GOVCON WEEKLY

Canadian Procurement Pulse: Six months of 2025

Government procurement in Canada is vast. That's the first takeaway from six months of data—25,231 opportunities across 2,575 organizations from August 2025 through January 2026.

The second takeaway: most of it isn't federal.

Municipalities alone posted more opportunities than Ottawa. The broader public sector—universities, hospitals, school boards—added thousands more. Provincial governments are buying everything from transportation infrastructure to health IT to housing. Crown corporations like Parks Canada are posting over a hundred opportunities in a six-month window.

For federal contractors watching the headlines about workforce adjustments and spending reviews, this data offers some perspective. Yes, federal procurement is concentrated—DND alone accounts for over a quarter of it. But step back from Ottawa and the picture changes. There's work across the country, across sectors, across government levels. The challenge isn't finding opportunities. It's knowing where to look.

The Headline: Municipalities are where the action is

Municipal governments posted 9,683 opportunities over the past six months, representing 38.4% of all procurement activity. Add provincial governments (6,137 opportunities, 24.3%) and the pattern becomes clear: subnational procurement accounts for nearly two-thirds of the market.

Federal procurement, by contrast, represented just 17.9% of opportunities (4,523 total). The broader public sector—universities, hospitals, school boards—added another 4,202 opportunities (16.7%).

This distribution matters because most government contractors orient their entire business development strategy around Ottawa. They're competing for roughly one-fifth of the market while leaving the rest largely uncontested.

By the numbers:

• Municipal: 9,683 (38.4%)

• Provincial: 6,137 (24.3%)

• Federal: 4,523 (17.9%)

• Broader Public Sector: 4,202 (16.7%)

Federal Reality: The DND Concentration

Within federal procurement, the concentration is striking. The Department of National Defence posted 1,199 opportunities over six months—26.5% of all federal activity and more than the next four departments combined.

The federal top five:

1. DND: 1,199 opportunities

2. PSPC: 557

3. DFO: 234

4. NRC: 164

5. Shared Services Canada: 158

DND operates as essentially a separate market with its own requirements around security clearances, controlled goods, and defence-specific certifications. Contractors without these prerequisites can effectively subtract 1,200 opportunities from their federal pipeline before they begin.

The public safety and emergency sector (which includes DND, Correctional Service, RCMP, and CBSA) accounts for 1,676 federal opportunities—37% of federal procurement. If you're not in the security business, federal procurement looks considerably smaller.

Provincial Landscape: Different Provinces, Different Priorities

Provincial governments vary dramatically in both volume and focus.

Quebec leads with 1,383 provincial opportunities, concentrated in transportation (311), health (267), and recreation (148). The province's transport ministry alone posted 224 opportunities.

British Columbia follows at 1,224 opportunities, but with a health-heavy profile: 387 health-related opportunities versus 291 in utilities and environment. BC's Provincial Health Services Authority is one of the most active single buyers in the country.

Alberta posted 1,042 provincial opportunities, dominated by general government administration (566) and innovation/IT services (158). The province's technology modernization push is visible in the numbers.

Ontario, despite being the largest province, shows only 554 provincial opportunities in this dataset—likely reflecting different portal structures rather than lower actual procurement volume. Ontario Shared Services (153 opportunities) and the provincial lottery corporation are among the most active buyers.

Manitoba punches above its weight in transportation (289 opportunities from the transportation ministry alone, plus another 295 total in the sector).

The smaller provinces and territories present interesting dynamics. Newfoundland shows strength in housing (79 opportunities from NLHC), utilities (105 from NL Hydro), and IT services. Nunavut and Yukon post smaller volumes but face less competition.

Tech Spotlight: Cybersecurity Dominates

The technology categories reveal a striking imbalance between market reality and industry narrative.

Cybersecurity: 3,288 opportunities

Security-related procurement dwarfs every other technology category. DND leads with 228 opportunities, followed by PSPC (126) and Correctional Service (56). But the demand is distributed: York Region posted 35, Calgary posted 28, and the Alberta Social Housing Corporation posted 28.

The distribution across government levels is notable: Federal leads with 1,044 opportunities, but provincial (942) and municipal (756) aren't far behind. Cybersecurity is now a baseline requirement, not a specialized need.

ERP Systems: 1,768 opportunities

Enterprise resource planning remains a major category, driven partly by SAP Ariba adoption across federal departments and ongoing system modernization at provincial and municipal levels. DND posted 293 ERP-related opportunities.

Cloud Services: 460 opportunities

Cloud procurement is steady but not explosive. DND (29), Parks Canada (18), and the Government of Yukon (12) are active buyers. BC shows strong cloud activity (87 opportunities), suggesting provincial cloud adoption is accelerating.

Artificial Intelligence: 160 opportunities

Despite the hype cycle, explicit AI procurement remains modest. PSPC posted 9 AI-related opportunities, DND posted 8, Shared Services Canada posted 4. The federal government accounts for 67 of 160 total AI opportunities.

This 20:1 ratio between cybersecurity and AI tells a story about government technology priorities. Agencies are focused on protecting existing systems rather than deploying experimental ones.

Data Analytics: 143 opportunities

Analytics and business intelligence procurement is distributed across levels, with NRC, PSPC, and Transport Canada each posting 5 opportunities.

SaaS: 125 opportunities | CRM: 50 opportunities

Software-as-a-service and customer relationship management remain niche categories in government procurement, though both are growing.

Special Patterns

Standing Offers: 1,014 opportunities

Standing offers and supply arrangements account for 4% of total opportunities, but they're heavily concentrated at the federal level (844 of 1,014, or 83%). Nova Scotia shows the strongest provincial standing offer activity (56 opportunities).

If you're not already on relevant federal standing offers, you're excluded from a significant portion of the work that flows through those vehicles.

Indigenous Business Set-Asides: 435 opportunities

Indigenous procurement set-asides appeared in 435 opportunities, with 297 (68%) at the federal level. BC shows the strongest provincial activity (68 opportunities).

Sole Source: 97 opportunities

Published sole-source notices remain rare—just 97 over six months. BC accounts for 71 of these.

Monthly Patterns

Procurement volume shows clear seasonality. August was the slowest month (2,108 opportunities), reflecting summer slowdowns. September through December held steady in the 4,300-5,000 range. January 2026 showed 4,314 opportunities.

Federal procurement peaks in November (889 opportunities) before the fiscal year-end push. Municipal procurement peaks in October (1,916) and maintains steady volume through January.

Monthly totals:

• August 2025: 2,108

• September 2025: 4,319

• October 2025: 4,792

• November 2025: 4,711

• December 2025: 4,987

• January 2026: 4,314

What This Means for Contractors

Six observations from six months of data:

1. Reconsider the federal fixation. If you're exclusively targeting federal work, you're competing for 18% of the market. Municipal and provincial combined represent 63%. The math favours diversification.

2. Security clearance is table stakes for serious federal work. DND and the broader public safety sector account for over a third of federal opportunities. Without appropriate clearances, federal procurement looks even smaller.

3. Education is an underserved market. Universities and school boards post substantial volume with different competitive dynamics than government departments. Academic calendars and committee-based decision-making require adapted approaches.

4. Cybersecurity demand is real; AI demand is not (yet). The 20:1 ratio between cybersecurity and AI opportunities suggests where government priorities actually are. Protect existing systems first, experiment later.

5. Crown corporations offer different procurement dynamics. The 2,700 opportunities from crown corporations often come with more commercial flexibility and faster timelines than core government.

6. Geographic arbitrage exists. Less-contested markets in Atlantic Canada, the Prairies, and the territories offer opportunities for firms willing to serve those communities.