On March 23rd, the Treasury Board Secretariat released
Contracting Policy Notice 2020-1: Response to
COVID-191 (CPN 2020-1). CPN 2020-1 provides for:
time limited increases to emergency contracting limits, confirmed
that Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is operating as
a central purchasing organization for the federal, provincial and
territorial governments, directed Deputy Heads not to undertake
one-off purchases, and directed all departments to confirm with
PSPC before initiating their own procurements.
As PSPC undertakes this massive procurement effort to meet the
urgency of the COVID-19 Pandemic, we anticipate that open
competitive procurement processes will, by necessity at least in
the near term, give way to alternative procurement mechanisms, such
as limited tendering and even direct contract (sole source)
awards.
