPSC equivalent and will assist businesses and government buyers during the transition period.
More information
To learn more about the transition to UNSPSC, visit the Download UNSPSC data page.
To receive the latest updates about the UNSPSC initiative and other procurement related news, subscribe to the Atom or the RSS news feeds for Buyandsell.gc.ca.
For more information about UNSPSC codes, call the national InfoLine at 1-800-811-1148. You may also send questions using the Web form found on the Buy and Sell Contact Us page.
