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The SME guide to winning public tenders in Québec

SEAO, bids, contract awards: Québec’s public procurement system, explained clearly for SMEs, without the jargon.

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Independent mediaEvery figure sourced343,625 contracts analyzed · 2004-2025Updated at every reform
$32B

in contracts of $25,000 or more by Québec government departments, agencies and public networks in 2023-2024, excluding, among others, municipalities

Ref. Conseil du trésor · 2023-24

85%

of that value went to businesses with a Québec address

Ref. Conseil du trésor · 2023-24

59%

of contracts are awarded by mutual agreement

Ref. Adjudica analysis · SEAO · 2021-2023 · recalculated 2026-08-13

What the data shows

All our data

Original SEAO analysis you won’t find anywhere else, built from the Québec government’s open data.

01
Data · 8 min

Mutual Agreement: the Most Closed Public Sectors (and How an SME Gets In)

From 11% in civil engineering to 93% in health, the share of contracts awarded without a call for tenders varies enormously by sector. Our analysis of 160,508 contracts, and what it changes for your SME.

Data: “Système électronique d’appel d’offres (SEAO)”, Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor, on Données Québec under the CC BY 4.0 licence; Adjudica analysis and calculations.

Data: City of Montréal contract records (council and agglomeration, boroughs, public servants), released as open data under the CC BY 4.0 licence; Adjudica analysis and calculations.

Latest articles

See all

Concrete analysis to decide what to bid on, and how, with no surprises.

01
Article · 7 min

Québec Public Procurement Barometer, October 2026: How Much Time a Call for Tenders Gives You to Respond

October edition. Half of public calls for tenders announce four weeks or less to respond, one in four three weeks or less, and more than four in ten see their closing date pushed back.

02
Article · 7 min

Québec Public Procurement Barometer, September 2026: What You Count on SEAO Is Not Everything That Was Awarded

September edition. Half of contracts show up on SEAO within about three weeks of being awarded, but at least 6% wait more than a year. What that changes about how you read the registry.

03
Article · 7 min

Québec Public Procurement Barometer, June 2026: The Share of Direct Awards Depends on the Buyer

June edition. Based on the SEAO open data, the share of contracts awarded without a call for tenders runs from about half at school service centres to nearly nine in ten in the health network.

04
Guide · 9 min

BSDQ Explained for SMEs: Québec's Construction Bid Depository

The BSDQ governs bids between specialized subcontractors and general contractors in construction. What it is, how it works, and how it differs from SEAO.

Where to start

Four steps to go from “I know nothing about this” to your first bid submitted.

STEP 01Get set up on SEAOCreate your account on the official public-tenders platform.STEP 02Prepare your first bidThe required documents and the mistakes to avoid on a first submission.STEP 03Avoid rejectionsThe common errors that get a bid thrown out.STEP 04Understand contract awardsLowest price, quality-price, mutual agreement: how contracts are awarded.

Analysis for your business

The tender analysis

An open tender you are targeting, analyzed. The analysis covers the buyer's award history, the competitors in the category and the head-to-heads already documented. Delivered within one business day.

See the tender analysis →$190 + taxes

Québec public procurement, decoded

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