[ARCHIVED August 2, 2016 – This page will no longer be updated. Please see https://blog.theproposalcentre.ca//list-of-primers/ for current information on key Government of Canada and Government of Ontario contract vehicles]

The BuyandSell.gc.ca Tenders website went live over the weekend.  As of now all new opportunities and amendments for existing opportunities will be posted at https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tenders instead of MERX.

As with any transition, there is a lot to learn, bugs to be fixed, and necessary workarounds for less than ideal usability or missing features which will hopefully be addressed in the future.  In this post we look at what we consider to be the essentials of getting started with the BuyandSell.gc.ca Tenders service.  To start off, the two most critical actions you should take include:

• Track Existing Opportunities
  To us, your first priority should be making sure you don’t miss out on any amendments from existing/ongoing opportunities. For each and every federal opportunity you are tracking on MERX, you will need to find it on https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tenders. The most reliable way to find an existing opportunity is to search on the solicitation number.  Once you have found the right opportunity you will need to track it.  See “Tracking Opportunities and Searches” below.
• Setting up new opportunity searches
  The next item you should take care of is making sure you do not miss out on any new opportunities.
  [N.B. As of 8:00 a.m. EDT on June 3, 2013 it appears as though no new opportunities have been published in the system].  One of the several ways you can find new opportunities is to set-up a search:
  • On the Tenders home page select “Active” under “Quick Search”
  • Enter your search terms in the search box on the left hand side of the page. You will likely need to play around with the terms and conditions (e.g. ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘not’, quotation marks) you use to get the  best results.
  • Once you have found a search you would like to keep for the future, you can track the search as described below under “Tracking Opportunities and Searches”

Tracking Opportunities and Searches
Unlike MERX, https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tenders is anonymous and you do not register to use the system, nor can you register to save searches or track opportunities.  We understand that there are two different ways to track opportunities and searches:

• Bookmark the page and return regularly to see if there are any updates.
  • Opportunities:  Every time you return you will see the full opportunity including the latest amendments, contract awards and any other information related to that specific solicitation
  • Searches: Every time you return the search results will include the current list of active opportunities that match your search
• Subscribe to the RSS feed:
  [N.B. As of 8:00 a.m. on June 3, 2013 this feature is not available for search results] 
  • First, pick an RSS Reader or an RSS to Email Service

We are testing a couple of RSS to Email services – http://blogtrottr.com/ and http://www.feed2mail.com/. Internet Explorer or Microsoft Outlook can also handle RSS feeds  and PWGSC has added their suggestions at https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tenders/follow-opportunities#list

• Next, subscribe to the feed.  How to subscribe to the feed will depend on which RSS Reader or RSS to Email Service you use.

So far http://blogtrottr.com/ and http://www.feed2mail.com/ seem very simple to use and should provide exactly what most vendors will want – email notification whenever an amendment or other updates are issued on an opportunity or search. To use either one:

1. Within the opportunity description, right-click on the RSS icon () and copy the link address
2. Navigate to http://blogtrottr.com/ or http://www.feed2mail.com/, paste the RSS link, type in your email address and hit “Subscribe” or “Feed Me”.
3. Now every time the opportunity is updated or new search results are available, you should receive an email notification.

Other Important things to know about the new Tenders site
As you get familiar with the https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tenders, here are some other items you should know:

• The system will be updated on an ongoing basis with fixes, new features, and other improvements.  PWGSC will release changes as they are ready rather than saving them for a big release.  As such, how you use it today could be different tomorrow and even changed again the next day.
• The system is anonymous.  There is no registration and the government does not know who is downloading bids.  Similarly, there is no longer a Document Request List where you can find other bidders.  If you need to find potential partners you can search based on contract history and standing offers/supply arrangements to find other vendors in your field.
• The full set of information for opportunities is included in a single view.  The same page will have all the opportunity information as well as the associated awards, related standing offer/supply arrangement, and contract history.  There is tremendous potential for researching and understanding the government’s buying patterns for your industry.
• The system holds a lot more than just opportunities. It includes contract history, standing offer and supply arrangements, award notices, procurement notices/news releases and more.  When you do a search from the tenders home page, you search on all this information.  After completing a search you can narrow it down using the filters in the left hand column.  To remove a filter select the “X”.  Your current filter(s) will appear under “Filter Selections” near the top of the left hand column.
• PWGSC is encouraging feedback to help them improve the system. You can provide your comments at https://buyandsell.gc.ca/about-us/provide-feedback

As noted above, the Tenders site is sure to change a lot over the coming days and weeks. We wish you good luck in your search for government opportunities.  Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 3rd, 2013 at 9:37 am and is filed under Canadian Government, Procurement News, Proposal Tips and Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.