Supplier Debriefings

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Once you have been notified of the bid evaluation results or that a contract has been awarded to someone else, you should request a debriefing from the contracting officer.

In accordance with Treasury Board Contracting Policy and the various trade agreements, every supplier has the right to request a debriefing following the results of the competitive process. This includes the issuing of supply arrangements and standing offers.

Table of Contents

Why is a supplier debriefing important?

A supplier debriefing can help you:

  • understand the decision-making criteria used in the evaluation process - essentially how and why the contract was awarded to a particular supplier; and
  • help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your bid; this is important to keep in mind when preparing your next bid.

A supplier debriefing can vary depending on the nature of the process as well as the number of bidders involved. The debriefing can be done in person, by telephone or in writing.

Before the debriefing, you should review the contents of your bid, and prepare questions to ensure you get the most out of your debriefing. When preparing these questions, please keep in mind that the contracting officer can only discuss the contents of your bid and not of others.

What information is found in a supplier debriefing?

A debriefing should include:

  • the name of the successful supplier;
  • the value of the contract awarded or the supply arrangement or standing offer issued;
  • the overall evaluation result of the successful supplier;
  • an outline of the reasons the supplier was not successful, making reference to the evaluation criteria and selection methodology; and
  • where appropriate, very general information on the relative strengths of the successful bid, ensuring that any such statements do not provide any confidential commercial information.

For more information

For more information about supplier debriefings, visit the Supply Manual, Section 7.40: Debriefings to Unsuccessful Bidders/Offerors/Suppliers.