Data Sources & Methodology

Official Data Sources

All procurement data on Canada Bid Intel is sourced from the Government of Canada's official open data portal and CanadaBuys system.

CanadaBuys Tender Notices

Daily CSV exports of active tender notices from the CanadaBuys procurement system.

Update Frequency: Daily
Source: buyandsell.gc.ca

CanadaBuys Award Notices

Daily CSV exports of contract awards including supplier name, value, department, and categories.

Update Frequency: Daily
Source: buyandsell.gc.ca

Contract History (2009-Present)

Monthly CSV exports of historical contract data going back to 2009.

Update Frequency: Monthly
Source: open.canada.ca

Proactive Disclosure Contracts

Quarterly reports of contracts over $10,000, sometimes including bid count data.

Update Frequency: Quarterly
Source: open.canada.ca

Data Processing & Quality

Entity Resolution

Company names in government data are not standardized. We perform basic entity resolution by normalizing names (removing Inc., Ltd., Corp., etc.) and matching on address and postal code. This is not perfect—some companies may appear multiple times under slightly different names.

Data Completeness

Not all historical contracts have complete metadata. Missing fields may include:

  • Supplier address or location details
  • GSIN/UNSPSC category codes
  • Number of bids received
  • Competitive vs. non-competitive designation

Update Schedule

  • Tender data: Updated daily at 6:00 AM ET
  • Award data: Updated daily at 6:00 AM ET
  • Historical contracts: Updated monthly on the 5th
  • Company/department stats: Recalculated weekly

Data Limitations & Disclaimers

What This Data Shows

  • ✓ Companies that won federal contracts
  • ✓ Contract values and award dates
  • ✓ Issuing departments and categories
  • ✓ Historical spending trends

What This Data Does NOT Show

  • ✗ All companies that bid (only winners)
  • ✗ Precise competition metrics (bid counts often unavailable)
  • ✗ Why a company won or lost
  • ✗ Amendments or modifications to contracts
  • ✗ Provincial or municipal contracts (federal only)

Indexing Policy (SEO Quality)

To comply with Google's helpful content guidelines and avoid thin programmatic pages, we only index pages that meet minimum data thresholds:

Company Pages

Indexed if: ≥5 contracts OR ≥$100k total value OR active in last 12 months with ≥$50k

Department Pages

Indexed if: ≥20 contracts OR ≥$1M total spending

Category Pages

Indexed if: ≥50 contracts OR ≥$5M total value

Tender Pages

Indexed if: Description ≥100 characters AND value ≥$10k

Open Government Licence

This site uses data from the Government of Canada under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Attribution: Government of Canada via Open Government Portal (open.canada.ca)

Disclaimer: Canada Bid Intel is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Government of Canada. This is an independent data analysis and intelligence platform.

Questions or Corrections?

If you notice incorrect data, missing records, or have questions about our methodology, please contact us.