You've found a call for tenders that fits your business. Now what? The bidding process in Québec is framed by laws, strict deadlines and precise requirements. This guide walks you from spotting the opportunity to tracking the results, seven steps, in order, with nothing left out.
To make it concrete, we follow Nathalie, owner of a commercial cleaning company with 8 employees in Drummondville. She has never bid on a public contract. She just registered on SEAO and spotted a $120,000 call for tenders for the janitorial services of a municipal administrative centre. We'll follow her through the 7 steps.
At what threshold is a contract published? The amount determines the procedure. For a municipal body: under $25,000, internal rules and the contract management by-law govern. From $25,000 to under $139,000, the default rule is a written invitation to at least two businesses (LCOM, ss. 30 and 80); a direct award is possible only if the contract management by-law provides for it (s. 9). At $139,000 and above, the open procedure is mandatory. For a provincial body (LCOP): below the threshold, the body has more latitude (public tender, invitation or direct award), according to its internal rules. Our $120,000 example is therefore below the municipal threshold: the city could have gone by written invitation, but it chose to publish a public tender, which a body is always free to do. Practical takeaway for you: below the municipal threshold, the point isn't to wait for a publication, it's to be known to the buyer at the moment it chooses whom to invite.
Step 1: Find the relevant calls for tenders
It all starts on SEAO. Browsing the published notices is free, no account required. To order documents and submit a bid, you'll need an account (see our SEAO guide for the full process).
The trap at this step isn't missing a call for tenders, it's seeing too many. SEAO publishes hundreds of notices a week. The key is to filter smartly.
If your organization is on SEAO's subscription plan, set up a matching profile (jumelage) with the UNSPSC codes that fit your activity and your region. SEAO runs your searches automatically every business day and emails you the relevant notices. If you're not subscribed, you can run the same search by hand, it's free, but it takes discipline.
Round it out with a regular search using keywords tied to your sector. Search in French, because that's the language the notices are written in, whatever language the interface is set to: « entretien ménager » (janitorial services), « déneigement » (snow removal), « services informatiques » (IT services). Start broad, then narrow down based on the results.
Nathalie signed up for the SEAO subscription ($6.95/month) and set up a matching profile with the UNSPSC codes for "commercial cleaning services" and the "Centre-du-Québec" region. She gets 2-3 notices a week by email. The maintenance contract for the administrative centre showed up in her notifications one Tuesday morning.
Tip: on top of the current calls for tenders, look up the contracts awarded in the past for your sector. You'll see which bodies publish regularly, which prices win, and how many suppliers bid. It's free, legal competitive intelligence.
Step 2: Analyze the notice and the documents
You've spotted an interesting notice. Before you dive in, read the notice in detail on SEAO. Here are the fields that determine everything that follows:
The award method. This is the most decisive piece of information. "Lowest compliant price" means the lowest price wins, period. "Quality-price" means your technical offer is evaluated on top of your price: your experience, your methodology and your team all count. Your bidding strategy changes radically depending on the method.
The eligibility criteria. Licences, certifications, insurance, past experience. If you're not eligible, there's no point going further: your bid will be rejected for non-compliance before it's even evaluated. Pay particular attention to:
- AMP authorization to contract. For contracts above certain thresholds, your business must hold an authorization to contract issued by the Autorité des marchés publics (AMP), Québec's public procurement watchdog. Without it, your bid is automatically rejected, and the process to obtain it can take several weeks. Don't find out the day before the closing date.
- Past experience. Some contracts require references from similar contracts. If it's your first bid, target the contracts that don't impose this criterion.
The closing date and time. Absolute. SEAO blocks submissions to the minute. Note it in your calendar with an alert 48 hours ahead.
The addenda. Check whether any amendments have been published since the notice went online. An addendum can change the criteria, the deadlines or the technical requirements. Ignoring one can lead to your bid being rejected, especially if the documents state that this omission is disqualifying. Treat every addendum as essential, but know that the exact effect depends on the compliance clause.
Nathalie reads the notice: "lowest compliant price" method, no past-experience requirement, $2M in liability insurance required, Attestation de Revenu Québec mandatory. No authorization to contract required (the threshold isn't met). The contract is realistic for her.
Step 3: The decision that separates the pros from the amateurs
This is the step most SMEs skip, and it's the one that makes the difference between businesses that bid effectively and those that waste their resources.
Responding to a call for tenders takes time, energy and sometimes money (bid security, documents, coordination). Before you commit, ask yourself three questions:
Are you actually eligible? Not "probably" or "should be fine". Reread every eligibility criterion and confirm you meet it. A single unmet condition can lead to your bid being rejected, along with all the work you put into it, especially if the documents state that this criterion is disqualifying. Treat every requirement as essential, but know that the exact effect depends on the compliance clause.
