This article is an extract from the 5th edition of Government Procurement.
In its December 2020 determination in Construction Galipeau Inc. v. Canada (Department of Public Works and Government Services), the Canadian International Trade Tribunal ordered the government to evaluate a rejected bid after finding that the originating solicitation contained contradictory bid submission instructions. The dispute dealt with a tender call for the provision of general contractor services for on-demand construction work required for Government of Canada buildings and properties located in the municipalities of Québec and Les Escoumins. The complainant’s bid was rejected. The complainant argued that its bid should not have been rejected since it was submitted according to the physical bid submissions instructions on the cover page of the solicitation, which were different than the electronic bid submission instructions contained elsewhere within the body of the solicitation document. The Tribunal agreed, finding that the bid should not have been rejected since the solicitation allowed for more than one means of bid submission, including the method used by the complainant. The Tribunal therefore ordered the government to evaluate the complainant’s bid and to award lost profits if that evaluation found that complainant’s bid to be the best bid.
