GOVCON WEEKLY
Canadian Procurement Pulse: Your Weekly Contractor Insider
October 24 to November 6, 2026
If you are receiving for your first time, welcome to the club! My name is Joe Noss, I am the CEO of Publicus, and every week we give you an inside look into procurement across the country using our AI-powered analytics.
Public safety tenders rose 48% in two weeks, and most of it isn't guns and gear. It's technology, software and services: who answers the call, which system logs it, who gets sent, and where the case ends up.
We read 3,299 tenders from 1,130 buyers, October 24 to November 6, up 11% on the 2,972 the fortnight before.
One ask this week: hit reply and tell us one thing you want us to track for you. We read every one, and the best requests become the next edition.
The 30-Second Version
Police are buying technology, not just gear: public safety tenders rose 48%, led by corrections (+125%) and policing operations (+89%), and three in four weren't for police equipment.
Alberta is building a police service: a contractor roster open until 2031.
Counter-drone came home: three requests in two weeks, up from none.
Public buildings are making their own power: five new rooftop solar projects, and EV charging requests up from one to five.
The System Behind the Officer
Police aren't just buying gear. They're buying a ton of technology and software: public safety tenders jumped 48% in two weeks, led by corrections (+125%) and policing operations (+89%). That's dispatch and records systems, cybersecurity for the Saskatoon Police Service, and blockchain tracing for Calgary police. Even the gear is new technology: conducted energy weapons for a Quebec regional force, and counter-drone systems for Correctional Service Canada.
They're buying services constantly, too: corrections, courts and justice sit under public safety, so the same buyers want crisis call diversion, community responder apps, victim-offender mediation and an AI access-to-justice platform. And six of these tenders were RFIs or expressions of interest, against two the fortnight before: buyers asking industry what's possible before they write the requirement.
Sending the right person
Ontario wants a crisis line in front of 911: the Ministry of the Solicitor General is buying Crisis Call Diversion Services, so crisis calls reach crisis workers. Closes December 1.
Alberta wants volunteers who can get there first: Health Shared Services is buying a community responder app so EHS can send volunteers to medical emergencies. Closes December 14.
Legal help, with AI: the Alberta Law Foundation is asking Alberta non-profits for an AI access-to-justice platform. Closes December 18.
For the people on the other end of these calls, this is the difference between a squad car and someone who can actually help. For mental health providers, non-profits and app developers, it's public safety work they can win.
Consolidation Spotlight: five buyers want better dispatch
Five public safety buyers are shopping for dispatch at once, counting Alberta EHS's responder app above:
PSPC: an RFI for a next-generation computer aided dispatch system, closing December 1.
Nova Scotia Department of Justice: an RFI for records management and computer aided dispatch for several police agencies, closing December 1.
City of Grande Prairie: renewing its Hexagon dispatch system, $150,000 for a year.
Régie intermunicipale de police Richelieu-Saint-Laurent: a notice of intent for dispatch system support and licences, closing November 12.
Dispatch systems talk across police, fire and ambulance, so buyers who compare notes, or buy together, end up with systems that work across borders. For vendors, two of these are RFIs: answering now is how you shape the RFP later.
Building the system itself
A provincial police service in the making: Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services wants a roster of pre-qualified contractors to help stand up a police service, a funding model and full highway patrol. Open until 2031.
A courthouse in Rouyn-Noranda: the Société québécoise des infrastructures is tendering the new courthouse as a progressive design-build, closing December 15.
Ontario corrections: the Solicitor General is procuring a correctional facility in Sudbury and a construction manager for the Cecil Facer Youth Centre, both closing December 1.
Our take: everyone wants next-generation technology, and they're asking first: it's interesting that police are issuing all these RFIs. Everyone's kind of interested in next-gen technology for a lot of things, and the RFI continues to be a key way people are buying stuff. Public safety going up almost fifty percent in two weeks is pretty big.
Know someone who buys for a police service, a courthouse or corrections? Forward them this one.
Counter-Drone Comes Home
Ottawa has started buying ways to stop drones, not just fly them: three counter-drone requests in two weeks, after none the fortnight before. For bases and prisons, it's protection against cheap drones; for Canadian firms, a home market.
National Defence wants a national array: a request for supply arrangement for a counter-UAS national array, closing November 27. Getting on the list matters more than any single order.
