Federal IT: 17,559 contracts, $6.4B, and a 25.9% top-10 grip

What the federal IT market looks like in numbers

Between 2023 and 2025, federal departments reported 17,559 IT contracts worth $6.4 billion under proactive disclosure. That is 7.6% of all reported contract value in the window. The contracts counted here carry an IT services and telecommunications commodity code (GSIN D3…) or an IT equipment and software code (GSIN 70…).

The market is broad: 3,514 vendors won at least one of these contracts. But it is also top-heavy. The ten largest IT suppliers by reported value account for $1.7 billion, or 25.9% of IT value. The median IT contract is $42,465.

Two facts sit side by side for a supplier sizing up this market. Most contracts are small: 68.6% of IT contracts are under $100,000. Most money is not: contracts over $1 million are 4.6% of the count but 73.3% of the value. A firm can enter through small awards and still face a market where the largest deals carry most of the spending.

The largest federal IT suppliers

THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF is the top supplier by reported IT contract value, at $272.1 million across 224 contracts and 2 departments. CA, Inc. follows at $252.0 million from just 2 contracts and 2 departments, and Accenture Inc. is third at $246.9 million across 56 contracts and 8 departments.

The rest of the top ten shows two different routes into the market. Some suppliers win a small number of very large awards: KYNDRYL CANADA LIMITED reports $141.8 million from 18 contracts, and Axon Public Safety Canada Inc. reports $137.0 million from 9 contracts. Others win many mid-sized contracts across many departments: Veritaaq Technology House Inc. reports $126.3 million from 140 contracts across 12 departments, and IBISKA Telecom Inc. reports $121.6 million from 97 contracts across 9 departments.

Further down the table, breadth matters. Northern Micro Inc. reports $90.8 million from 356 contracts across 28 departments, Donna Cona Inc. reports $83.3 million from 160 contracts across 32 departments, and MICROSOFT CANADA INC. reports $79.6 million from 281 contracts across 37 departments. Deloitte Inc. reports $145.2 million from 67 contracts across 14 departments.

One caution on reading this table: vendor name variants that could not be matched count as separate vendors. TEKsystems Canada Inc. ($107.0 million, 87 contracts, 8 departments) and TEKsystems Canada Corp. ($96.4 million, 122 contracts, 10 departments) appear as two rows for that reason. The same firm may appear more than once under different names.

How concentrated is federal IT spending?

The top ten IT suppliers hold $1.7 billion, or 25.9% of the $6.4 billion in reported IT value. That leaves roughly three-quarters of IT value outside the top ten, spread across the remaining vendors among the 3,514 that won IT work.

Concentration is stronger at the deal level than at the supplier level. Contracts over $1 million are 4.6% of IT contract count but 73.3% of IT value. If your firm only chases large deals, you are competing for the slice of the market where most of the money sits and where the largest suppliers are strongest.

Competition rules also shape access. Non-competitive contracts account for 42.7% of IT contract value. That figure covers awards reported without a competitive process; it does not tell you which suppliers hold them or why.

Which departments buy the most IT

Shared Services Canada is the largest IT buyer by a wide margin: $2.3 billion across 2,210 contracts. It is also the top department overall in this dataset. Any IT firm selling to the federal government will meet Shared Services Canada early.

Below it, spending spreads across departments with different buying patterns. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reports $495.8 million across 1,251 contracts. National Defence reports $438.0 million across 467 contracts. The Canada Border Services Agency reports $388.4 million across 515 contracts. Public Services and Procurement Canada reports $378.8 million across 813 contracts.

Two departments stand out for contract volume rather than value. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police reports $370.0 million across 1,536 contracts, and Global Affairs Canada reports $236.2 million across 1,517 contracts. Elections Canada reports $168.0 million from only 89 contracts, a pattern closer to a few large awards. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada reports $158.7 million across 1,110 contracts, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat reports $236.5 million across 278 contracts.

For a new entrant, the count column matters as much as the value column. Departments with many contracts under $100,000 are where a first award is realistic; departments with few, large contracts are harder to enter without a track record.

Which IT categories carry the money

D302 is the largest category by value: $2.1 billion across 3,515 contracts. That single code accounts for a large share of the $6.4 billion total. 7030 follows at $1.1 billion across 3,664 contracts, and Informatics Professional Services reports $1.0 billion across 686 contracts.

Below the top three, the categories thin out quickly. D399 reports $447.5 million across 860 contracts. 7025 reports $300.3 million across 1,011 contracts. D301 reports $263.6 million across 981 contracts. 7035 reports $125.5 million across 552 contracts. 7010 reports $113.4 million across 713 contracts. 7050 reports $97.3 million across 832 contracts. D317 reports $93.9 million across 1,082 contracts.

IT services dominate the market overall: 9,173 IT services contracts are worth $4.5 billion. The category table shows where that money sits by code. A firm should check which code its work is reported under before bidding, because the code determines whether the contract appears in this IT dataset at all.

How many IT contracts are small enough for a new entrant?

Most of them. 68.6% of IT contracts are under $100,000, and the median IT contract is $42,465. With 17,559 IT contracts in the window, the under-$100,000 band is where the largest number of awards sits.

The trade-off is value. Contracts over $1 million are 4.6% of the count but 73.3% of the value. Winning small contracts builds a federal track record and department relationships, but it does not put a firm into the part of the market where most of the $6.4 billion sits.

Non-competitive contracts are 42.7% of IT value. That is a large share of spending awarded without competition, and it is not in the data which suppliers hold those awards or what justified them.

One limit to keep in mind: contracts with a missing or non-IT commodity code are not counted, so IT work coded as general professional services is missed. The $6.4 billion figure is a floor for IT spending, not a full account of it.

Practical steps for an IT supplier

Start with the departments that buy in volume. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (1,536 contracts), Global Affairs Canada (1,517 contracts), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (1,251 contracts), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (1,110 contracts) and Public Services and Procurement Canada (813 contracts) all report high contract counts. High counts mean more opportunities to bid and more chances to win a first award.

Target the under-$100,000 band first. It holds 68.6% of IT contracts, and the median contract is $42,465. Build a record there before pursuing the over-$1 million deals that carry 73.3% of IT value.

Pick your category deliberately. D302 ($2.1 billion, 3,515 contracts) and 7030 ($1.1 billion, 3,664 contracts) are the two largest by value and both have high contract counts. Informatics Professional Services ($1.0 billion, 686 contracts) carries large value with fewer, larger awards. Check how your work is coded before you bid, because a non-IT code keeps the contract out of this dataset.

Plan for Shared Services Canada. At $2.3 billion across 2,210 contracts, it is the single largest IT buyer in the window. Even if you start elsewhere, understand how it buys.

Expect an entrenched top tier. The ten largest suppliers hold $1.7 billion, 25.9% of IT value, and 42.7% of IT value is non-competitive. Compete where counts are high and contract sizes match your capacity, and register under a single consistent legal name: unmatched name variants count as separate vendors in this data, as the two TEKsystems rows show.