Can you deliver this contract? Is the region serviceable? Is the volume realistic for your team? Is the delivery schedule compatible with your current commitments? Winning a contract you can't execute properly is worse than not bidding at all.
Is the return on investment there? A $50,000 contract that 15 suppliers will bid on may not justify three weeks of preparation. Conversely, a $500,000 contract with few competitors deserves the time.
The discipline of the no-go. The SMEs that succeed in public procurement don't respond to everything. They pick the opportunities that match their strengths and invest seriously in each one. (It's the most underrated skill in the tendering world. Knowing how to say no to a tender matters as much as knowing how to win one.)
If the answer to all three questions is yes, move to step 4. If a single "no" is clear, move on to the next call for tenders. Your time is your most precious resource.
Nathalie checks: eligible? Yes, no experience requirement, and she has the $2M insurance. Capacity to deliver? Yes, the building is 25 minutes from her office, her 8 employees are enough. ROI? The contract is $120,000, the margin would be decent, and she checked the past results: only 4 tenderers the year before. Go.
Step 4: Order the tender documents
The decision is made: you're bidding. Order the documents on SEAO.
Before ordering, preview for free. SEAO lets you view each document of a notice up to 5 times at no charge. It's a valuable safety net, use it to confirm the requirements really match what the notice summarized, before you pull out your credit card.
The order is non-refundable. That's exactly why step 3 (go/no-go) and the preview exist, don't order the documents "just to see".
The fees vary. For a non-subscriber: a $20 occasional-order surcharge, plus preparation fees ($5.50 or $8.50 depending on the type of documents) and the cost of the documents themselves ($0.03 per page for standard documents). For a subscriber: no occasional-order surcharge, and the documents are billed at the same per-page rate.
Addenda published after your order are distributed to you automatically and free of charge. Addenda published before your order are included in the documents you order, at your expense.
When you receive the documents, read them in full. Don't skim them. The specifications (cahier des charges), the general conditions, the bid form, the appendices, all of it. The details that get a bid rejected are often buried in the general conditions nobody reads. (Are we exaggerating? No. We've seen bids rejected because the USB key format wasn't the one required in an appendix on page 34.)
Bid security
Financial guarantee required by some calls for tenders. It assures the public body that the tenderer will honour its offer if selected. Not required on every contract, check the documents. If it's required, contact your financial institution or your surety broker before the closing date.
Step 5: Prepare your bid
This is the longest step. The preparation depends on the award method.
For a "lowest compliant price" call for tenders
Your main job is to calculate your price precisely. The price form is provided in the documents, fill it out exactly as requested (unit prices, lump sum, according to the grid provided). A calculation error or a non-compliant format can lead to rejection.
Gather every required document:
- Attestation de Revenu Québec: for a municipal contract, it is valid until the end of the three-month period following the month of issue, and it must not have been issued after the deadline for receiving bids. Request it on Mon dossier Revenu Québec.
- Proof of insurance: the civil liability insurance certificate for the required amount. Contact your broker to get a certificate that names the public body as an additional insured if the documents ask for it.
- Licences and certifications: RBQ for construction, others depending on your sector.
- Bid security: if required. Allow a few days to obtain it.
- Lobbying declaration: a form included in the tender documents. You must declare whether any lobbying activities took place with the public body in connection with this call for tenders. In the vast majority of cases the answer is "no", but the form must still be filled out and signed.
- Every appendix mentioned in the documents: don't assume it's optional. If it's listed, it's required.
For a "quality-price" call for tenders
On top of the price, you must prepare a technical offer. This is the document that describes your methodology, your experience, your team and your approach to delivering the contract. The body evaluates your technical offer separately from the price, according to a weighting grid published in the documents.
A few principles for a technical offer that stands out:
Answer exactly what's asked. The weighting grid tells you exactly what you'll be evaluated on. Structure your offer to mirror that grid, every evaluated criterion should have a clear answer in your document.
Be specific. "Our team has extensive experience" is worth nothing. "Our team delivered 12 maintenance contracts for 4 municipalities in the Estrie region between 2020 and 2025, including the CIUSSS de l'Estrie" is worth points.
Document your past work. CVs of key personnel, reference letters, photos of completed projects. The evaluators don't know you, show them.
Tip for quality-price calls for tenders: read the weighting grid before you write anything. If experience is worth 30 points and price 40 points, your technical offer doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be good enough that your competitive price does the rest. Calibrate your effort.