Prisons need drone protection too: Correctional Service Canada is buying counter-drone technology for institutions in all five of its regions, with an optional risk assessment. Closes November 23.
The Defence Drone Initiative is ordering: PSPC, for the Defence Investment Agency, wants a littoral uncrewed aircraft system from Stream 1 supply arrangement holders, closing November 25.
Ottawa is also signing: PSPC awarded Complex System Inc $2.09 million for an autonomous drone detection and counter-UAS system.
Our take: this is a serious demand signal, and it isn't just National Defence: what's especially interesting is who's buying. It's not just DND buying drones. It's Correctional Service Canada protecting its institutions, and the National Research Council paying for the research behind drone detection. If Correctional Service Canada is buying counter-drone technology, I'm sure every police force in the country is going to be buying it soon. Municipalities too. (No police or municipal notice yet: one to watch.)
If you sell drone or counter-drone technology: governments are buying. You should really consider the public sector as a market to work with.
If you work in government and want to work with Canadian companies: there are a ton of them in this space today. The federal Defence Drone Initiative marketplace has pre-qualified nearly 400 vendors, and many are quite sophisticated. Canadian options are ready today, and buying from them helps stimulate our domestic economy, so we can be champions in these markets. Publicus has data on the vendors you can work with, and we're happy to help.
Public Buildings Are Making Their Own Power
Public buildings are buying their own power, and this fortnight it's chargers and solar: EV charging requests went from one to five, and five public buildings put new rooftop solar out to tender.
Buyers now run the chargers, not just the cars: BC Hydro wants a management system for its public charging network, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville is installing public chargers at Parc Marie-Victorin, and PUC Services is adding EV chargers at a water treatment plant. For suppliers, that's software and maintenance work, not just hardware.
Five new rooftop solar projects, on buildings they already own: Penticton's water treatment plant, Waterloo's airport terminal and arrivals building (seven prequalified installers), the University of New Brunswick's Singer Hall and central heating plant, Sault Ste. Marie's transit depot roof and Charlottetown's Hillsborough Park Community Centre.
Quebec schools are switching to electric heat: Chemin-du-Roy is swapping gas boilers for electric at L'Escale and Édifice Foucher, and Lakehead District School Board is moving Algonquin School from steam to hot water.
Renewables for a northern grid: Hydro-Québec is tendering renewable energy integration at the Quaqtaq power plant in Nunavik, with an indicative range of $3 million to $5 million.
Our take: this power story is really crazy: with cybersecurity front of mind, grid resilience a priority and more renewables coming online, seeing all of these buildings buy their own energy sources is extremely interesting. It's clearly a trend that's going to last. I think it's good for Canada and good for the public sector, and if Canadian companies are the ones supplying it, we can stimulate a domestic industry here.
Friend of Publicus: Hybrid Power Solutions builds mission-ready portable power, from battery packs to hybrid and fuel-free generators, engineered and assembled in Canada, to buy or rent for construction sites, defence and more. We could not recommend them higher. Definitely check them out.
Also Worth a Look
Fraser Health wants long-term care beds: an expression of interest for long-term care bed capacity, about 75 to 125 beds to start: an early conversation for operators.
Peel wants to build housing faster: Peel Housing Corporation's RFI on modern methods of construction for non-market housing in Mississauga. Closes November 24.
Alberta's most-watched tender is about AI: Technology and Innovation's pre-qualification for a provincial compute environment has 453 firms watching: AI to support decisions across ministries. Closes November 30.
Getting value from GovCon Weekly? The best thing you can do is send it to one colleague who sells to government or works in it.
Our Take
Public safety is a lot more than police: up almost fifty percent, and the RFI continues to be a key way government buys next-gen technology.
Counter-drone is a serious demand signal: police and municipalities will follow, and there are Canadian alternatives, already pre-qualified.
Buildings buying their own power is a trend that's going to last, and it's good for Canada if Canadian companies supply it.
Which of these would you bid on first?
Know someone who sells to government or works in it? Send them GovCon Weekly.
GovCon Weekly is written by the team at Publicus. We built the AI agent system that helps businesses find and win Canadian government contracts, and helps governments save money, buy Canadian, and manage vendor performance.
