Tender notice
A tender notice is the buyer's public invitation: what is being bought, under which process type, what you must have to be compliant, and when the bid closes. Miss one mandatory line and the bid dies unread.
The parts that matter
Every notice carries: the buyer and reference number; the process type (RFQ, RFP, ITT, EOI — they behave differently); mandatory requirements (licences, security clearance, bonding, site visits); document-fee and download instructions; a contact for questions (only that contact may be used — contacting anyone else can disqualify you); and the closing date with its timezone.
Deadlines and amendments
Questions go through the notice's Q&A channel inside the question window; answers are published as addenda to all bidders. Addenda can change scope, extend the deadline, or add mandatory items — bidding without checking the addenda is the classic first-timer loss.
Where notices appear
Buyers post on their own portals and on provincial/federal aggregators. Because Canadian public buyers publish in many places, most suppliers use an aggregator: pubsec.pro tracks tender notices across federal, provincial, municipal and MASH-sector buyers, filtered by trade and region.
Common questions
Is a tender notice an offer?
No — it is an invitation to treat. You bid; the buyer accepts by awarding. Neither side is bound until the contract is signed.
Are informal or email bids allowed?
Only if the notice says so. Most public tenders require the bid through the portal or in sealed format exactly as specified; format non-compliance is a pass/fail screen, not a scoring penalty.
What if two notices look identical?
Read both reference numbers — buyers repost cancelled or re-tendered requirements. The reference number on your bid envelope must match the notice, or the receiving desk may reject it unopened.
Related definitions
Contract award notice · RFP meaning · RFQ vs RFP
Live tender data: current opportunities.
Government tender notices: where to find them
Where are government tenders posted?
Municipal, provincial and federal buyers each post on their own portals — CanadaBuys federally, plus platforms like MERX, Biddingo and SEAO (Quebec). A tender notice appears on the buyer's portal first; aggregators republish it. PubSec.Pro consolidates the portals into one searchable feed.
How do I find tenders near me?
Filter tender notices by the issuing jurisdiction: municipal tenders come from city procurement pages, provincial ones from provincial portals. PubSec.Pro's opportunities feed is searchable by province, category and closing date, so nearby and currently-open tenders surface first.
Is there a government tenders bulletin?
Some provinces publish periodic tender bulletins, but most notices now appear online first — waiting for a weekly bulletin can mean missing the window on short-fuse opportunities. A live feed such as PubSec.Pro replaces the bulletin with real-time alerts.
How do small businesses find government tenders?
Start with your own municipality and province, register on the main aggregators, and set alerts for your category. PubSec.Pro is built for small suppliers: one feed of every level of government, with deadline tracking and document summaries.
PubSec.Pro monitors every Canadian public-sector tender source in real time — see today’s open opportunities.