Overview

• Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound sent a letter Thursday directing senior officials to produce within 45 days a detailed proposal to review all current and planned federal contracts worth about $66 billion annually.
• The proposal must include benchmarking against global prices, integration of international best practices, prioritization of Canadian commercially available solutions, and options to pool purchasing with provinces and territories.
• Officials are instructed to identify high-payoff opportunities to renegotiate in areas such as information technology, real property, construction, and travel.
• The push follows critical reports by the procurement ombud and auditor general on persistent contracting weaknesses, including the ArriveCan and McKinsey files, with some cases referred to the RCMP.
• The move aligns with the Comprehensive Expenditure Review as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks operating savings of up to 15 percent ahead of an October budget.