Tender opening (public opening of tenders)

The tender opening is the formal step at the stated closing date and time when submitted bids are received and opened. It is a transparency ritual, not a decision point: what gets confirmed at opening is who bid and whether submissions arrived on time — never who won.

What it is

Chapter Five of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) requires tender notices to include "the date, time, and place for any public opening of tenders," alongside the final date for submission. In a traditional sealed-bid process, the opening happens shortly after closing: an official opens each envelope in front of any bidders who wish to attend, reads out bidder names (and, in many public-sector processes, read-out prices), and records the results. In modern federal electronic tendering on CanadaBuys, submissions arrive through the electronic system, which timestamps them; a physical public reading may not occur at all, with the transparent record instead created through the electronic record and the published award notice.

What happens — and what does not

At opening, the buyer checks that bids were received by the closing time and that required items such as bid security accompanied the submission. Late bids are rejected at this stage. What does not happen is evaluation: technical scoring, negotiations and award come later. The CFTA requires procuring entities to publish award information — including the successful supplier and the value of the successful tender — within 72 days of award, so the competitive outcome is disclosed through the award notice, not through the opening. For two-envelope processes, the price envelope is not even opened at the first stage.

What it means for vendors

The closing time on the tender notice is the hard deadline that governs the opening — plan submissions well ahead of it, because "received at 14:00:01" is a rejected bid regardless of quality. If the process includes a genuine public opening and you can attend, it tells you who your competitors were (and often their prices) before award, which is useful market intelligence for pricing the next opportunity. Do not read anything into a delayed award: the gap between opening and award is normal evaluation time, and the outcome is published as a contract award notice within the CFTA's 72-day window.

Common questions

Must every tender have a public opening?

The CFTA requires the tender notice to state the date, time and place "for any public opening" — where the process is electronic, buyers frequently do not hold one, and no public opening is advertised.

Does the opening reveal the winner?

No. Even where prices are read aloud publicly, the award itself is a separate decision made after evaluation and is announced through the award notice. Opening only establishes the record of who submitted and on time.

Related definitions

Tender notice · Contract award notice · Two-envelope evaluation · Progressive bidding