The form trap
Every call for tenders has its own bid form. Use exactly the one provided in the documents, not an old form from a similar tender, not a version you adapted. If an addendum published an updated version of the form, use the latest version.
The form must be signed by a person authorized to bind your business. Not just any employee: an officer or a person holding a board resolution authorizing them to bid.
Nathalie gathers her documents in 3 days: attestation from Revenu Québec obtained online in 10 minutes, insurance certificate requested from her broker (received the next day), bid form filled out with her prices, lobbying declaration signed (no lobbying activity, "no" box). No bid security required for this contract. She rereads the specifications one last time and confirms no addendum has been published. Everything is ready.
Step 6: Submit your bid
Submission is done electronically directly on SEAO, through the STVE service (Soumission Transmise par Voie Électronique, electronic bid submission). To submit, you must be logged in with an STVE user profile: it's a role distinct from the Specialist, because submitting a bid legally binds your business.
If it's your first electronic submission, you'll first have to activate your registration for the STVE service and pass a mandatory submission test (a mock exercise that checks everything works in your browser). Do it several days before the deadline, not on the day itself.
The submission format is defined by the buyer in the tender documents. Two options exist: a single PDF file containing your entire bid, or two separate PDF files, one for the technical offer (with no price information) and one for the price. That second option is used for quality-price calls for tenders, so the evaluators can score your quality without knowing your price. Check which option applies before you prepare your documents.
Also check the maximum size stated in the tender documents, it varies by buyer. If your technical appendices include plans or high-resolution photos, compress them ahead of time. Don't discover the limit on submission day.
There are submission fees: $20 per bid if your organization is subscribed, $30 with the basic services. The fees are charged after the notice closes, not at the moment of submission. You can withdraw and resubmit your bid as many times as needed before the closing date, at no extra charge.
At the moment of submission, you'll have to complete an integrity declaration (or indicate that you hold an authorization to contract from the AMP) and, if you scanned any documents, fill out a declaration regarding the reproduction of documents.
Your files are encrypted. As soon as you submit, your bid is encrypted, time-stamped and saved on SEAO's servers. Only the buyer can access it, and only after the closing date.
Submit at least one hour before the deadline: that's SEAO's official recommendation to account for Internet traffic and technical surprises. In practice, submit 24 hours ahead if you can. A slow connection, a file that won't go through, a forgotten password, last-minute problems happen. And the deadline is absolute: no extension, no exception.
Some public bodies still accept paper bids in addition to electronic submission, check the terms in the tender documents. But electronic submission through SEAO offers more guarantees (encryption, time-stamping, proof of submission).
Nathalie combines all her documents into a single 4.2 MB PDF (the call for tenders asked for a single file, it's a lowest-price contract). She submits her bid on Wednesday evening, three days before the Monday 2:00 p.m. closing. She gets a submission confirmation by email. Peace of mind.
Step 7: Track the results (and learn from them)
Your bid is in. Now you wait.
The opening of bids takes place after the closing date. For "lowest compliant price" tenders, the results are often published quickly, the names and prices of the tenderers are made public. For "quality-price" tenders, the technical evaluation takes longer.
The results are published on SEAO. There you'll find: who won the contract, the amount, and the number of tenderers.
Whether you won or not, take 15 minutes to analyze the results. It's an investment in your future win rate, not wasted time.
If you won: note your winning price and the number of competitors. That's your benchmark for the next similar contract. And above all: execute the contract flawlessly. Your reputation with the buyer is your most valuable asset, a well-executed contract is the best way into the next one.
If you didn't win: look at the winning price. Were you within 5% of the winner? Your next bid could get through with a minor adjustment. Were you 40% off? Reassess your cost structure or target different contracts. The gap tells you everything.
If you were rejected for non-compliance: pinpoint the exact reason. Missing document? Wrong form? Expired attestation? These are 100% avoidable errors. Fix your internal process for next time, and don't get discouraged. Technical rejections happen to everyone, including experienced businesses.
Nathalie checks the results a week later on SEAO. Five tenderers. Her price: $118,500. The winning price: $112,000. She didn't win, but she's within 5.8% of the winner, on her first bid. She notes the winning price, the number of competitors, and the margin. Next time, she'll adjust her cost calculation. She now knows the market is within reach.
Checklist
0/15 doneFrequently asked questions
Sources
Québec's electronic tendering system (SEAO), seao.gouv.qc.ca: document ordering, electronic submission (STVE) and fee schedule (consulted in 2026). Act respecting contracting by public bodies (CQLR, c. C-65.1) and its regulations.
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