Trade Agreements, Key Requirements, and Procurement Processes

Trade Agreements:

• New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA), agreement between the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
• Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), agreement between 10 provinces and 3 territories.
• Canadian-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), agreement between 27 countries of the European Union and Canada.
• Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA), agreement between the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), and Canada

Key Requirements:

• The City must advertise all procurements of a value in excess of $75,000 (goods and services) and $200,000 (construction) on Alberta Purchasing Connection (APC).
• The City is required to provide open access, without geographic bias or local preference, to our procurements when the value of those procurements meets or exceeds the above values.
• In accordance with the CFTA, the successful bidder information, including the procurement value will be posted to APC.

Procurement Processes:

• Informal Quotes: often used for lower value purchases and are typically requested directly from the user department.
• Request for Quotation (RFQ): often use for higher value purchases for specific goods or defined services and are posted through a bid site or sent invitationally to suppliers.
• Request for Proposal (RFP): typically used for more complex deliverables where the expertise of the vendor community is being sought to recommend an approach or solution to address a need.
• Invitation to Tender (ITT): this approach is used when the specifications or requirements are well defined including ‘what’, ‘why’ ‘when’, and ‘how’ the project / product will be provided or completed and the terms of the contract are clear.
• Request for Pre-qualification (RFPQ): This process is used to prequalify as part of a two stage procurement process. The second stage of a competitive process will be issued to the pre-qualified vendors. This process may be used to establish vendor lists for supplying future goods or services to the City.
• Request for Information (RFI): used to conduct market research and gather information to determine availability of products and services.

The City does not conduct public openings for any procurement processes.